Baltimore Orioles Duo Given Elite Ranking Among Young MLB Prospects

The Baltimore Orioles elite young duo were highly regarded in a list of the best MLB prospects aged 20 and under.

Aug 16, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday (7) slides to score on third baseman Ramon Urias (not pictured) rbi single against the Boston Red Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles have a star-studded farm system that is held in high-regard by pretty much every possible source.

As Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report put together a list of the best MLB prospects age 20 and under, the Orioles had two players in the top five.

Shortstop Jackson Holliday earned the top ranking overall but catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo wasn't far behind at No. 3.

Holliday has had an interesting season, but has definitely done enough to earn the top spot on the list.

The hype has been following him for a long time, even though he was just drafted back in 2022.

At just 20 years old, he made the jump from the minor leagues to the MLB, but it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. For the first time in his young baseball career, he hit a huge stop in the road.

Well documented at this point, he had a very weak start to his time in the big leagues. He went 2-for-34 at the plate with just singles. He struck out in 18 of those at-bats.

He got sent back down to the minors after that and spent the next couple of months preparing for his second chance.

The Texas native got a off to hot start after being called back up at the end of July. He had a slashing line of .286/.333/.607 over his first 15 games back.

Getting the strikeouts down has made a huge difference for him. Though he struck out at least twice in seven of his first 10 games, he's only done so in four of his last 23.

He's fallen a bit back behind the curve over the past couple of weeks, but people are less scared now given that he's shown he can hit MLB pitching.

Basallo is a couple of stops away from making his mark at the big league level, but has looked like a potential elite slugger at each of his stops.

Baltimore signed him out of the Dominican Republic as an international free agent back in 2021. Since then, he has grown to be at the Double-A level for the entirety of this season with a .287/.355/.457 slashing line.

He moves well for someone that was meant to be a catcher. Given that Adley Rustchman has that position locked down, the Orioles have turned to teaching Basallo first base rather than trading him away.

The current Baltimore roster has done pretty well, but the future looks even brighter for the franchise.