Tag: Jackson Holliday

Underage Jackson Holliday gets ‘baby’s first Clinchmas’ after Orioles grab playoff spot

Complete with baby bottles.

The Baltimore Orioles are officially in the playoffs as an AL Wild Card team, and you know what that means! Time to party with some bubbly stuff and beer.

But young Jackson Holliday is only 20 years old, so he can’t legally celebrate in the same way as his older teammates. So someone in the clubhouse set up a bird bath with baby bottles, some drawings of the Oriole Bird as if they were colored by a kid and a sign proclaiming “baby’s first Clinchmas 2024.”

Given Holliday’s talent, there’s no doubt there will be more Clinchmases when he’s able to drink legally.

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David Fletcher struck out Jackson Holliday in his first start as a knuckleball pitcher amid gambling investigation

Fletcher’s story keeps getting stranger.

Former utility infielder David Fletcher is looking at one of the wilder career arcs we’ll see from any baseball player.

Fletcher, who used to play for the Los Angeles Angels with Shohei Ohtani, was put under investigation this year for gambling ties to the same bookmaker that Ohtani’s ex-interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, placed bets with. Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers and pled guilty to federal charges.

Fletcher, though, continued to play in the Braves’ minor league organization. Recently, he wanted to make the move from infielder to full-time knuckleball pitcher. On Wednesday, he got his first chance with the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers. And the start actually went well for Fletcher.

In his start against Orioles affiliate Norfolk Tides, Fletcher went five innings and allowed two runs on three hits. He also struck out six batters, which included Orioles top prospect Jackson Holliday.

The knuckleball has become somewhat of a lost art in today’s MLB given the game’s emphasis on location and velocity. The Padres’ Matt Waldron is the lone active pitcher who throws a knuckleball as a primary pitch. He does so for about 38 percent of his pitch distribution, so even Waldron wouldn’t be a true knuckleball pitcher. But if Fletcher can prove himself as a legitimate MLB-caliber knuckleballer, it would be some twist to his ongoing saga.

At the very least, he showed that he can hold his own against Triple-A competition.

See the heartwarming moment Jackson Holliday learned he was being called up by the Orioles

Video shows the moment Jackson Holliday learned he was being called up, and it involved his dad, ex-MLBer Jackson Holliday.

We always love seeing videos of minor leaguers learning that they’re getting called up to Major League Baseball, and this one is a very special one.

That’s because it’s Jackson Holliday, the infielder taken by the Baltimore Orioles first overall in the 2022 MLB draft. He’s the son of former MLB star Matt Holliday, so it’s pretty awesome to see. And the way the younger Holliday learned was hearing about how he should call his dad to put him on the list of guests, just like Jackson was on Matt’s list of guests when he was a kid.

Check it out:

Druw Jones’ contract with the Diamondbacks set a high school record

Druw Jones’ reported contract sets a record for MLB draft picks out of high school, and Jackson Holliday’s bonus might eclipse it.

The hype for outfielder Druw Jones has existed for essentially his entire life as the son of former MLB All-Star Andruw Jones. He lived up to this in his high school career, dominating the prep diamond, and is now getting paid in anticipation for what’s to come.

Jones was selected second overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2022 MLB draft. The two sides almost immediately reached an agreement, with Jones signing a deal with an $8,189,400 bonus, according to MLB.com.

It breaks the previous high school record of $7.7 million that was set in 2019 by another son of a former major league player, Bobby Witt Jr., who was drafted by the Kansas City Royals.

Jones’ contract is the full slot value for the No. 2 pick, according to MLB’s Steve Gilbert.

He might not hold the record for long. The Associated Press reported that the No. 1 pick, Jackson Holliday, also has a deal in place for more than $8 million. If it is for full slot value, the signing bonus would be $8.84 million.

There are only three other players who have received bonuses of at least $8 million, according to CBS Sports. Spencer Torkelson received a record $8.4 million from the Detroit Tigers in 2020, while Adley Rutschman and Gerrit Cole also reached that plateau in 2019 and 2011, respectively.

MLB draft: 4 high school players go in top 5 for 1st time in 20 years

Led by Jackson Holliday, the top of the MLB draft was centered around prep prospects.

There has been some consistency atop the MLB draft in recent years: Teams are more comfortable with college baseball players at the top of their draft board.

The 2022 draft bucked that trend. Led by Jackson Holliday out of Stillwater High School (Okla.) selected by the Baltimore Orioles with the first overall pick, four of the first five players were high school athletes. It took until the sixth pick overall for someone who played at university last season to be selected.

It was a trend certainly intensified by the lack of visibility high school players had during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it didn’t start with the 2020 draft. Over the last four seasons, a combined four total high schoolers had been picked in the top five. That number was matched on Sunday night.

After the Orioles selected Holliday, the Arizona Diamondbacks took outfielder Druw Jones of Wesleyan High School (Ga.) at No. 2. Kumar Rocker, who was selected 10th overall in 2021 but did not sign with the New York Mets, went No. 3 to the Texas Rangers. Termarr Johnson of Mays High School (Ga.) and Elijah Green of IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) rounded out the top five.

To find a draft this top-heavy of high schoolers, one must go all the way back to 2002, when four of the top five players — and seven of the top eight — were picked out of high school. Following the Pittsburgh Pirates’ selection of Ball University pitcher Bryan Bullington at No. 1, seven consecutive prep players were picked, a group that included B.J. Upton (2), Zack Greinke (6) and Prince Fielder (7).

The most recent time in which three high school athletes were selected in the top five was in 2017, when the draft kicked off with Royce Lewis, Hunter Greene and MacKenzie Gore going one, two and three, respectively.

With COVID restrictions in the rear-view, players and scouts can travel more. Perhaps those four drafts from 2018-21 were merely a blip instead of a broader shift in mindset.

The 2022 MLB Draft caused all sorts of chaos for bettors and sportsbooks

Few bettors saw Jackson Holliday going No. 1 overall

After whiffing on the top picks in the NBA, NHL and NFL drafts earlier this year, there was plenty of pressure on sportsbooks to avoid going 0-4 when the MLB Draft rolled around on Sunday.

This, of course, presented its own problem because baseball’s draft is the least straightforward of the four major North American sports. Rarely will MLB teams with the No. 1 pick select the top overall prospect. Not if they can get a player to sign under slot value to help spread their bonus pool money out.

So despite being the the consensus top player in this year’s class, Druw Jones was not selected No. 1 overall by the Baltimore Orioles. Jackson Holliday  (+900) was.

And neither bettors nor sportsbooks really saw it coming.

MLB fans were feeling really old after sons of two former All-Stars went 1-2 in the draft

Wait, Matt Holliday and Andruw Jones have sons in the big leagues now?

Are you feeling old yet, baseball fans?

On Sunday, the 2022 MLB Draft began its long progression through 20 rounds, with the Baltimore Orioles holding the No. 1 overall pick. And with the top selection, the Orioles drafted shortstop Jackson Holliday out of Oklahoma.

If that name sounds familiar, yes, Jackson is the son of long-time outfielder Matt Holliday. Wild right?

Not only that, the Arizona Diamondbacks went with outfielder Druw Jones, who is the son of Atlanta Braves star Andruw Jones, at No. 2 overall. Holliday and Jones going 1-2 overall at the top of the 2022 MLB Draft is also the first time the top two players selected are sons of former MLB players!

What a night! Of course, as expected, baseball fans were feeling as old as the hills that the sons of two MLB greats are now making their own way in the big leagues.

MLB Draft dads: 4 MLB veterans (including Andruw Jones!) with sons expected to go in the first round

Some kids of MLB vets are expected to come off the board early in 2022

I’d like to think by now we’re all used to sports stars of our youth producing children who are ready to take their place in big leagues, but man, it really never gets easier.

Even after Jack Leiter and Vlad Guerrero Jr. and even Ken Griffey Jr., there’s still nothing that makes you feel quite as old as seeing a top prospect walk across the stage on draft night as the announcers talk about what his dad back when he was your favorite player.

We’ve now even reached the point where the highlights of those fathers are in high definition! It’s ridiculous.

This summer’s MLB Draft should be no different. If you’re paying attention to the first round—and fans of the Orioles, Diamondbacks and Rangers really should—you’re going to hear a lot of familiar names called early on.

The future of Major League Baseball is going to sound a lot like its recent past. Here’s a small sampling.