Where Baltimore Orioles' Top 5 prospects rank entering spring training
Look for Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo to make the jump to the big club this season.
Five Prospects from the MLB Pipeline Top 100 will be invited to participate in the Baltimore Orioles major league spring training facility in Sarasota.
The Orioles have invited the top prospect in the game, according to MLB Pipeline, to camp, and it appears as though he has a legitimate chance to make the club when it breaks at the end of spring training,
Jackson Holliday, shortstop
Holiday, son of seven-time all-star Matt Holliday, will be given every chance to make the club, according to Orioles general manager Mike Elias. He is a non-roster invitee, but the 20-year old phenom has reported to Sarasota and will participate in the first full team workout. Elias says that Holliday will not be treated like a prospect, but as a "guy trying to make the team."
Holliday was the first overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft. He went to spring camp last year, but did not last long before being reassigned to the Minor League Camp. He played for all four full-season affiliates last season before finishing the season in Norfolk. He played in excess of 100 games between stints, and scouts think this is the year that he makes the big club. He accomplished all of this at the tender age of 19.
Holliday slashed .429/.556/.500 in spring training last season before his reassignment, and was good with the glove. He will be given every opportunity to make the team as an infielder who has proven that he can play both shortstop and second base.
Samuel Basallo, catcher
Basallo was the 17th best prospect in the game, according to MLB Pipeline, and Baseball America has him rated as the second-best prospect in the Orioles farm system. Basallo was signed out of the Dominican Republic in January 2021 and has made great strides through the organization. He received a club record $1.3 million signing bonus as an international signee, and will probably start the season at Double-A Bowie and make it to Triple-A Norfolk before too long. He will be a long shot to break with the team, but he will have his chance to become the guy in 2025.
After spending two seasons at the rookie ball level, Basallo played for three of the four affiliates last season and played in 114 games behind the plate. In 419 at bats, he has 131 hits for a .313 batting average. He is a plus-plus prospect behind the plate with adequate power. He hit 20 home runs last season and drove in 86 runs. He is 6-3, 180 pounds and moves well, according to Baseball America, for a guy his size. His future is behind the plate, but can be moved around to keep his bat in the lineup on days that he is not catching. He's slightly behind the eight ball this spring, though, battling an elbow stress fracture that has limited his defensive reps.
Coby Mayo, third base
Mayo will likely start the season in Triple-A Norfolk, but he was also invited to big league camp as a non-roster invitee. Mayo, the game's 30th best prospect according to MLB Pipeline, was ranked by Baseball America as the third best prospect in the Orioles system, behind only Holliday and Basallo.
A graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Mayo was originally signed to go play college ball at the University of Florida. He was a fourth-round draft choice by the Birds in the 2020 MLB Draft and still earned a signing-bonus in excess of $1.75 million. It was an easy decision not to become a Gator.
Projected as one of the best pure power hitters in the draft, Mayo has lived up to his reputation, as he slugged 29 home runs last season between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. He was the Eastern League Player of the Year despite only playing a half season with the Baysox.
Colton Cowser, outfield
MLB Pipeline has Cowser ranked as the 19th best prospect among the Top 100. He is just two spots below Basallo. Baseball America ranks him as the fourth best product in the Orioles system. The fifth overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft signed for below slot value, but has made tremendous strides with his game and appeared in 26 games last season for the big-league club. He is on the 40-man roster and will be in the mix to break camp as a utility outfielder this season.
Cowser batted .300 at Triple-A Norfolk before being called up to the major leagues last season. In 87 games with the Tides, he hit 17 home runs and drove in 62 runs. He had a slugging percentage of .520 with an on base percentage of 417.
He cooled to the pressures of the major leagues and batted below the Mendoza line at .115 with 61 trips to the plate. The Orioles' executives are high on Cowser, despite his sluggish debut at the major league level. He had a .996 OPS at the time he was called up, but when he was sent back down, it fell to .777, and his strikeout numbers went up drastically as the Orioles were looking for him to be more aggressive at the plate.
Heston Kjerstad, outfield
Kjerstad was the second overall pick in 2020 and signed for $5.2 million. He has battled health conditions such as a heart inflammation and a hamstring injury that kept him sidelined until the middle of 2022. He spent the final 13 games of the season in Baltimore after moving up from Double-A and Triple-A. While in the majors, Kjerstad, who is on the 40-man roster with Cowser, batted .233 with a pair of home runs and three RBI. He has shown that he has power and also added 10 more homers with Triple-A Norfolk before making the move to the show.
According to Baseball America, "Kjerstad generates impressive carry off the bat and boasts power to all fields, often letting the location of the pitch determine where he drives it." He is projected as a middle of the order, bat-first outfielder who can also play first base. He is extremely versatile, which could give Elias a tough decision to make at the end of spring camp.
Kjerstad is ranked as the 32nd best prospect in the game, and Baseball America has him ranked as the Orioles' fifth best prospect.