Orioles call up Holliday, baseball’s top prospect
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
The Baltimore Orioles called up infielder Jackson Holliday, the No. 1 prospect in baseball, after a torrid start at Triple-A this season.
Holliday, 20, who was the top pick in the 2022 Major League Baseball draft, excelled in spring training but was sent to the minor leagues to begin the season. In 10 games with the Norfolk Tides, Holliday hit .333/.482/.595 with two home runs, nine RBIs, five doubles and 12 walks against eight strikeouts.
Holliday is expected to join the Orioles, who are 6-4 after a win against Boston on Tuesday, at Fenway Park on Wednesday.
Veteran infielder Tony Kemp was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
By calling up Holliday within the first two weeks of the season, Baltimore can reap an extra first-round draft pick through the Prospect Promotion Incentive, which awards teams with top prospects who attain a full year of service time and win the Rookie of the Year award. While there are 187 days on the baseball calendar, a full year of service is achieved at 172 days, which Holliday will reach if he remains with Baltimore for the remainder of the season.
The PPI has cut both ways for Baltimore. In 2022, the Orioles kept catcher Adley Rutschman in the minor leagues until May 21, only to see him finish second in American League Rookie of the Year and be granted a full year of service for it while the team did not receive an extra draft pick. Last season, Baltimore broke camp with infielder Gunnar Henderson, whose Rookie of the Year win earned the Orioles the 32nd overall draft pick and $2.84 million in bonus pool space in the July draft this year.
Holliday is expected to play second base and team with the 22-year-old Henderson, now playing shortstop, for one of the most dynamic young middle infielders in recent history. Considered a potential first-round pick entering the 2022 season, Holliday — the son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday — shot up draft boards in the spring after a bonanza season at Stillwater (Okla.) High.
He immediately proved worthy of the top pick, hitting .297/.489/.422 between rookie ball and Low-A, and followed that by excelling at four minor league levels last year, hitting .323/.442/.499 with 12 home runs, 75 RBIs, 24 stolen bases and 101 walks to 118 strikeouts in 581 plate appearances.
A left-handed hitter whose power stroke is expected to develop in the coming years, Holliday is nevertheless mature well beyond his age, having grown up in major league clubhouses and spent considerable time working with his father.
He joins an Orioles roster stacked with young position-playing talent, including Rutschman, Henderson, infielder Jordan Westburg and outfielder Colton Cowser, and comes from a Norfolk team likewise loaded with prospects, including third baseman Coby Mayo, outfielder Heston Kjerstad, super utility man Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers.
Baltimore’s decision to call up Holliday comes after a spring in which he wowed evaluators, hitting .311/.354/.600 and looking like one of the best players on the team. Baltimore entered the 2024 season as AL East favorites after adding 2021 National League Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes in a trade for two top prospects from its No. 1-ranked farm system, left-hander D.L. Hall and infielder Joey Ortiz.
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Max Olson
San Jose State wide receiver Danny Scudero, the leading receiver in FBS this season, will enter the NCAA transfer portal when it opens in January, he announced Friday.
The 5-foot-9, 174-pound redshirt sophomore caught 88 passes for 1,291 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first season with the Spartans, becoming a semifinal for the Biletnikoff Award and earning first-team All-Mountain West honors.
Scudero is expected to be one of the more coveted wide receivers available when the transfer portal officially opens on Jan. 2 and has two more seasons of eligibility remaining.
Scudero spent two years at Sacramento State before transferring to San Jose State after the 2024 season. He broke out with 189 receiving yards to open the season against Central Michigan and surpassed 100 yards in five more games, including a career-high 215 and two touchdowns against Hawaii.
Scudero’s 88 receptions ranked fourth-most in FBS, and he leads all receivers this season with 16 catches of 30 or more yards.
The Spartans produced the No. 14 passing offense in FBS this season but went 3-9 in their second year under coach Ken Niumatalolo.
North Carolina offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens and special teams coordinator Mike Priefer will not return next season, with the school announcing the departure of both assistants after a 4-8 season in Bill Belichick’s college coaching debut.
“We want to thank Coach Kitchens and Coach Priefer for their commitment and many contributions to our program and student-athletes,” Belichick said in a statement. “We wish them both nothing but the best in their future endeavors.”
North Carolina’s offense was one of the worst in the country, ranking 119th in the FBS in scoring (19.3 PPG) and 129th in total offense (288.8 YPG).
The Tar Heels had special teams issues coming down the stretch too, notably with Duke running a fake field goal to set up a late winning touchdown and NC State successfully running a fake punt for a first down the following week.
Kitchens, who served as Cleveland Browns coach in 2019, had been with the Tar Heels since 2023 and was the interim coach for their Fenway Bowl loss at the end of the 2024 season. Belichick was hired as the new head coach earlier that month.
Priefer was a longtime NFL special teams coach who followed Belichick to Chapel Hill but lasted just one season on the job.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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