Jackson Holliday has been MLB’s top prospect for a while, and he’s finally starting to show what was expected of him in his second stint in the bigs with the Baltimore Orioles.
Just down the road in Washington, outfielder James Wood wasn’t even the top prospect in the Nats’ farm system going into spring training, but after slashing .353/.463/.595 with 10 homers in 52 games at Triple-A Rochester, he got the call-up.
Wood, a 2021 second-round pick of the San Diego Padres, and a big drink of water, at 6’7”, is slashing .284/.373/.458 in 42 games, with five homers, 28 RBIs and an .831 OPS.
And since Aug. 1, the rook has been on an extended tear, with a .351/.439/.632 slash line, three homers, 12 RBIs and 1.071 OPS.
Wood has already cemented himself as the third starter that the Nats were able to get out of the Padres in the 2022 Juan Soto trade – along with shortstop CJ Abrams (.246/.319/.441, 17 HRs, 22 SBs) and left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore (7-11, 4.66 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 9.7Ks/9).
Two other guys – outfielder Robert Hassell III (.280/.363/.374, 3 HRs, 18 RBIs, 11 SBs in A+ and AA in 2024) and right-hander Jarlin Susana (4-7, 4.19 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 13.1Ks/9 in A and A+ in 2024) – are still working their way up the ladder.
Now, to Holliday: the 20-year-old was, famously, 2-for-34 with 18 strikeouts in his first 10-game stint with the O’s in April, before getting sent back down to Triple-A Norfolk.
Since his return on July 31, Holliday has been the Holliday that we all expected – slashing .270/.303/.556, with five homers and 14 RBIs in 17 games.
Solid numbers there, but … Wood is outplaying him right now.
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Chris Graham
