Orioles’ Jackson Holliday optioned to Triple-A after 10 games: How surprising is this?

By Brittany Ghiroli, Sam Blum and Alex Andrejev

The Baltimore Orioles have optioned infielder Jackson Holliday — the No. 1 MLB Draft pick in 2022 — to Triple-A Norfolk after 10 major-league games, the team announced Friday.

The Orioles called up Holliday, who ranked No. 1 on The Athletic’s Keith Law’s top 100 MLB prospects for 2024, earlier this month. He’s slashing .059/.111/.059 with two hits and 18 strikeouts through 34 at-bats this season. Additionally, Holliday is missing on 49.2 percent of his swings and 59.4 percent of fastballs he swung at. His in-zone contact rate was 64.9 percent (82 percent is league average).

In his Orioles debut against the Boston Red Sox on April 10, Holliday started at second base and batted ninth in the 7-5 win. He went 0-for-4 while driving in a run with a groundout, and turned a double play in the second inning but later missed a basket catch with his back to the infield.

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In corresponding moves Friday, Baltimore selected outfielder Ryan McKenna’s contract from Triple-A Norfolk and designated catcher David Bañuelos for assignment.

We have made the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/gatOuLknN9

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 26, 2024

How to view the move

Holliday is hardly the first top prospect to start his big-league career in dubious fashion. Alex Bregman, Kris Bryant and Derek Jeter all struggled and/or were demoted and all had pretty impressive careers.

Holliday will get a chance to reset down in Triple-A, where he was raking before his promotion, and he undoubtedly is a huge part of the Orioles’ future. The last thing the organization wants to do is damage his psyche or make him question himself. — Britt Ghiroli, MLB senior writer

The Orioles are a first place team, trying to win the toughest division in baseball for the second straight year. Many calculations need to be made before making a big decision like this. But chief among them is doing what’s best for the team. Another is how a team believes the player will handle a demotion. Holliday understood he was struggling and was accountable for that. If there’s any 20-year-old equipped to deal with this, it’s him. He believed that his offense was turning a corner. But ultimately, this decision reflects the fact that the Orioles’ active roster isn’t a place right now for a young struggling player to develop. — Sam Blum, MLB staff writer