Offseason's no Holliday for baseball's top prospect
When you're the No. 1 prospect in baseball, what's a day in your life like during the offseason? Well, Jackson Holliday is no regular prospect -- even in the storied history of top prospects. Holliday, the first pick in the 2022 Draft by the Orioles, is the son of seven-time
When you're the No. 1 prospect in baseball, what's a day in your life like during the offseason?
Well,
The Hollidays initially bought a plot of land that had a barn with an indoor basketball court, but that transitioned into a pickleball court -- Matt is an avid racket sports player. And given their sons' interest in baseball, they added a batting cage, decked out with a Rapsodo machine to measure quality of contact, and a Wiffle ball field next to their newly built home.
Jackson and his wife, Chloe, live in a one-bedroom apartment attached to the sports complex, so there's little need for the 20-year-old infielder to leave the property to get a proper training session in.
Of course, Jackson isn't the only baseball prodigy in the family. Younger brother Ethan, another lefty-swinging infielder, is a top prospect in the Class of 2025.
"When you have a shared passion with your kids, it's fun," Matt Holliday said. "I want them to pursue their passion, whatever that is. For it to be baseball, and you get a chance to participate in that, that makes it more fun for me."
Jackson and Ethan work out with their father, who retired in 2018, six days a week during the offseason. They take mixed BP with different weighted bats and have a leaderboard for highest exit velocity. Matt, 44, can still crush it up to 99 mph, and Jackson (111) narrowly edges out Ethan (110).
The younger Holliday's exit velos even compare favorably to some of the Major Leaguers and top prospects who have worked out at the Holliday complex this winter. Cody Bellinger came through last year -- an especially big deal for Jackson -- and this offseason's visitors include two-time All-Star Joey Gallo, Top 100 prospects Roman Anthony (No. 24), Heston Kjerstad (No. 32) and Xavier Isaac (No. 58) and sixth-ranked 2024 Draft prospect Vance Honeycutt.
Jackson believes Ethan, who's already 2 inches taller than him, is the real deal. The younger Holliday obviously can't go higher in the Draft than Jackson, but they could become the first brothers to both be drafted first overall.
"That would be really cool," Jackson Holliday said. "It's definitely a good possibility. Hopefully it goes as planned, but if not, I can't imagine it's too far down. I know we'll be proud of him."
The competitive environment -- whether stacking up against fellow pros or making friendly bets during lifting sessions -- is preparing Jackson Holliday as best he can for what is expected to be his first Major League season. The Orioles phenom earned MiLB Hitting Prospect of the Year honors in 2023 after slashing .323/.442/.499 across four levels and helping Norfolk win the Triple-A National Championship Game.
Holliday is hoping to be up in the Majors by at least late May, when the O's travel to St. Louis, where Jackson spent much of his childhood while his dad played for the Cardinals. But whenever he gets the call, Baltimore will be getting a talented infielder who's sharpened his skills against some of the best hitters in baseball all winter.
"I don't like losing, so I am pretty excited to be in an org that's going in the right direction," Jackson Holliday said. "All I know from growing up is playoff baseball, and that's hopefully what Orioles fans have to look forward to -- a lot of years in the playoffs."
Ben Weinrib is a contributor for MiLB.com.