Orioles minor league report: Jackson Holliday excels in first week with High-A Aberdeen
Jackson Holliday didn’ t waste much time getting adjusted to a new level. The 19- year-old prospect was promoted early last week from Low-A Delmarva to Aberdeen, becoming one of the youngest players at High-A. Holliday, the son of former star outfielder Matt Holliday, did a little bit of everything in his first week in High-A.
Jackson Holliday didn’t waste much time getting adjusted to a new level.
The 19-year-old prospect was promoted early last week from Low-A Delmarva to Aberdeen, becoming one of the youngest players at High-A. In his first week with the IronBirds, he showed that age is just a number.
It took Holliday, the Orioles’ top prospect still in the minor leagues, just two games to get a feel for High-A pitching. He went 0-for-7 with three strikeouts and three walks in his first two contests before breaking out with a triple and a home run in his third. He then singled in each of his next two games to extend his on-base streak to begin the season to 18 completed games.
Holliday, the son of former star outfielder Matt Holliday, did a little bit of everything in his first week in High-A. In addition to his homer and triple, the 2022 No. 1 overall pick also stole a base, walked four times, played 38 error-free innings at shortstop and turned four double plays.
He went 4-for-17 at the plate with a .910 OPS and two RBIs last week to continue the strong start to his sophomore season. In 13 games this year with Delmarva, Holliday posted a 1.190 OPS, nine extra-base hits and 15 RBIs. His career slash line in the minors is .326/.489/.530 in just 38 games.
But Holliday is far from the only prospect in Baltimore’s minor league system who stood out last week. That’s why each week, The Baltimore Sun will break down five of the top performers in the Orioles’ prospect ranks and hand out some superlatives for those who didn’t make that cut.
1. Triple-A Norfolk infielder Jordan Westburg
The best hitter for the Tides this week was Kyle Stowers, who hit three home runs in Friday’s doubleheader and was called up to the majors Sunday ahead of the club’s stretch against right-handed starting pitchers. He swapped places with infielder Joey Ortiz, who performed well in his three games with Baltimore. As the Orioles yo-yoed those prospects over the weekend, Westburg remained with Norfolk and kept up his impressive play. The 24-year-old infielder went 11-for-26 (.423 average) with two home runs, nine RBIs, two stolen bases and seven runs for a 1.136 OPS. The Orioles’ No. 5 prospect has a .927 OPS in 20 games with the Tides this season.
2. Double-A Bowie left-hander Cade Povich
The organization’s top left-handed pitching prospect, DL Hall, got a brief call-up for the Orioles’ doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers. Baltimore’s next-best lefty prospect, Povich, went out and had his best pitching performance since joining the organization last year. Povich struck out 10 and allowed just three batters to reach safely (one hit, two walks) across five scoreless innings in his start Saturday and was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week. The 10-strikeout game was his first since the Orioles acquired him in the Jorge López trade last summer and just the fourth of his minor league career. The 23-year-old now has a 3.71 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 17 innings this year.
3. Low-A Delmarva right-hander Juan Nunez
Povich wasn’t the only pitcher from the López trade to stand out last week. Juan Nunez, a 5-foot-11 right-hander out of the Dominican Republic, also had perhaps his best start as a member of the organization last Tuesday. The 22-year-old threw five shutout innings and scattered one hit and three walks while striking out seven. Nunez has a 3.78 ERA in 16 2/3 innings for the Shorebirds this year. Oh, and he and Povich, of course, weren’t the only pitchers from the López deal who were good last week, as right-handed reliever Yennier Cano has still yet to allow a hit in 11 innings with the Orioles.
4. Double-A Bowie outfielder Heston Kjerstad
With the way Kjerstad is playing, he could be featured on this list nearly every week. But he’s proving that his goal of reaching the majors by the end of the season is perhaps within reach as he tears up Double-A pitching. The 2020 No. 2 overall pick continued his torrid start to the year by posting a 1.075 OPS last week, going 5-for-16 in five games with a triple and a homer. Kjerstad, 24, is slashing .284/.392/.612 in 18 games this season with the Baysox.
5. High-A Aberdeen outfielder Dylan Beavers
Kjerstad wasn’t the best outfielder in the system last week, though. That was Beavers, who smacked seven hits, including five for extra bases, in five games with the IronBirds. The 21-year-old went 7-for-19 (.368) with three doubles, one triple and one homer for a 1.189 OPS. Beavers, who was selected with the No. 33 overall pick in the 2022 draft, is slashing .269/.364/.522 this season. He also wasn’t the only outfielder from the 2022 draft who excelled with the IronBirds, as Jud Fabian went 6-for-15 with a home run last week.
The top prospect not featured so far
After Holliday, outfielder Colton Cowser is the organization’s top prospect still in the minors. And all Cowser is doing in Triple-A Norfolk is crushing extra-base hits and walking. The 23-year-old kept that up last week with two doubles, one home run and seven walks in six games. He went 6-for-19 and had seven RBIs and stole two bases while posting a 1.115 OPS. After a slow start to the season, Cowser has heated up and is now slashing .295/.437/.495 with 10 extra-base hits and 21 walks in 25 games.
International acquisition of the week
When Holliday was promoted to Aberdeen, he joined Max Wagner and Frederick Bencosme as top 30 prospects, according to Baseball America, to man the IronBirds’ infield. Bencosme, whom the Orioles signed as an international free agent in 2020, had played all 12 of his games this season at shortstop before Holliday’s promotion. He moved over to second base last week and had his best three-game stretch of the season. The 20-year-old from the Dominican Republic went 4-for-11 with three doubles, one triple, three RBIs and two walks. Bencosme is hitting just .173 this season, but he’s walked more times (12) than he’s struck out (11).
Time to give some shine to …
Creed Willems. He’s not the Orioles’ top-ranked catching prospect at Low-A Delmarva — that’s Samuel Basallo — but Willems is playing like it. The 19-year-old hit another homer last week to bring his season total to five. The 2021 eighth-round pick struggled mightily versus Low-A pitching in 2022 with a .586 OPS, but in 15 games this year he’s slashing .373/.484/.726 for a whopping 1.209 OPS.
Minors move
Former University of Maryland and Gilman star Maxwell Costes will soon be playing closer to home. Costes, a first baseman in the Orioles’ minor league system, was promoted from Delmarva to Aberdeen on Monday. The 23-year-old had a .961 OPS in 23 plate appearances in Low-A before being placed on the seven-day injured list April 22. Costes, a Baltimore native, is one of the best hitters in Terps history and was signed as an undrafted free agent last summer.
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