Holliday's 2nd career blast headlines O's big youth display

CLEVELAND -- Jackson Holliday returned to the big leagues on Wednesday in Baltimore. The 20-year-old solidified his status as a big leaguer this weekend in Cleveland.

The breakout of MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 overall prospect was on display during the Orioles’ four-game series vs. the Guardians at Progressive Field, and it continued on Sunday afternoon, when Holliday swatted the second home run of his 15-game MLB career. The blast helped power a 9-5 win for Baltimore, which split a four-game set vs. MLB’s top team.

The start of Holliday’s second stint with the O’s has gone completely different from the first.

In April, Holliday went 2-for-34 with a pair of singles and 18 strikeouts over 10 games. This time, he is 7-for-18 (.389) with two home runs and seven RBIs in five games since being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk.

Even Holliday’s body language indicates how much more comfortable he is in the bigs.

“I think definitely just having my feet under me [helps],” Holliday explained earlier in the weekend. “Being able to come to the ballpark and have a normal schedule. And just being able to go out there and play, have fun and kind of put everything else to the side ... just enjoy being out there.”

Holliday’s second homer was a Statcast-projected 362-foot shot to right field off Cleveland starter Gavin Williams during the fourth inning that pushed Baltimore’s lead to 4-2. It was his first road home run, as his previous homer was a Eutaw Street grand slam during Wednesday’s win over the Blue Jays at Camden Yards.

Holliday finished 2-for-4, also collecting a two-out single in the seventh. It was his third consecutive multihit game -- his first three in the big leagues -- going a combined 6-for-11 with two RBIs from the No. 9 hole in the Orioles’ lineup over that span. (Meanwhile, he set records on the “Golden Tee Golf” arcade game in the visitors’ clubhouse in his free time.)

“Showing a lot more confidence. The way he can stay on the baseball is much improved,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “He’s going to have some ups and downs. He’s a really, really young player. But it’s great to see him swing the bat this way this series.”

Sunday’s fourth inning was a perfect example of just how potent the O’s young lineup can be.

After Holliday’s homer, Colton Cowser singled to extend his career-best hitting streak to 17 games, matching an Orioles rookie record set by Trey Mancini from Sept. 11-29, 2017. Then, Gunnar Henderson pushed Baltimore’s lead to 6-2 with a two-run homer -- his 29th of the season, but his first since July 14 (prior to the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game).

Four of Baltimore’s top Draft picks in Mike Elias’ tenure as general manager (since November 2018) led the way to victory:

• Cowser (24 years old, ‘21 first-round pick) went 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored.
• Henderson (23, ‘19 second-round pick) went 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs, one walk and three runs scored.
• Adley Rutschman (26, ‘19 first-round pick) went 2-for-4 with one double and three RBIs.
• Holliday (20, ‘22 first-round pick) went 2-for-4 with a homer, one RBI, one walk and one run scored.

"You make a bad pitch, they're gonna hit it,” Williams said. “Even the good pitches you make, they're gonna put the bat on the ball."

So together, the quartet of young stars collectively went 9-for-16 with one double, two homers, six RBIs, three walks and seven runs scored.

“A lot of us love to come out here and just play the game, and it was just a matter of time before we’re all starting to get it clicking again,” Henderson said. “Looking forward to seeing where it goes.”

The Orioles’ offense will become even more dangerous once fellow youngster Coby Mayo (the club’s No. 3 prospect and No. 15 overall in baseball) gets going.

Mayo, who was called up for the first time Friday, went 0-for-9 with two walks and five strikeouts over the first three games of the 22-year-old’s big league career. Nobody is worried, though.

“Every player who’s come up, they always hit some type of struggle,” Henderson said. “It just depends on when.”

After all, Holliday is proof that playing in the Majors isn’t easy. But eventually, those with immense talent will figure it out and become more relaxed, as he’s doing now.

“I know he’s going to be one of the great players,” said recent acquisition Eloy Jiménez, who went 3-for-5 on Sunday to improve to 5-for-9 with the O’s. “He’s been putting in the work, and he’s just so young. He’s going to find his rhythm, and I know he’s going to have success.”