The No. 10 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline has been unstoppable in his first taste of April pro ball for Single-A Delmarva, now smacking his two big flies of 2023 during action Friday.
The two roundtrippers also mark Holliday’s first multihomer game of his professional career.
The first was a three-run moonball that extended the Shorebirds’ lead to nine runs in the fifth inning and was certainly not a cheapie. Holliday drilled the towering opposite-field shot over the left-field wall with power that could give fans flashbacks of his father, 7-time All-Star Matt Holliday.
The second long ball came in the top of the ninth when he drilled a solo shot, making the score 13-4. Delmarva would go on to defeat Fredericksburg, 16-4.
The first overall selection in the 2022 MLB Draft spent eight games last summer in Rookie-level ball but forced the O’s to promote him after slashing a ridiculous .409/.576/.591. He then posted a respectable .772 OPS in 12 games with the Shorebirds to finish off the year.
Now in 2023, the Orioles’ No. 2 prospect has returned to the video-game numbers he produced in the Florida Complex League. Through 12 games with the Shorebirds, he once again is touting a downright silly .404/.533/.681 slash line.
What makes Holliday’s dominance even more impressive is that even at his age (just 19 years old), he already looks like a grizzled veteran at the plate. His 13:11 walk to strikeout ratio demonstrates he is not just a hit machine, but a selective hitter who understands a professional strike zone.
Holliday deposited a single into center in the seventh, aiding his 3-for-6 night with four RBIs. He has reached base in each of his 12 games to begin the year, collecting at least one knock in 10 of those outings.
