Baltimore Orioles No. 1 prospect Jackson Holliday hits 1st career home run in MLB return

Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday, MLB‘s No. 1 prospect, had a dream return to the big club Wednesday, hitting his first career home run.

Not only did Holliday go yard, but his first big league homer was a grand slam. Holliday connected off of Toronto Blue Jays RHP Yerry Rodriguez in the bottom half of the fifth inning to give the Orioles an 8-3 lead. Holliday’s dinger had an exit velocity of 109.2 mph and went 439 feet into the right field flag court of Camden Yards.

JACKSON HOLLIDAY!

His first big league homer is a grand slam! pic.twitter.com/UhYSrT2MiQ

— MLB (@MLB) July 31, 2024

Holliday is the third player in Orioles history (since 1954) to hit a grand slam for his first MLB home run, joining Frank Baker (Sept. 28, 1973) and Fritz Connally (April 19, 1985), per MLB.com.

The Orioles recalled the 20-year-old from Triple-A Norfolk ahead of Wednesday’s game and plugged him into the eight-hole of their potent lineup. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Holliday was first called up to the big leagues less than two weeks after Opening Day.

Expectations were high for Jackson Holliday, the son of former MLB star Matt Holliday, and he didn’t initially live up to the hype. He played in 10 games for Baltimore, slashing .059/.111/.059, driving in just one run and striking out in 18 of his 36 plate appearances. The Orioles sent Holliday back down to the minors on April 26. Now he’s back following an extended stay in Norfolk, where he slashed .271/.431/.477 with 10 home runs, 38 RBIs and 75 walks in 73 games.

“Obviously, this is the best league in the world, and [I] definitely got shown that,” Holliday said ahead of his MLB return. “I feel like I’m definitely more prepared than I was last time.”

Jackson Holliday gets another shot with Orioles after earlier cameo

Holliday is a natural shortstop, but with MVP candidate Gunnar Henderson entrenched at short, Holliday is taking over the reins at second. The Orioles had been starting fellow rookie and top prospect Connor Norby at second but traded him along with Kyle Stowers to the Miami Marlins Tuesday in exchange for LHP Trevor Rogers.

“I think this is a big chance for him, and we’re going to give him some time,” general manager Mike Elias said. “Hopefully, it’s going to be really good. I’m really happy for him and proud of the work that he put in. I don’t want to put any pressure on him — this is a time period where he’s got some runway in front of him because of the vacancy that we have at second base right now.”

Baltimore entered Wednesday’s home tilt 64-44, first place in the ultra-competitive AL East.