Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday added his name to the record books on Wednesday night against the Toronto Blue Jays, becoming the youngest player in American League history to homer in three consecutive games. Holliday was 20 years and 247 days old.
Here’s a look at Holliday’s home run, a two-run shot off Blue Jays righty Ryan Burr to give the Orioles a late lead as part of a 7-3 victory.
Holliday’s home run also moved him into a tie for the fourth-most home runs over the course of a player’s first 17 games in Orioles franchise history. Trey Mancini, Curt Blefary, and Nolan Reimold are the only players to launch more in such short order. Here’s a look at the complete list, courtesy of TSN’s StatsCentre:
Holliday has had an uneven season. He was promoted for his big-league debut in April, but suffered through a 2-for-34 stretch that earned him a trip back to the minors. A few months and some missed time because of injury later, he returned to The Show on July 31. He’s since hit .375/.444/.917 with four home runs and a double in seven games. Holliday is now batting .190/.254/.414 (89 OPS+) at the big-league level. It seems like a given that those numbers will continue to improve over the remainder of the regular season.
Holliday entered the year ranked by CBS Sports as the top prospect in the sport. We wrote the following at the time: “He has every tool and intangible necessary to become a star, even if he might require some time to upscale his power from the ‘gap’ to the ‘over-the-fence’ variety.” We suppose he’s taken that last bit to heart as of late.
