Baltimore Orioles fans will have to wait a bit longer to see their chosen one.
The Orioles announced Friday that top phenom Jackson Holliday is being reassigned to Minor League camp. That means Holliday will not be on the Opening Day roster for the 2024 season.
The news on Holliday comes as a surprise since he is the No. 1-ranked prospect in baseball and looked very much ready to contribute to the big-league roster. He hit .311 with a .954 OPS in spring training, racking up two homers, six RBIs, six runs scored, and two stolen bases over 15 games.
It is possible that service-time considerations played a role in the Orioles’ decision to have Holliday start off the season in the minor leagues (though under the MLB CBA, Holliday could automatically earn a full year of service by finishing in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting).
But the 20-year-old shortstop, the top overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, should get the call-up before long, especially with the way that he was already torching the minors.
