Holliday proving Major League mettle vs. big arms

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Whether Jackson Holliday makes the Orioles' Opening Day roster isn't going to come down to one Spring Training game, let alone one at-bat.

But after Holliday started Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies by ripping a 104.4 mph double off Zack Wheeler, count the perennial Cy Young candidate among those impressed by Baltimore's 20-year-old infielder.

"It’s impressive, him being that young," said Wheeler, who was making his spring debut one day after signing a massive contract extension. "He's obviously got the power to go with it. … He should be a good player."

Holliday, meanwhile, embraced the opportunity to face a pitcher who has received NL Cy Young votes in three of the past four seasons -- and leads all pitchers in WAR during that span. After the O’s learned on Monday night that they would be facing Wheeler the following day, Holliday said he and the teammates he’s staying with this spring talked about the excitement surrounding facing a “big-time and big-game pitcher.”

"Obviously, you want to compete against the best,” Holliday said. “To be the best, you've got to beat the best, right? ... It's encouraging, especially to hit a double off him."

Holliday was far from done. The top overall prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline, went 3-for-4 with a triple and a stolen base in the Orioles’ 3-2 win at BayCare Ballpark. Both his third-inning triple and eighth-inning single came off the bat at 102.3 mph.

To put that in perspective, the O's only had seven instances last season of a player registering at least three hits with an exit velocity of at least 102 mph in the same game.

“He swung the bat really well today,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “He just looked a little more relaxed today and took a bunch of really good swings. It’s good to see him swing the bat aggressively like that.”

Zeroing in on the Holliday-Wheeler matchup, the end result wasn't even the most impressive part of the at-bat. After all, Holliday jumped all over a hanging slider in the middle of the zone, though as Wheeler pointed out, "He did exactly what you’re supposed to do with a hanging slider."

But it was Holliday's work earlier in the at-bat that forced Wheeler into eventually leaving a pitch over the middle.

Holliday laid off a 1-2 curveball just below the zone -- a pitch Wheeler has used to make countless left-handed superstars look foolish over the years. Holliday then spoiled a 2-2 fastball before lacing the sixth pitch of the at-bat for a double.

“I put a good swing on his fastball and I didn’t feel like I was beaten by it, so I felt comfortable with his fastball,” Holliday said. “Then, being able to see some [sweepers] in there, then a curveball -- I just felt comfortable. So being able to put a good swing on that [last] pitch, I was pretty happy with how my body was moving and where my approach was.”

Holliday saw four different offerings during the six-pitch battle, and yet Wheeler -- whose 622 strikeouts over the past three seasons rank sixth in MLB -- could not put Holliday away.

"JT [Realmuto] called every pitch but a splitter to him," Wheeler said. "Every time he pressed something, it was something new. I was like, 'OK, this is what we’re going to do the first time out there, here we go.'"

Tuesday’s matchup against Wheeler was easily Holliday’s toughest test so far this spring, though he also worked a four-pitch walk against Braves hurler Max Fried on Feb. 26 and roped a double against a tough reliever in Raisel Iglesias on March 1.

Next up is a showdown with Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller on Wednesday night, though Baltimore hasn't yet set a lineup for the game at Ed Smith Stadium.

“Today, when we face the Zack Wheelers today and the Mitch Kellers tomorrow, that's what I actually want to see,” Hyde said. “That's what you see in the season. So good to be able to evaluate your guys against those types of arms, which is what you see on a nightly basis, how he handles those at-bats.”

Safe to say, Holliday passed the first major test.