Holliday: "It's pretty neat to be in this position"

SARASOTA, Fla. – Jackson Holliday isn’t in Orioles camp to soak in the atmosphere, get acclimated to the coaching staff and wait to be summoned into manager Brandon Hyde’s office with news that he’s reassigned to the minor league side.

Holliday could sit down again with Hyde and executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias, but this time to be congratulated for making the team.

Only a few months past his 20^th birthday.

As the No. 1 prospect in baseball.

“It’s a little bit more exciting, right?” Holliday said this morning in his first media scrum at his locker. “You get a chance to make the team. But just trying to take it day by day and enjoy these guys and enjoy getting better.”

The idea of Holliday getting better must scare the rest of the league.

Elias provided the money quote at the Winter Meetings by saying that Holliday was “definitely a very strong possibility” to head north with the team for Opening Day. Playing only 18 games at Triple-A Norfolk last season, his fourth affiliate stop, wasn’t viewed as a deterrent.

Special cases can receive special treatment.

“I mean, it’s pretty neat to be in this position,” said Holliday, the first-overall pick in the 2022 draft and son of seven-time All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday.

“Excited to be in this position. Obviously, to make the big leagues out of camp would be pretty awesome, so I’d say it’s encouraging and exciting.”

Holliday could play his way off the roster, as Grayson Rodriguez did last spring. His performance matters. The Orioles aren’t giving away jobs.

“Just trying to get better every day,” he said. “I’m not trying to do anything crazy. Just play my game. And talking to certain guys, that’s what their advice was is to just keep playing the game that I love and not change too much. Just trying to get better and learn more every day.”

Coby Mayo was one of Holliday’s Norfolk teammates, and the positive impression was immediate. There isn’t a gradual build to it.

“I think the Orioles did a good job putting him in a good spot to succeed,” Mayo said. “He’s worked hard, he earned it. There’s always going to be ups and downs, but I think he handled them well when he got there. You’ve got to keep doing that throughout the years because you’re going to struggle and you’re going to go through those ups and down. It’s just how you balance them out.

“I think he gave himself a good shot here to try to do great things and make the team. He’s worked hard obviously all offseason and he’s come in ready to go.”

The Orioles want Holliday to stay in the middle of the infield, with extra work at second base because he seems to have mastered shortstop.

Holliday can serve as Gunnar Henderson’s double play partner on days that they’re in the lineup together. Henderson also can shift to third.

“The plan is to be able to play second base and shortstop at a high level, so just making sure I’m ready at second base,” Holliday said. “I’m just getting stronger every day. You look around the locker room, guys are really physical, and I knew that was something I needed to improve on. And with my swing, just cleaning things up and working on my direction and making sure that I’m ready.”

Holliday has made 25 starts at second base as a professional, compared to 110 at short.

“So far in practice, it has been pretty good,” Holliday said. “Just learning bits and pieces and trying to put them together, trying to stay athletic with it. I think it’s a position that you just have to be athletic with and just play the game, and it will come naturally.”

Holliday batted a combined .323/.442/.499 in 125 games last summer, with 30 doubles, nine triples, 12 home runs, 75 RBIs, 101 walks and 24 stolen bases in 581 plate appearances. He posted a .396 on-base percentage in 91 plate appearances in the International League, but his OPS of .796 was considerably lower than the .928 at Double-A Bowie.

“It’s a lot different,” Holliday said. “You’re playing against guys that have been in the big leagues, and some of them that have been in the big leagues for a long time. It was a little different, but I think toward the end I started to adjust a lot better. Just compared to Double-A, Triple-A, I’d say the guys can throw it wherever they want a little bit more. In Double-A, there’s probably a little better stuff, but once I got to Triple-A, I noticed that I needed to be a little bit more particular with the pitches that I swing at, because they like to nibble.

“I think I learned a lot and I think I’m in a better position than I was at the end of the year.”

Holliday finished 2022 at Single-A Delmarva and returned to the Shorebirds last year, but only for 14 games. His rise was meteoric. It left a vapor trail. And he left jaws hanging with his skills and maturity at such a young age.

“I was just trying to go out there and enjoy it and take it day by day,” he said. “I was excited with how the season went and looking forward to this one.”

To a major league debut that could happen on March 28 at Camden Yards. Jogging down the orange carpet to a rousing ovation.

Is he ready?

“Yeah, absolutely,” Holliday said. “I’m as ready as I can be, I think. I’m excited.”

* The Orioles announced their spring training guest coaches:

Scott McGregor: Feb. 18-25
Brian Roberts: Feb. 20-24
J.J. Hardy: Feb. 22-28
Ben McDonald: Feb. 22-27
Eddie Murray: Feb. 28-March 4
Robinson Chirinos: March 1-5
Adam Jones: March 2-9
Matt Wieters: March 5-8