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Jackson Holliday is poised to take the MLB by storm after being called up by the Orioles following a scorching hot start to his Triple-A season.
The prospect has been viewed as one of baseball’s hottest commodities for the past couple of years, and it’s safe to say Buster Olney was very ahead of the curve based on what he had to say about his future when he was still in elementary school.
In 2022, the Baltimore Orioles selected Jackson Holliday (the son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday) with the first overall pick in the MLB Draft. He’d initially committed to play baseball at Oklahoma State when he was still a freshman in high school, but he opted to turn pro after setting a record by inking a contract that boasted an $8.19 million signing bonus.
Holliday wasted no time working his way up the ladder in Baltimore’s farm system after kicking off the 2023 campaign with their Single-A affiliate. After posting an absurd .396 batting average in his first 14 games, he was upgraded to High-A before making the leap to Double-A less than three months later en route to being named Minor League Player of the Year.
The infielder headed into the current MLB season as the league’s top overall prospect, and there were plenty of people who thought he’d earn a spot on the Orioles roster when spring training wrapped up. However, they opted to send him down to Triple-A to do his thing with the Norfolk Tides, where he batted .333 while hitting a couple of home runs and recording 9 RBI in his first 10 games.
On Wednesday, the Orioles announced they’d decided to call Holliday up to The Show, and he’s expected to make his MLB debut against the Red Sox less than 24 hours after getting the nod.
Now, only time will tell if Holliday will follow in his dad’s footsteps and get selected to at least one All-Star Game at some point in the future, but it certainly seems like it’s in the cards.
If that does happen, longtime ESPN reporter Buster Olney will be able to take a very well-earned victory lap after predicting that would end up being the case less than a month before the rising star celebrated his 10th birthday in 2013.
Matt Holliday's son: Future All-Star.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 14, 2013
When you consider Holliday is the son of a former MLB player, that (as of yet unfulfilled) prophecy might not be as impressive as the one issued by a guy who predicted Paige Bueckers would be a basketball sensation when she was still in middle school, but it’s still pretty damn impressive.