CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Orioles are trying not to worry too much about Jackson Holliday’s spring training stats as they evaluate him for a spot on their opening day roster. He’s starting to put some up anyway.
Baltimore is running its top prospect through a series of tests this spring to determine if he’s ready to assume an everyday role in the major leagues, batting him leadoff against MLB-quality arms and giving him starts at both shortstop and second base.
The latest test came Tuesday in the form of facing Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler. He passed, hitting a double that one-hopped the wall in his first at-bat. Holliday then followed that up with a triple over the head of Phillies center fielder Cristian Pache. He finished the day 3-for-4, a home run shy of the cycle with a stolen base. All three of his hits registered above a 102 mph exit velocity.
“Obviously, you want to compete against the best,” Holliday said. “To be the best you got to beat the best, right, and to be able to put together a good at-bat against [Wheeler] and [Atlanta Braves left-hander Max] Fried and some of these other guys that I’ve been able to compete against, it’s encouraging, especially to be able to hit a double. I mean, that’s even more encouraging.”
Manager Brandon Hyde said in his pregame news conference ahead of Tuesday’s 3-2 win over the Phillies that the Orioles are trying not to look too much at the results but rather how Holliday makes adjustments at baseball’s highest level.
“I think it, honestly, it’s a small part,” Hyde said of Holliday’s spring stats. “It’s more about — because the sample size is so small from a statistical standpoint — it’s more about the quality of the at-bat he’s taking. … Today we face Zack Wheeler and [Pittsburgh Pirates righ-hander Mitch] Keller is tomorrow. That’s what I actually want. That’s what you see in the season.
“To be able to evaluate your guys against those type of arms, which is what you see on a nightly basis, how he handles those at-bats, how he handles the speed of the game defensively. He’s changed positions a little bit, how that adjustment is happening.”
A natural shortstop, Holliday is getting the chance to make his case for the Orioles’ roster at second base with reigning American League Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson expected to see the most playing time at shortstop.
Baltimore does have other infielders who would be capable of playing second, namely fellow prospect Connor Norby, recently graduated prospect Jordan Westburg, the versatile Ramón Urías and veteran Kolten Wong. Should they decide to start Holliday at Triple-A Norfolk, they have plenty of options to hold down the keystone until he’s ready.
“It’s also the other guys, too,” Hyde said. “We have other good players, too. And so how the roster is going to look and how the roster is going to fit but is he — whether it’s the start of the season with him, or a month or two months into the season — I think that six years from now, nobody’s even going to probably remember that. So, the timing of him, when he makes his major league debut, we’re just going to see what the right time for him is and us.”
Orioles’ prospect-laden lineup
Typically when a club sends a young roster on the road for a spring training game, the home team doesn’t see a very competitive crop of players in the opposing dugout. That wasn’t the case for the Phillies on Tuesday when the Orioles fielded a lineup that included four consensus top 100 prospects as well as Westburg, who was in the top 100 last year, and Norby, who isn’t far off.
“We were joking around saying that it’s the [Triple-A Norfolk] Tides playing the Phillies today,” Holliday said. “It was pretty fun to be out there with all those guys and be able to all be on the same field at the same time together. It’s always fun. We’ve got a good group of guys that came up in the minor leagues together, so it’s a lot of fun. Really fun group.”
Holliday led off followed by Westburg (1-for-4) and outfielder Colton Cowser (2-for-4, RBI). Outfielder Heston Kjerstad went 1-for-3 with an RBI out of the fifth spot, infielder Coby Mayo finished 1-for-4 batting sixth and Norby had an 0-for-2 day out of the No. 8 spot.
That the Orioles can trot out such a lineup while the likes of Adley Rutschman, Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle, Anthony Santander and Austin Hays stay home is a testament to the depth the organization has built in the minor leagues. While the Orioles might have taken the league by surprise with a 101-win season in 2023, their farm system is stocked deep enough to ensure they’re going to be in the playoff hunt for a while.
“It was fun to watch,” Hyde said after the game. “A lot of young guys out there. A lot of guys who don’t have a whole lot of major league time, or any, and guys we have high hopes for. So, fun to watch them play today.”
Baltimore, which is 10-2 in Grapefruit League play with many of those young players logging significant innings, has yet to make any cuts from the 63-man roster the club brought to camp. Many of these younger players will eventually be sent to the minor league complex, but Holliday is just one of many who have turned heads already.
Around the horn
• The Orioles gave nonroster invitee Albert Suárez the start against a full Phillies lineup Tuesday and he responded impressively. Suárez pitched three scoreless innings with seven of his nine outs recorded via strikeout. His fastball maxed out at 97.5 mph. Baltimore plans to stretch him out as a starter this spring.
• After leaving Monday’s game in the first inning with right hamstring discomfort, outfielder Cedric Mullins was “still sore” Tuesday, according to Hyde. Mullins might get an MRI to establish some “baseline” imaging of the area, but Hyde maintained that the 29-year-old is “really positive about it.”
• Orioles starter Corbin Burnes pitched a three-inning simulated game Tuesday morning instead of making the trip to Clearwater for the road contest. Tyler Wells will pitch on the back fields Wednesday as well to allow Julio Teheran to make the home start against the Pirates before the club’s day off Thursday.
Grapefruit League
Pirates at Orioles
Wednesday, 6:05 p.m.