BALTIMORE — Jackson Holliday made it to the Majors in 2024, only to experience adversity for the first time in his baseball life. Coby Mayo arrived, too, and he struggled even more than his former Minor League teammate.

The big leagues are tough. Not every player will show up and have immediate success. But that doesn’t mean top prospects should be labeled as “busts” because of initial difficulties.

Prime example: Colton Cowser.

Cowser’s 26-game debut stint with the Orioles during the 2023 season did not go well. He hit .115 (7-for-61) with a .434 OPS and got sent back down to Triple-A Norfolk.

Entering 2024, the hype surrounding Cowser — a ’21 first-round Draft pick and former top prospect — may have wrongly dissipated a bit. He showed up to Spring Training, won a spot on Baltimore’s Opening Day roster and went on to have an impressive season that earned him runner-up status in the American League Rookie of the Year Award race.

So don’t count out Holliday or Mayo heading into 2025. Cowser certainly isn’t.

“No doubt in my mind that they’re going to be really productive,” Cowser said. “I guess you can call it a struggle on paper, but I said this about myself — it never hurts to debut in the big leagues and struggle a little bit. I think it’s going to make you a better player in the future. They know that. And I’m looking forward to how they play this year.”

Holliday’s final stats didn’t tell the full story of his rookie campaign. He slashed .189/.255/.311 over 60 games as a 20-year-old middle infielder who had rocketed through the Minor Leagues after being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.

However, Holliday’s debut season was split into two stints — April 10-25 and July 31-Oct. 2. He flashed his potential much more following his second call-up, even hitting all five of his home runs during a 10-game period from July 31-Aug. 10. He hit .278 (10-for-36) with a 1.072 OPS over that span.

Mayo (the O’s No. 1 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 8 overall) also had a pair of big league stints in 2024 — Aug. 2-14 and Sept. 1-20. However, the then-22-year-old corner infielder went 4-for-41 (.098) in 17 games, never getting a large taste of success before being optioned twice.

Despite those performances, the Orioles’ belief in both Holliday and Mayo becoming future stars hasn’t wavered. Like Cowser, the front office thinks big things are coming in 2025 and beyond.

“Colton had his struggles, Gunnar [Henderson] had his struggles in the first half of the 2023 season. It’s very rare that anyone goes up there and just lights the world on fire and stays that way,” Baltimore director of player development Anthony Villa said. “So we’re very confident.

“We’ve seen these guys perform in the Minor Leagues. We know their talent and what they’re capable of, and we’ve seen them be quick learners and make these adjustments. And so with a little more time and experience and being a part of the scene a little longer, we’re very confident in them.”

According to Villa, there are no common threads between the debut struggles for O’s top prospects. In fact, he said there are “a lot of differences,” which makes it challenging to pinpoint what the player development staff could do differently to better prepare guys for the big leagues.

The answer could be nothing. The individual cases may not have been preventable, as each player needs a different amount of experience to get comfortable in MLB.

“The tough thing about the big leagues is you’re going up there and there’s so much information nowadays that the book’s out. They know what type of player you were in Triple-A and can take their best crack at it,” Villa said. “You’re going up against talented players that have no higher level to continue to move to. The big leagues truly is the best of the best, and it takes a little bit of time to settle in up there.”

For both Holliday and Mayo, this offseason could be as beneficial as last winter was for Cowser. They’ll have time to reflect, analyze their big league showings and prepare for next season better knowing what to expect.

“Sometimes, adversity is not a terrible thing, and you’ve got to learn how to deal with it and understand how hard this game is and how good Major League pitching is, adjustments you have to make,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Once guys get a little bit of a taste and have the ability to make adjustments, they’re going to improve.”