Baseball America's latest prospect rankings cement Jackson Holliday's fall from grace

This season was supposed to be the breakthrough campaign for Jackson Holliday, but things have not gone to plan. Jackson was the first overall pick for the Orioles in the 2022 draft and had been an out of this world talent.

At just 20 years of age he had already advanced to AAA, and become baseball's best prospect. Things had never looked better for the young phenom but this season has brought him back to earth.

At the beginning of this season, Holliday was invited to his second spring training with the Orioles, where he again performed very well. Holliday was so good that it came as a surprise to many that he was optioned to triple-A Norfolk instead of being placed on the opening day roster.

Holliday nonetheless reported to Norfolk and went to work doing what he does best. In 10 games with the Tides, Holliday slashed .333/.482/.595 with five doubles, two homers, nine RBI's and a stolen base to go along with a 8/12 K/BB ratio. Finally, on April 10, 2024, Jackson Holliday's dreams came true as he officially became a major leaguer.

Jackson Holliday's debut with the Orioles did not go as planned

Unfortunately, Jackson's first stint in the majors did not work out. He went just 2-34, both hits being singles, notched just one RBI and 18 strikeouts against just two walks over ten games in April. The Birds decided to send Holliday back to the minors to work things out but for some reason, he has not been able to return to form.

In the 46 games Holliday has played since returning to Norfolk he's slashing .253/.429/.434. He does have 12 doubles and six home runs to go with 20 RBI's, but he's hitting far below his career numbers. Possibly the most concerning part is Holliday's .336 BABIP which shows that he's not getting unlucky when he's hitting the ball, he's just not hitting the ball as much as he normally does.

With Holliday struggling to regain his form, Baseball America selected a new top prospect in their updated rankings. Holliday originally fell to #2 in early June when Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes supplanted Holliday. Since then, Skenes, who's continued to dominate hitters at the major league level, has lost his prospect status.

Holliday had an opportunity to reclaim the top spot but was again named the #2 prospect in July. This time it is James Wood, the Washington Nationals outfielder who recently made his MLB debut, who took the top spot.

Even though this season hasn't been what we all expected it to be for Holliday, it's still no reason to panic. Being the #2 prospect in all of baseball is still an incredible accomplishment. Holliday is just 20 years old and has years to develop before anyone should consider him a bust. Skenes is 22 years old and had three years in college to develop. Wood is over a year older than Holliday and had that extra year to develop as well.

The Orioles front office has made all the right moves when it comes to Holliday and they will continue to do so. Right now Jackson is fighting through his first real rough patch but I have no doubts that he will come out the other side of this a better player. There's no reason to rush him along and when he's ready the Orioles will have a spot on the field for him.