One of baseball’s top prospects doesn’t need to look far for advice and guidance
MEMPHIS – Baseball has always been known as a game of failure.
No one knows that better than one of the game’s top prospects, the Orioles’ Jackson Holliday. The 20-year old struggling in his first big league call-up where he went 2 for 34.
Now, the top pick in the 2022 draft is back in Triple-A with the Norfolk Tides and eager for a second chance.
“To be able to come down here and have some success and really feel the different speeds, I feel like I do belong in the big leagues,” Holliday said. “To get my swing back into a good spot, to go out there and compete and have some success to help us win, is what’s important.”
Along for the ride with Jackson, watching from the stands this week in Memphis is his Dad.
But this father knows a thing or two about baseball. He’s 15-year MLB veteran, 7-time All-Star and 2011 World Series Champion with the St. Louis Cardinals Matt Holliday.
“I try to go see him quite a bit. I got a chance to go to Boston when he made his debut and saw his home debut in Baltimore.”
It’s been a fun week for the Holliday family with Matt playing 8 seasons with the Cardinals and watching Jackson face Dad’s former organization and long time friend Matt Carpenter.
“Yeah, it’s awesome. I spent a lot of time in the Cardinals clubhouse, me and my brother. So it’s always got a special place for me,” Jackson said. “Obviously, Matt Carpenter’s rehabbing and it’s really cool to be able to play against the Cardinals because that’s kind of where I grew up.”
“It’s a little surreal,” Matt Holliday said. “I don’t know if he feels old or I feel old. Somebody should feel old about this. That Jackson and him are playing against each other.”
Matt retired from the pros in 2018 but he still remembers the early days of his career. When he was struggling, still figuring things out at the major league level. He knows exactly what Jackson is currently going through.
“In baseball, it’s real subtle. It’s just small little things that, if they get off, it can really impact your production. But you’re really never that far away from getting back to where you want to be,” Matt said. “So understanding it’s not a big adjustment. It’s just little things.”
The 4-time silver slugger is always there for swing tips when Jackson asks.
“He understands my swing about as well as anybody. To be able to talk to him about that. To have him here to remind me, what to do a little bit, it’s been good.”
But mostly, his role is to be a supportive dad.
“Just keeping things in good perspective,” Holliday reminds his son. “He’s out here playing baseball as a 20 year old. Just encouraging him to just enjoy it while he can because it doesn’t last forever.”
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