Jackson Holiday has been called up.
The Baltimore Orioles officially announced the move Wednesday after the infielder got off to a strong start to the season with their Triple-A affiliate. Holiday, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, is one of baseball's top prospects.
The Orioles also announced that Holiday will wear No. 7. This jersey number was worn by Cal Ripken Sr. during his more than 35 years as coach and manager of the Orioles. His son, Orioles baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr., who is now part-owner of the team, is thrilled, along with his family, that Holliday chose to wear his father's jersey number. posted on X.
our family is excited about it @J_Holliday7 He will be wearing his dad's number 7…I can't wait to watch him play!
— Cal Ripken Jr. (@CalRipkenJr) April 10, 2024
Holliday, who developed through the Orioles' minor league club last season, had a great spring training with the Orioles this year. He then returned to the Norfolk Tides to start the season. He appeared in 10 games for the Tides, hitting .333/.482/.595 with nine RBIs and two home runs.
“He's very, very close,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said of Holiday on ESPN before the season started. “He's way ahead of schedule. He's doing amazingly well. We couldn't be more excited about his future. But you're talking about… It's about the development of a player who has the opportunity to be one of the better players, if not better, in the league. ”
It's unclear where the 20-year-old, the son of longtime MLB outfielder Matt Holliday, will fit in with the Orioles. He was drafted as a shortstop out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, but played second base this season at Norfolk.
Holiday will join the Orioles in Boston on Wednesday. They started a three-game series at Fenway Park with a 7-1 win on Tuesday. The Orioles, who won over 100 games last season for the first time since 1980, enter Wednesday's game with a 6-4 record.
