Holliday to lead off, play second and get daily at-bats with Tides
NORFOLK — Jackson Holliday won’t play for the Baltimore Orioles just yet, but he’ll get plenty of looks with the Norfolk Tides as long as he’s in town.
The 20-year-old Holliday, the top-ranked prospect in all of baseball and Baseball America’s reigning Minor League Player of the Year, will lead off and play second base for the Tides for the foreseeable future, manager Buck Britton said Wednesday.
Holliday, a shortstop for most of his career, has spent this spring learning to play second, a process Britton said remains ongoing. The parent club also wants the lefty-swinging Holliday to face more left-handed pitching.
“Nobody knows how long he’s going to be here, so try to get him as many at-bats as we can,” Britton said. “He’ll face every lefthander that anybody throws. He’s going to be in there every day.”
The first overall pick in the 2022 draft, Holliday shot through four levels of the minors last season. He finished it with 18 games at Norfolk, batting .267 with two home runs, four doubles and nine RBIs.
Overall in 2023, Holliday hit .323 with 12 homers and 75 RBIs in 125 games in his first full pro season.
Many Orioles fans were surprised and outraged when Holliday, the son of former All-Star Matt Holliday, didn’t make the team out of camp after hitting .311 with two homers and six RBIs in 19 Grapefruit League games.
Even Holliday’s dad told a St. Louis radio station this week that the Orioles’ decision was “disappointing.”
Britton, though, looks forward to managing Holliday again, even if he has to wait.
A former Tides utilityman, Britton will miss the team’s first four games as he stays home in Florida to help his wife with the couple’s newborn son, born on March 18.
Christian Frias, who manages Baltimore’s team in the Florida Complex League, will serve as acting manager with help from the existing staff.
“I already told him my expectation is that we’re 4-0 when I get there, so don’t screw it up,” Britton said, laughing.
Holliday is part of a loaded roster that includes two other top-100 overall prospects: infielder Coby Mayo and first baseman Heston Kjerstad. The Tides will look to repeat as International League and Triple-A national champions.
It’s not likely that Holliday would be around to see that, so Britton plans to enjoy him while he’s here.
“This is a fun player to be around,” Britton said. “Obviously, the hype is legit. I will say this is a great kid, man. This is one of the nicest kids. He’s going to have a chip on his shoulder, no doubt.”