Top-ranked prospect Jackson Holliday hits grand slam in 1st game back from the minors

BALTIMORE -- A day after the trade deadline, the Baltimore Orioles made another big addition.

And boy did he deliver.

Jackson Holliday connected for a fifth-inning grand slam for his first major league home run after being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday for his second shot at the major leagues. Holliday, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, made his big league debut earlier this season, but went 2 for 34 at the plate with 18 strikeouts and was sent back down.

After grounding out his first two times up, Holliday hit a 439-foot drive to right field that was so obviously gone he paused a bit before starting his trot. Holliday then took a bit of a curtain call, waving to the crowd from the dugout.

The Orioles went on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-4.

“As best as I can hit a ball,” Holliday said. “That's about all I got.”

It was plenty. Holliday's hit was the seventh homer this season to reach Eutaw Street in front of the warehouse at Camden Yards. He became the third Orioles player — and first since Fritz Connally in 1985 — to hit a grand slam for his first major league homer.

The 20-year-old Holliday is also the youngest Oriole to hit a grand slam.

“I'm really glad he got to have that moment, here at home in Camden Yards,” Baltimore right-hander Grayson Rodriguez said. “Pretty cool fan reaction, obviously a great reaction in the dugout.”

Holliday nearly went deep again later in the game, but his line drive down the line in left was ruled just foul. Then the young second baseman started a double play to end the game in the ninth.

Holliday is emblematic of a Baltimore team that still feels it can use its farm system to provide direct help for the major league club — instead of simply trading prospects for established big leaguers. The Orioles did plenty of the latter as well, acquiring two starting pitchers, a couple bullpen arms and some potential help for the outfield before Tuesday's deadline.

But Baltimore didn't land a real top-of-the-rotation type of pitcher. Tarik Skubal and Blake Snell, for example, stayed with Detroit and San Francisco, and the Orioles held onto Holliday, catching prospect Samuel Basallo and minor league infield slugger Coby Mayo.

“Every time a ranking came out, Holliday, Basallo and Mayo were ranked higher and higher and higher,” general manager Mike Elias said. “You got three very young kids that are consensus top-15 prospects in all of baseball. The value on that makes it very hard to find something to trade them for that makes any sense.”

The Orioles lead the AL East but have also lost 19 of their last 35 games. With their wealth of young position players in both the majors and minors, they were a team that could have conceivably made a huge splash, but throughout baseball this was a deadline in which few big names moved.

Baltimore acquired Zach Eflin from Tampa Bay and Trevor Rogers from Miami to boost the rotation. Both are still under team control next season, too.

“Some of the real crazy big names that people were throwing around didn't get traded at all,” Elias said. “I think all things considered we got two of the better starting pitchers available this deadline, and also they're controllable beyond this season.”

This was Baltimore's first trade deadline since new owner David Rubenstein took over the team at the beginning of this season, and it's noteworthy that the Orioles took on Eflin, who is due to make $18 million next year.

Perhaps that's a sign that spending could increase in Baltimore going forward.

“I think the ownership group is going to maximize the potential of this franchise," Elias said. "This is not New York City, this is not Los Angeles, but it is a really good baseball town with an extremely passionate, historic fan base and a beautiful stadium that we are going to not only renovate but hopefully monetize a lot better over the next few years.”

Baltimore also traded for outfielder Eloy Jiménez, who is finishing up a $43 million, six-year deal that includes team options the next two seasons. The Orioles are receiving $4 million from the White Sox along with Jiménez. He would get a $3 million buyout if Baltimore doesn’t pick up his 2025 option, and Chicago would pay half of that as well.

Holliday, the son of former outfielder Matt Holliday, is No. 1 in MLB Pipeline's prospect ranking. Baltimore had room for him after sending infielder Connor Norby to Miami in the deal for Rogers. Infielder Jorge Mateo is not expected back for a while because of an elbow injury, and third baseman Jordan Westburg went down with a broken hand Wednesday.

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