Jackson Holliday is being called up.
The Baltimore Orioles made the move official on Wednesday after the infielder’s strong start to the season with their Triple-A affiliate. Holliday, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, is the top-ranked prospect in baseball.
The Orioles also announced that Holliday will wear the No. 7, which was the number Cal Ripken Sr. wore while he was with the Orioles as a coach and manager for more than 35 years. His son, Orioles and baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. (who is now part-owner of the team), posted on X that he and his family are thrilled that Holliday has chosen to wear his dad’s number.
Our family is thrilled that @J_Holliday7 will be wearing dad’s #7 … Excited to watch him play!
— Cal Ripken, Jr. (@CalRipkenJr) April 10, 2024
Holliday, who spent last season progressing through the Orioles’ minor league clubs, had a great spring training with the Orioles this year. He then returned to the Norfolk Tides to start the season. In 10 games with the Tides, Holliday hit .333/.482/.595 and recorded nine RBI and two home runs.
“He’s very, very close,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said of Holliday before the season started, via ESPN. “He’s very ahead of schedule. He’s done remarkably well. We couldn’t be more excited about his future. But you’re talking about the development of a player who has the opportunity to be one of the better, if not best, players in the league.”
It’s unclear where the 20-year-old, who is the son of longtime MLB outfielder Matt Holliday, will fit in with the Orioles. He was drafted as a shortstop out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, but he has played second base this season in Norfolk.
Holliday will join the Orioles on Wednesday in Boston. They kicked off a three-game series at Fenway Park with a 7-1 win on Tuesday. The Orioles, who won more than 100 games last season for the first time since 1980, enter Wednesday’s game with a 6-4 record.
Source Agencies
