Jackson Holliday 2023

[RZNJ]

6 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I wasn't worried, I brought it up as something to watch. I make observations on players and tell you all what to keep an eye on. At no point do I recall being "worried" about his ground ball rate.

It was a little bit different situation although there are probably some similarities.  Coincidentally, I think both Holliday and Kjerstad had unusually high GB rates around 2.80 in Delmarva.   I think both were hitting the ball to the opposite field and you could make the case that Kjerstad’s strength and bat speed weren’t all the way back yet.

Holliday seems to be in the early stages of learning to pull the ball and drive at as he looks most comfortable slashing it to LF.    His GB rate at Aberdeen and Bowie already seems way down (1.00) from Delmarva and he’s shown flashes of some power.    He’s going to be good.  Probably very good.   

[Frobby]

21 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I wasn't worried, I brought it up as something to watch. I make observations on players and tell you all what to keep an eye on. At no point do I recall being "worried" about his ground ball rate.

Sorry, that was poor wording on my part.  You actually literally said you were “not worried” about his ground ball rate.  I just remember that even when he was hitting .400 at Delmarva you pointed out a couple of times that his ground ball rate was higher than we’d want to see.  And my point is, it wasn’t an insurmountable issue for Kjerstad (and you didn’t expect it to be) and probably won’t be for Holliday, either.  

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

Sorry, that was poor wording on my part.  You actually literally said you were “not worried” about his ground ball rate.  I just remember that even when he was hitting .400 at Delmarva you pointed out a couple of times that his ground ball rate was higher than we’d want to see.  And my point is, it wasn’t an insurmountable issue for Kjerstad (and you didn’t expect it to be) and probably won’t be for Holliday, either.  

Ah, ok. I don't think for a second that Holliday that Holliday won't continue to improve his flyball rates as he grows into his man strength and starts driving the ball more with backspin. 

[johnrambo]

Holliday is the hope of the farm right now. We are loaded with a ton of good prospects. Which is a good problem to have. But Holliday is our only true blue chipper right now. He's looking like our best bet for a possible impact player. The same way that Adley and Gunnar had impact player written all over them. Maybe Bradfield can get there too if he can somehow find a way to be a decent hitter. But for right now, looks like Holliday is the hope. The other guys seem to come up and it's meh. 

[Bemorewins]

4 minutes ago, johnrambo said:

Holliday is the hope of the farm right now. We are loaded with a ton of good prospects. Which is a good problem to have. But Holliday is our only true blue chipper right now. He's looking like our best bet for a possible impact player. The same way that Adley and Gunnar had impact player written all over them. Maybe Bradfield can get there too if he can somehow find a way to be a decent hitter. But for right now, looks like Holliday is the hope. The other guys seem to come up and it's meh. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love the prospect that Holliday is. But we have so much organizational talent that we are not overly dependent upon any one player including Holliday. As things stand now he might not even be our SS (with Gunnar) and might have to move over to 2B.

I think it may be helpful if you went back and reassessed our other top prospects. Bot Kjerstad and Mayo have elite middle of the order hitter written all of them. Kjerstad in particular may be the best hitter in our org including Gunnar and Adley.

[Grady]

I wouldn’t call Kjrestad  and Mayo chopped liver. 
 Mayo might be the best power bat in the system. 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Grady
Spelling

[johnrambo]

25 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Don’t get me wrong, I love the prospect that Holliday is. But we have so much organizational talent that we are not overly dependent upon any one player including Holliday. As things stand now he might not even be our SS (with Gunnar) and might have to move over to 2B.

I think it may be helpful if you went back and reassessed our other top prospects. Bot Kjerstad and Mayo have elite middle of the order hitter written all of them. Kjerstad in particular may be the best hitter in our org including Gunnar and Adley.

I never said these guys were going to come up and bust (though some obviously will). I'm saying I don't see too many impact prospects in our system right now. Like Adley or Gunnar. 

[RZNJ]

14 minutes ago, johnrambo said:

I never said these guys were going to come up and bust (though some obviously will). I'm saying I don't see too many impact prospects in our system right now. Like Adley or Gunnar. 

Fair enough, but Gunnar wasn’t an impact prospect two years ago either.   

[Bemorewins]

9 minutes ago, johnrambo said:

I never said these guys were going to come up and bust (though some obviously will). I'm saying I don't see too many impact prospects in our system right now. Like Adley or Gunnar. 

I guess if your definition for impact is #1 prospect in the sport then yeah I guess not. If you do not believe that guys who can profile as legit middle of the order hitters and in Kjerstad’s case maybe the best hitter in the org (possibly better than Gunnar or Adley) are impact, then I guess we have to agree to disagree.

[emmett16]

7 hours ago, johnrambo said:

I never said these guys were going to come up and bust (though some obviously will). I'm saying I don't see too many impact prospects in our system right now. Like Adley or Gunnar. 

Señor Basallo no está de acuerdo contigo.  

Edited July 19, 2023 by emmett16

[emmett16]

Watch his last AB and tell me he has no power.  Caught out in front of an LH curve and flicked a ball off the RCF fence for a double.  2/3 so far tonight.  The kid is special.  He makes the game look slow.  Simple efficient movements.  

Edited July 19, 2023 by emmett16

[scarey1999]

Picking nits, but one thing he needs to work on is his base stealing. He’s got 20 steals this year, which is great, however he’s been caught 8 times. This includes his lone attempt in Bowie. He was also caught 7 times in ABD. 

MLB.com has his at 60 speed and Fangraphs at 50 current and future. So while he’s not a burner by any means, he’s still got above average speed. 

I don’t think anyone predicts he’ll be a huge base stealer in the bigs, but he’ll either need to improve his timing/technique or trim back the number of attempts he makes. 

[deward]

9 hours ago, johnrambo said:

I never said these guys were going to come up and bust (though some obviously will). I'm saying I don't see too many impact prospects in our system right now. Like Adley or Gunnar. 

I expect Kjerstad and Mayo to make plenty of impact over the next few years. 

[johnrambo]

Can anybody explain to me why Holliday's hit tool is a 60? Clearly, his hit tool is advanced and projects to be his bread and butter wherever he goes. He can run, throw and field pretty well for a 19 year old, but he was selected 1 overall because of the hit tool. 

Set the high school record for base hits. Hit .314 at high A with 4 more strikeouts than walks. Off to a good start at AA.

 

I dont know man. A 19 year old putting up numbers like that projects to be a high AVG hitter. At least 65 if not 70 hit tool seems appropriate. If there is one thing he can do its make quality contact.

Edited July 19, 2023 by johnrambo

[Gurgi]

18 hours ago, scarey1999 said:

Picking nits, but one thing he needs to work on is his base stealing. He’s got 20 steals this year, which is great, however he’s been caught 8 times. This includes his lone attempt in Bowie. He was also caught 7 times in ABD. 

MLB.com has his at 60 speed and Fangraphs at 50 current and future. So while he’s not a burner by any means, he’s still got above average speed. 

I don’t think anyone predicts he’ll be a huge base stealer in the bigs, but he’ll either need to improve his timing/technique or trim back the number of attempts he makes. 

Why trim his attempts?  Minor league games dont count for anything but evaluation of our players talent.  Lets run him and run him and find out what he can do.