‘He is comfortable here’: How Jackson Holliday’s clubhouse past helps his MLB future
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Tim Kurkjian, ESPN Senior Writer
It was 2:30 p.m. ET Friday, nearly five hours before second baseman Jackson Holliday‘s first game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
He was the only player on the field, and working on only a few hours of sleep after a late-night flight from Boston, but he was full of life as he posed for a baseball card shoot with Topps. Out of the Milwaukee Brewers dugout came another phenom, outfielder Jackson Chourio. The Jacksons embraced, then posed for pictures.
A writer approached Holliday and said, “Got your hands full?”
He smiled and said, “Yes, always.”
Those hands have been full most of his life, but they are big hands, sturdy hands — hands capable of juggling much more than a 20-year-old has a right to.
“He looks like he’s 12, he acts like he’s 30, and he has handled it all beautifully,” Baltimore Orioles catcher James McCann said. “He came to [big league] spring training for the first time, and it seemed like it was his 14th. I went to college [at Arkansas], I played in the SEC, we played before 10,000 people every game. … He came from Stillwater, Oklahoma. Two years ago, he was playing in front of … parents. And then his first game is at Fenway Park.
“Amazing.”
Holliday smiled. “That was an incredible place to start a career,” he said. “It was awesome.”
Holliday was called up on April 10, just 10 games into his season at the Triple-A Norfolk Tides, and played two games against the Red Sox. He went hitless, as he did again in his first game at Camden Yards. After an 0-for-13 start that included nine strikeouts, he got his first hit on Sunday, a single that eventually allowed him to score the deciding run in the Orioles’ 6-4 win.
“It’s a lot, but it’s been fun. It’s quite an experience. I don’t think I would ever take it for granted, the experience that I’m having,” Holliday told reporters after the game. “If you go 0-for for three or four games, it’s going to happen in baseball. I’d prefer it not to be at the beginning of my career, but it’s going to happen. I’m glad to hopefully learn from it.”
Even on a young team — the Orioles are the sixth-youngest team in MLB — Holliday is notably green, two years younger than shortstop Gunnar Henderson and four years behind Colton Cowser and starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez.
The Orioles’ oldest player, closer Craig Kimbrel, is 35.
“When I started my career, he was … born,” Kimbrel said, smiling. “He is comfortable here.”
And Holliday is comfortable, despite his age, because he grew up in a major league clubhouse with his dad, Matt Holliday, a career .299 hitter, and arguably the greatest player named Matt ever to play in the major leagues. Jackson was constantly at his dad’s side, even at preschool age.
“Show Mr. Kurkjian your Ichiro batting stance,” Matt said to his son 15 years ago.
Five-year-old Jackson did Ichiro perfectly, then the stance of many other major league hitters. So when Jackson was called up, Matt received hundreds of text messages from former teammates — Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Aaron Judge among them — from his time with the Rockies, A’s, Cardinals and Yankees. They all sent messages because Jackson is their major league son, too. They all played catch with him.
In February 2008 in Tempe, Arizona, Brewers manager Pat Murphy, then the baseball coach at Arizona State, rented an adjoining house to Matt and Leslee Holliday for that spring training.
“Every time I looked out in the backyard,” Murphy said, “Jackson was hitting with my son.”
Matt, Leslee and their younger son, Ethan, were in Boston for Jackson’s major debut.
“For my debut,” Matt said, “I was scared to death. He was not.”
The Hollidays were in Baltimore for Jackson’s home debut, too. They left the next morning because Ethan, a tremendous high school player in Oklahoma, was missing too many games.
“He’s in high school, he’ll be OK,” Jackson said, smiling.
The pressure is enormous being the son of a major leaguer, being considered the best prospect in the minor leagues and being one of the final pieces in what could be a dynastic next five to 10 years in Baltimore. But Jackson Holliday has an advantage: He is not being asked to save the franchise, as perhaps catcher Adley Rutschman was when he was recalled in May 2022. The Orioles won 101 games last season. They are loaded with talent; even today, much of that talent remains in the minor leagues.
Holliday won’t be the last piece, but he might be the biggest piece — perhaps even bigger than Rutschman and Henderson — given his background and how he has overpowered the game at every stop. Yet he hit ninth in his first five major league games.
When was the last time he hit ninth?
“I did in spring training,” he said. “Before that, it was a while.”
In Holliday’s second game as a big leaguer, the Orioles put five No. 1 picks in order in their lineup: third baseman Jordan Westburg, outfielder Colton Cowser, Holliday, Henderson and Rutschman. But only Holliday was given a sacred number in Orioles history: No. 7, last worn by the late Cal Ripken Sr., one of the most important and instrumental figures in Orioles history, the man who personified the Oriole Way.
Matt Holliday, who wore No. 7, called Cal Ripken Jr. for permission to wear his dad’s number.
Ripken, part of the new ownership group with the Orioles, gladly agreed.
“Now wear it with pride,” Ripken said.
So far, Jackson Holliday has. It has been a wild week, but he has handled most everything with great poise. Outfielder Kyle Stowers is taking care of his dog in Norfolk. Cowser gave him a ride to the ballpark before the first game at Camden Yards.
He is where he is supposed to be. And now he has the first of what will surely be many, many hits.
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Max Olson
FRISCO, Texas — A dynamic new quarterback, a new offensive system and two projected first-round picks up front have Utah coach Kyle Whittingham feeling enthusiastic about the Utes’ chances of bouncing back from a disastrous debut season in the Big 12.
Utah was voted No. 1 in the Big 12 preseason poll last year after joining from the Pac-12, but a brutal run of injuries and inconsistency resulted in a seven-game conference losing streak and a 5-7 finish — the program’s first losing season since 2013.
After weeks of contemplation about his future and what was best for the program, Whittingham, the third-longest-tenured head coach in FBS, decided in December to return for his 21st season with the Utes.
“The bottom line and the final analysis was I couldn’t step away on that note,” Whittingham told ESPN at Big 12 media days Wednesday. “It was too frustrating, too disappointing. As much as college football has changed with all the other factors that might pull you away, that was the overriding reason: That’s not us, that’s not who we are. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. I did not want to miss the opportunity to try to get that taste out.”
“The bottom line and the final analysis was I couldn’t step away on that note. It was too frustrating, too disappointing. … That’s not us. That’s not who we are. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. I did not want to miss the opportunity to try to get that taste out.”
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham on going 5-7 in 2024
Whittingham and Utes defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley conducted a national search for a new offensive coordinator and quickly zeroed in on New Mexico‘s Jason Beck. Then they managed to land Devon Dampier, Beck’s first-team All-Mountain West quarterback, via the transfer portal.
After finishing 11th nationally in total offense with 3,934 yards and 31 total touchdowns and putting up the fourth-most rushing yards (1,166) among all FBS starters, Dampier followed his coach to Salt Lake City and immediately asserted himself as a difference-maker for a program that had to start four different QBs in 2024.
“He’s a terrific athlete,” Whittingham said. “He’s a guy that, if spring is any indication, he’s an exciting player, and we can’t wait to watch him this season. … He’s got that ‘it’ factor. He’s a leader. Needless to say, very excited to see what he does for us.”
They’ve surrounded Dampier with 21 more newcomers via the transfer portal and will protect him with two returning starters at tackle in Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu, who are projected first-round NFL draft picks by ESPN’s Matt Miller.
“We feel they’re the best tandem in the country,” Whittingham said. “The offensive line in general, I feel, it’s the best since I’ve been there. And that’s quite a statement. We’ve had some really good offensive lines. We’ve got two first-rounders and three seniors inside that have played a lot of good football for us. That better be a strength of ours, and that’s what we’re counting on.”
Whittingham has previously said he did not want to coach past the age of 65. Now that he’s 65, he acknowledges that he might’ve arrived at a different decision about his future had the Utes ended up winning the Big 12 in 2024. He is reenergized about getting them back into contention, but he’s not ready to say whether this season might be his last.
“The best answer I can give you is, right now, I’m excited and passionate about going to work every single day,” Whittingham said. “As soon as that changes, I’ll know it’s time. I’m just counting on knowing when the time is right. I can’t tell you exactly what the circumstances will be other than losing the fire in the belly.”
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Jesse Rogers
The automated ball-strike system is coming to the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.
MLB officials added the feature to the annual exhibition game knowing it could be a precursor to becoming a permanent part of the major leagues as soon as next year.
The same process used this past spring training will be used for the Midsummer Classic: Each team will be given two challenges with the ability to retain them if successful. Only a pitcher, catcher or hitter can ask for a challenge and it has to happen almost immediately after the pitch. The player will tap his hat or helmet indicating to the umpire he wants to challenge while any help from the dugout or other players on the field is not allowed.
MLB officials say 72% of fans who were polled during spring training said the impact of ABS on their experience at the game was a “positive” one. Sixty-nine percent said they’d like it part of the game moving forward. Just 10% expressed negativity toward it.
MLB’s competition committee will meet later this summer to determine if ABS will be instituted next season after the league tested the robotic system throughout the minor leagues and spring training in recent years. Like almost any rule change, there were mixed reviews from players about using ABS but nearly all parties agree on one point: They prefer a challenge system as opposed to the technology calling every pitch.
As was the case in spring training, once a review is initiated, an animated replay of the pitch will be shown on the scoreboard and the home plate umpire will either uphold the call or overturn it. ABS uses Hawk-Eye system technology which tracks the pitch trajectory and location in relation to the strike zone, providing an instant assessment which can be relayed to the home plate umpire.
The All-Star Game will be played at Truist Park in Atlanta on Tuesday.
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