What MLB’s top prospect has shared about his faith
Baseball has a new young superstar.
Jackson Holliday, 20, is set to make his MLB debut with the Baltimore Orioles Wednesday in Boston, less than two years after being selected as the first overall pick in the 2022 draft.
Holliday has been widely hyped as the sport’s top prospect, but he has refused to let his on-field achievements get in the way of his Christian faith.
“Jesus died on the cross for our sins because we’re obviously not perfect, and we sin a lot,” Holliday said on the “Sports Spectrum” podcast in 2022. “For Him to love us so much, for Him to send his only Son to die for us, I am forever grateful for that.”
The son of seven-time MLB All Star Matt Holliday, Jackson is expected to start at second base going forward for the defending American League east champion Orioles.
In 155 career minor league contests, Holliday batted .321 with 187 hits, 93 RBI and a stellar .451 on base percentage.
Holliday has shared his desire to use baseball as a way to honor God and share his beliefs. He and his wife even spent part of their offseason this past winter on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic serving underprivileged youth.
“Faith has always been important to me. I’m so grateful to be raised in a Christian home and have such great examples around me of how to be a follower of Christ,” Holliday told His Huddle. “Faith plays a major role in baseball and my life. I want to honor the Lord in everything that I do and I try to represent that on the field, through my actions and how I carry myself on and off the field.”
Baltimore is stacked with young talent. Budding superstars Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson each debuted within the past two years, and they were both listed as top prospects at the time of their arrival.
Like Holliday, Rutschman and Henderson are devout Christians. They take part in team Bible studies and Sunday chapel services with their Orioles teammates.
“To have guys you can lean on in that sense and be able to both have that love of Christ and be able just to coach each other and help each other along the way, it’s been really cool to have those guys that I can lean on,” Henderson said last year, according to CBS News.
