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Holliday makes his 1st spring homer a slam

Jackson Holliday fulfilled his promise to make the Baltimore Orioles Opening Day Roster.

On Sunday, Holliday went deep for the first time this spring (and in an Orioles uniform too), in grand fashion. He delivered a first-inning grand slam off left-hander Yusei Kikuchi in the Orioles’ 11-6 split-squad victory over the Blue Jays at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla.

It was undoubtedly a left-on-left blast to right field from Holliday, who could it was gone the second he hit it. Out of all his 13 Minor League home runs, none have come off southpaws.

“First lefty homer of my professional career,” Holliday said. “I’m going to count it, even though it’s Spring Training.”

After going 1-for-4 on Sunday, Holliday is 8-for-28 (.286) in nine Grapefruit League matches. Jackson has two doubles, two triples and five RBIs to match a .917 OPS.

He continues to show that he can take on big-league pitchers. On Tuesday, he hit a first-inning double off Phillie right-hander Zack Wheeler (a former All-Star) as part of a 3-for-4 performance. Holliday went 1-for-2 against Kikuchi, another ex-All-Star who had a 3.86 ERA in 32 starts for Toronto last year.

“I feel like it’s accomplishing whenever you get a hit,” Holliday said. “You go back to the dugout and maybe you don’t get a hit, you’re like, ‘All right, well, he’s a big leaguer, and that’s where I want to be.’ Now, I’ve got a little bit more on him now than I did before.

“I haven’t faced any of these guys before, and maybe in the season, I’ve already got a good idea of what I want to do.”

Although Holliday has been raking at the plate, he has seven hits in his part 21 at-bats after a 1-for-7 beginning to the spring, he has demonstrated that he can handle second base too. Jackson has made seven of his nine starts a second, where he will likely play for a while once he reaches the big leagues. This could be on the Opening Day (March 28 vs. the Angels at Camden Yards) or later in the season.

Holliday is doing everything in his power to enter Baltimore’s roster. He continues to impress during his second year in big league camp, fresh off a 2023 Minor League campaign where he played at all four full-season affiliates.

Son of former All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday and No.1 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Jackson Holliday could make his debut in the Majors with just 145 games of Minors experience under his belt. A grand slam merely showed the kid is ready.

“I don’t think it can hurt it, right?” Holliday said. “I’m not trying to think about it too much. Just trying to go out there and enjoy playing and getting experience. I enjoy being around these guys and watching them do their thing, and it’s been a lot of fun so far.”