Ladies and gentlemen, he may be back….
After struggling MIGHTILY to begin his major league career, the Orioles optioned the games top prospect back down to AAA Norfolk, to make some adjustments after he was just simply overmatched against big league pitching.
It took awhile for Jackson awhile to get re-acclimated to AAA pitching, but now, it looks like he’s getting back into the form we all know he’s capable of. Jackson Holliday is heating up; Let’s dive into it:
In Jackson Holliday's first two games back in AAA after being demoted, he went just 1 for 8. Since then he is hitting 9 for 29, which is good for a .310 batting average. 5 of those 9 hits have gone for extra bases, including his first home run since being demoted on Wednesday night. He’s walking a ton, and has an impressive on base percentage over .400 since his return to AAA. Perhaps the most important thing for me is his strikeout rate is WAY down compared to his time in the major leagues. Big league pitchers struck out Holliday 53% of the time, and that rate is just 24% since his return to the minor leagues.
Just a week ago, it looked like Holliday was due to stay in the minor leagues for a few months while he was struggling even UPON his demotion back to AAA. He would have a good game, and then follow that up with a bad one. He wasn’t showing the consistency that would be needed for a return trip to the big leagues.
Now, he’s put together several good games in a row. You could see it coming too, because his strikeout rate was decreasing, meaning he was having some better at bats. At first, the hits weren’t really falling, but now they are. Multihit games have become commonplace for Holliday, who now looks to prove to the Orioles that he can continue this stretch in the weeks ahead.
I still don’t personally feel that a Holliday call-up is imminent; after how poor his first stint in the big leagues went, the Orioles are gonna want to be CERTAIN that he’s ready for the next level before his call-up. There’s still a few things the Orioles want to continue to work on with Holliday in the minors, including a few mechanical adjustments, as well and continuing to get more comfortable with his new position, second base. The Orioles aren’t gonna want to make a fool of themselves by rushing him back up AGAIN, and having him struggle AGAIN. If Jackson dominates AAA for a few months and they bring him up and he struggles again, thats one thing. But if they bring him up after he has one good week in AAA, and he struggles again, thats on them. The O’s aren’t gonna put themselves in that position again.
But all of the talk about Jackson being a bust, not being good, or being ruined, those are all over. Jackson Holliday is looking like he might be back. We’ll see how he does in the coming weeks, and here’s what we DO know: I will be keeping you all in the loop with how Holliday is doing in the weeks ahead while he’s still in the minor leagues. So you don’t miss out on any of those updates, be sure to subscribe and turn those notifications on. If you’re excited for Jackson Holliday getting heated back up, SMASH that thumbs up button, and let me know when YOU think the Orioles are going to recall Holliday back to the majors down in the comments. If you made it all the way to the end of this video, I really appreciate YOU. Thanks, and I’ll catch you all in the next one.
4 окт 2024
