Jackson Holliday's prospect rankings drop isn't as bad as it seems

Baseball America released their updated top-100 prospect list and there was a bit of a shakeup at the top of the list. Jackson Holliday no longer holds the top spot, a position that he's held for the length of his professional career.

Holliday fell one spot, dropping to No. 2 in the top 100, being passed up by the Pirates electric pitcher, Paul Skenes. There's no reason to panic though, Orioles fans. This didn't happen because of Holliday's tough run in the big leagues or anything else that Holliday has done. This happened because Paul Skenes has somehow exceeded the expectations set on him, dominating the big leagues already.

Baseball America dubs Paul Skenes baseball's top prospect, not Jackson Holliday

As stated above, this has nothing to do with Holliday and what he has done this year. In fact, Holliday has still been dominant in Triple-A. He's slashing .287/.442/.485 across 44 Triple-A games in 2024. The 20-year-old has 21 extra base hits and he's walked more times than he's struck out.

But Skenes has found a way to be more dominant, proving that Baseball America has made the right decision in placing him atop their top 100 prospects list.

Through five big league starts, Skenes is 3-0 with 38 strikeouts in 27 innings. He's showing dominance that's unheard of for a player that was drafted last year. A year ago, he was still in college, pitching against SEC hitters, trying to push LSU towards a College World Series title. Now, 365 days later, Skenes is potentially the ace of a Pirates team that has playoff aspirations.

When looking at it this way, it makes sense why Holliday slid down the list. He's still the only player from his draft class in the top five as well. Still just 20 years old, the sky remains the limit for the young Holliday.

To make matters even better, Holliday will jump back up to the top spot at the next update, after Skenes loses his prospect title by playing too many major league games.