LOS ANGELES — The Baltimore Orioles made high school shortstop Jackson Holliday the first selection in Major League Baseball’s draft on Sunday.
Holliday, the son of seven-time All-Star and World Series champion Matt Holliday, is an elite hitter who made significant strides in several aspects of his game during his senior year at Stillwater High School in Oklahoma. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound left-hander hitter finished his senior season with a .685 batting average and was named Baseball America’s High School Player of the Year.
Holliday previously committed to Oklahoma State, where his uncle, Josh, is the head coach, but will now likely venture directly into professional baseball, where his improving quickness and arm strength is expected to keep him at shortstop. Holliday’s calling card, however, is his hitting. The 18-year-old already has an advanced approach in the batter’s box and accumulated 89 hits in 41 games last season, breaking the high-school record that was previously held by Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto.
Not only that, but the Arizona Diamondbacks went with outfielder Druw Jones, who is the son of Atlanta Braves star Andruw Jones, at No. 2 overall. Holliday and Jones going 1-2 overall at the top of the 2022 MLB Draft is also the first time the top two players selected are sons of former MLB players.