'He's going to be really good': Top prospect Jackson Holliday makes first trip to Polar Park

WORCESTER — As Jackson Holliday walked to the plate for his leadoff at-bats in the first two games of a series with the WooSox this week, the top-ranked prospect in baseball was serenaded with — well — holiday music over the loud system at Polar Park.

“Pretty much every ballpark that has a sense of humor (does that),” Holliday said. “It’s fun.”

After the folks at Polar Park dropped the musical bit for Game 3, Holliday, a Norfolk Tides infielder, hammered a 422-foot homer to give his team the lead in the seventh inning of Thursday’s win over the WooSox.

It was his way of spreading his own Holliday cheer.

“That was nice,” Holliday said prior to the Tides’ 9-5 victory over the WooSox Friday night. “I’ll try to do that again.”

After hitting .333 with two home runs and nine RBIs in 10 games with Norfolk to start the season, Holliday earned his first promotion to the big leagues.

In 10 games with the Baltimore Orioles, however, Holliday went 2 for 34 with two walks and 18 strikeouts. He was optioned to Triple A on April 26.

“It’s a little bit unfortunate, but to be able to come down here and kind of relax and work on things and be able to go back up there and compete at a high level and help impact the team is kind of the way that I’m looking at it,” Holliday, 20, said. “I mean, obviously, this isn’t where I want to be, I want to be in the big leagues. But just trying to be present and be where my feet are.”

This week, Holliday was joined in Worcester by his family.

His father, Matt Holliday, spent 14 years in Major League Baseball, playing for the Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees. Holliday’s two younger brothers, mother and wife also joined him in the Canal District.

Having his family with him at the park presented a full-circle moment for Holliday, who spent his childhood following his father around different ballparks.

“The game of baseball is very special to my family, and to be able to share that with them and be able to have them here is really cool,” Holliday said.

Since returning to the Tide, Holliday has hit .213 with three home runs in May. The smooth-swinging lefty is trying to simplify his approach and rebuild his confidence at the plate.

“I felt really good in spring training, and going into the beginning of the year, and obviously had a little of a down stretch,” Holliday said. “So just trying to build back up a little bit and get my confidence up. (I) obviously had a good swing (Thursday) and a few misses that were positive even though they were outs.

“Just trying to reframe that. It’s hard, baseball is really hard, and just being able to adjust fast and find the positives in each and every at-bat.”

As Holliday approached the batter’s box for his first at-bat Wednesday, WooSox catcher Nathan Hickey shared a laugh with Holliday about the Polar Park music selection.

“I was like ‘Yo, you pick this one? This is a fire walkup song,’ ” Hickey recalled. “He just laughed, he’s a great kid.”

The two baseball prospects have played against each other a few times through the years, and Hickey even played in one summer league in Oklahoma under Holliday’s grandfather, Tom, who served as Hickey’s manager.

“To put a face to the name is pretty cool,” Hickey, 24, said. “He’s going to be really good.”

The top-ranked prospect in baseball hopes to graduate from that distinction, soon, and rejoin the big-league club in Baltimore. But for right now, Holliday is taking it one swing at a time.

No matter what music plays before his at-bats.

“I’m excited to be able to get back up there,” Holliday said. “Hopefully sooner (rather) than later and use that experience to help maybe kick-start a great rest of the year.”

—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44. 

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Orioles prospect Jackson Holliday enjoys first trip to Polar Park