In many instances, fans criticize an organization’s failure to call up a seemingly MLB-ready prospect and chalk it up to service time manipulation.
Many times, they are right.
However, there are a few instances in which teams just want to make sure their prospects have completed every step of the journey to prove they are physically and mentally ready for what it means to be a major leaguer.
Playing in MLB is much more than excelling at Double-A or Triple-A: it requires some maturity and preparedness for certain moments or situations.
In the specific case of the Baltimore Orioles, they held Jackson Holliday in the minors for all of last year and to start 2024 despite calls from everywhere to bring him up.
Time ended up proving them right, at least for now: the kid just didn’t perform in his first shot and the organization decided to send him back to Triple-A for some seasoning.
“The Orioles have optioned Jackson Holliday to Triple-A. Holliday had a .059/.111/.170 slash line in his first stint in the Majors,” FOX Sports: MLB tweeted.
In many cases, people just assume that because a prospect had great Double-A or Triple-A numbers, he is ready for prime time.
However, for all the success he has had in the minor leagues (and in spring training), Holliday just has 28 games of Triple-A experience: 18 last year, and 10 in 2024.
That, and his young age (20 years old) likely caused him to slump in MLB: he hit a meager .059/.111/.059, and could only log a couple of singles in 36 plate appearances.
The gap between Triple-A and MLB, in talent level, is perhaps bigger than ever, and Holliday is a perfect example of that.
Orioles fans shouldn’t be worried: he will be back eventually, probably later in the year, and he is still destined for greatness.
This is just a minor bump in the road.
