Jackson Holliday: Does the kid have less of a spotlight shining on him this season?
His O's teammates see an unflappable young talent with a big future
BALTIMORE – As he navigates his first full season in the major leagues, O’s 21-year-old infielder Jackson Holliday seems far removed from the days when he was ranked the No. 1 prospect in the majors.
Of course that was just last year. So he’s not that far away.
But maybe for the first time since he arrived in the majors amid so much fanfare, he can be, for now, just another Oriole.
A young kid with a lot of talent trying to find his way, just like so many others around the sport, at baseball’s highest level.
A lot is expected and while his stats are better this season, he entered Monday batting just .163 his last 15 games.
Holliday in 60 games last year hit .189/.255/.311/.565.
Holliday in 23 games this year through Sunday has hit .233/.317/.356/.673.
A few of his O’s teammates and manager Brandon Hyde are so impressed with Holliday – how he handled all the white-hot attention he got as MLB’s No. 1 prospect a season ago and how is handling the ups and downs of the big leagues in his second season now.
Manager Brandon Hyde
“I thought he handled everything incredibly well last year. I thought the pressure was overwhelming and pretty ridiculous for somebody that young to try to perform at this level. The amount of attention and hype I thought was unfair a lot of times.
“I think he has handled everything really well again this year. I think he is more comfortable, you can see that. But how he handled everything last year I was really impressed with.”