Home cooking: Holliday treat for IronBirds faithful

More than two weeks and 11 games later, Jackson Holliday finally got a chance to suit up in front of the home fans at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium.

Baseball's No. 10 overall prospect didn't disappoint.

Holliday capped his third consecutive multihit game with a solo homer to put an exclamation point on High-A Aberdeen's 11-0 win over visiting Hudson Valley on Tuesday night. The 19-year-old scored three runs and also swiped his eighth base -- fifth since his promotion -- to spearhead the IronBirds' 16-hit onslaught.

Promoted to Aberdeen after torching Carolina League pitching to the tune of a .392/.523/.667 slash line in 13 games, Holliday has shown no difficulty adjusting to the South Atlantic League despite being the youngest player on the circuit. The son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday carries a .955 OPS in his first 42 at-bats for the IronBirds.

Having already contributed a single, two runs scored and a stolen base, the Stillwater, Okla., native brought the home fans to their feet in the eighth inning with his second long ball for Aberdeen and his fourth overall.

After going deep once in his first 31 career games dating back to his professional debut in 2022, Holliday has slugged four roundtrippers in his last 14 games, beginning with his first multihomer performance on April 21 with Single-A Delmarva.

Despite being more than three years younger than the average player in the SAL, Holliday appears right at home with his elder peers. The left-handed-hitting shortstop has hit safely in eight of his last nine games with Aberdeen after going hitless in his first two.

"I'm excited to be here. Excited to join a good team of guys I've been around since the [MLB] Draft," Holliday told reporters before the game. "We know each other pretty well and it's been fun so far. It's definitely the right place to be right now."

Through 11 games, Holliday has scored 10 runs, driven in five and amassed four extra-base hits. A 9-for-21 stretch has lifted his average to .310 for the IronBirds. Overall, the 6-foot, 185-pounder is slashing .355/.483/.602 with 20 RBIs and as many walks (23) as strikeouts in 24 games, 11 of those featuring two or more hits.

"I mean obviously it's a higher level than Delmarva and the competition is better," Holliday said. "It's been a little of an adjustment at the beginning but I feel like I'm in a good spot right now.

"I'm excited to be here and trying to get out of here as fast as possible now. That's the new goal."