Baseball America has revealed its top 100 prospects for the 2024 Major League Baseball season, an annual tradition.
Landing directly at the top of this year’s rendition is five-tool talent and former No. 1 overall pick of the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson Holliday. His selection should not surprise anyone in the baseball world.
However, what is so unique about Holliday’s top ranking is that the Orioles are now the first team to ever have three straight No. 1 prospects since these rankings’ inception in 1990.
Only four teams have had three or more prospects ranked No. 1 overall. The Braves, which have had six, the Orioles (Matt Wieters, Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday) and the Rays, which have had four, and the Twins, which have had three.
The Orioles totaled six prospects in the top 100, five of them in the top 50.
- INF Jackson Holliday – No. 1
- C Samuel Basallo – No. 10
- INF Coby Mayo – No. 25
- OF Colton Cowser – No. 34
- OF Heston Kjerstad – No. 41
- LHP D.L. Hall – No. 93
Before the Orioles’ recent run, the Cardinals were the only other team to have different back-to-back No. 1 prospects when J.D Drew (1999) and Rick Ankiel (2000) were recognized as the top prospects in baseball. Players Andruw Jones, Joe Mauer, Bryce Harper and Wander Franco were all ranked No. 1 back-to-back years.
“It’s exciting for the organization and the future. It speaks to the good health and synergy of our player acquisition and player development departments. It also says a lot about those players. They bought in and put in a lot of hard work to rise to that level and then maintain it.”
– Orioles vice president of player development and domestic scouting, Matt Blood
With Samuel Basallo rising through the ranks rapidly and currently ranked in the Baseball America top 10, the Orioles will aim to have the top prospect in baseball for four consecutive years.
But as for Holliday, across four levels last year, he hit .323 with a .941 OPS in 125 games. The 20-year-old hit .396 with Low-A Delmarva before posting a .940 OPS with High-A Aberdeen. From there, Holliday hit .338 with Double-A Bowie before being promoted to Triple-A Norfolk, where he posted a .796 OPS.
“I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but he had a historic first full season in the minors. You’d probably have to go back to the 80s or 90s to find something similar to that, in my opinion, for an American kid out of high school. Got to Triple-A, wasn’t there a huge amount of time, didn’t tear the cover off the ball, but he more than held his own and did well.”
– O’s GM Mike Elias on Jackson Holliday
Holliday, who excelled through four levels of the minors last season, isn’t even legal drinking age and will be aiming to make the Opening Day roster out of spring training.
“He’s going to be treated in this major league camp not like a prospect, where we’re kind of having fun and having him in camp for the experience of it, but like a guy trying to make the team.”
– O’s GM Mike Elias on Jackson Holliday
As the Orioles’ talent keeps making a name for itself, the big league roster is quickly becoming one of the most exciting teams in the league. Who will be the next prospect to turn heads for the Birds?
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