Who is Jackson Holliday?
Manny Randhawa
@MannyOnMLBThe No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 Draft, Jackson Holliday had a meteoric rise from high school to the big leagues in fewer than two years. After Holliday began the '24 season with Triple-A Norfolk, he was called up by the Orioles on Wednesday.
But who is Jackson Holliday? Here's a look at MLB Pipeline's No. 1 overall prospect.
FAST FACTS
Primary position: SS
Height/weight: 6-foot, 180 lbs.
Bats/throws: Left/right
Birthdate: Dec. 4, 2003 (Age 20 in 2024)
College: N/A
High school: Stillwater (Okla.) High School
Born: Stillwater, Okla.
Drafted: 1st overall, 2022 (by BAL)
ETA: 2024
His dad was one of the best sluggers in the game during his career
Matt Holliday was a seven-time All-Star, a batting champion and launched 316 home runs during a 15-year MLB career from 2004-18. With the Rockies in 2007, he led the National League with a .340 batting average, 216 hits, 50 doubles and 137 RBIs to go along with 36 homers. He led the Majors that year with 386 total bases and finished runner-up in NL MVP Award voting before going on to win the NL Championship Series MVP Award. He also won a World Series title with the Cardinals in 2011.
Holliday added 10 pounds of muscle before the 2024 season
Holliday certainly didn't have many weaknesses in his game before this season but the youngster spent the offseason trying to get stronger. An article from the Baltimore Sun's Jacob Calvin Meyer (subscription required) documented the intense training regimen that Holliday went through that resulted in him gaining 10 pounds of muscle.
While he might not approach the pure strength or power of his dad Matt -- who crushed 316 career homers from his 6-foot, 4-inch frame -- Holliday's newfound strength paid immediate dividends as he slugged .595 in 10 games with Triple-A Norfolk before getting called up.
He set a national record for hits in a single season
With 89 hits in his senior season at Stillwater High School, Holliday set a new national record, eclipsing the mark set by current Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto back in 2010. He also hit .685, launched 17 home runs, drove in 79 runs and stole 30 bases en route to being named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Oklahoma. His teammate and brother, Ethan, was great in his freshman year, too, delivering 23 extra-base hits and driving in 53 runs. The brothers even hit back-to-back homers in one game.
When he was little, he'd use anything possible as a bat and baseball
Holliday was hitting from the beginning. His grandfather, Tom, told The Oklahoman that little Jackson would use rolled up straw wrappers and butter knives for balls and bats while waiting for food at a restaurant. Or sometimes it was a breadstick (Olive Garden probably had its hands full) and a bread roll. At home? That's easy: Rolled up socks for baseballs.
His bat-flip game is ready for the big leagues
Holliday is ready for the pros, that much is pretty obvious. One specific area in which that is certainly the case is his bat-flip game, which he showed off when smashing a homer in extra innings during his senior year.