Baltimore Orioles Youngster Has 'Best Tool' of Any Prospect in Baseball

The Baltimore Orioles prospect has shown why he gets the recognition he does.

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

Jackson Holliday looks like someone who could be a full-time MLB player moving forward, but he's still considered a prospect. Regarded as a top prospect in baseball by many outlets, Holliday was expected to come up to the major league level and prove that he'd be an above-average big league player right away. The Baltimore Orioles will hope for that, too.

Those expectations were wrong for a few different reasons, as this game has changed massively over the past couple of years. Triple-A is nowhere near the level of Major League Baseball, so asking a 20-year-old to come up and produce at a high level is almost impossible. 

However, his tools are what makes him elite. He's as pure of a hitter as they come, as he does it all. He can hit for average, power, and anything else possible to do at the plate. 

Because of that, Jim Callis of MLB.com ranked him as the best-hitting prospect. It was the third straight year that the Orioles youngster received this honor. 

"No. 1 on the Top 100 for the third straight time, Holliday stands out most with his advanced ability at the plate. He's still just 20 years old, but after raising eyebrows by going 2-for-34 in his first taste of the Majors in April, he has slashed .270/.313/.556 since returning in late July. 

"He's a career .304/.442/.486 hitter in the Minors, where just seven of his 1,017 plate appearances have come against pitchers younger than him. He has a compact left-handed swing with plenty of bat speed and controls the strike zone masterfully, allowing him to smoke the ball with authority to all fields."

The Texas native returned to the big leagues a few weeks ago and played well initially. However, he's started to slow down recently, getting just nine hits in his last 10 games. While that typically isn't a bad thing, four of those 10 hits came in the same contest.

He doesn't look over-matched by any means, which is as promising a sign as any for Baltimore. In fact, the reason why he's this highly touted is because of the way he carries himself on and off the field. He often looks like a veteran, which isn't typical for somebody his age.

Every evaluator in the world has been high on him over the past few years, and usually, when that's the case, players pan out. It's only a matter of time before he truly does that, as he's already shown the tools to be able to do so.