They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and that certainly seems to be the case for Baltimore Orioles star Jackson Holliday.
It’s rare that the consensus best prospect in the sport would be so eager to change his swing when he ran through the minors rapidly to reach The Show after just one full year of professional baseball, but Holliday isn’t just any prospect.
The son of seven-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger Matt Holliday has always had lofty expectations placed on his shoulders when he first popped onto the baseball scene.
And after a tough debut season where there was more bad than good at the plate, the younger Holliday wasted little time making adjustments.
That’s where the imitation comes in.
Before the end of the year, Holliday worked with now-hitting coach Cody Asche and copied Shohei Ohtani’s swing, going from the high leg kick he previously had, to the toe tap approach the Japanese megastar uses.
And it worked.
While Holliday wasn’t a regular in the lineup during the final series of the season, he went 4-for-6 with a double, three walks and just one strikeout in three games against the Minnesota Twins.
If that’s what he can deliver in 2025, he’s going to silence many of the doubters.
Of course, the only reason there are people out there who doubt if Holliday can live up to the billing he had as a prospect is because he did not look ready for Major League pitching when he was called up, slashing just .189/.255/.311 with an OPS+ of 66 and 69 strikeouts in 209 plate appearances.
Compared to Jackson Merrill and Jackson Chourio, two similar-aged prospects who also debuted last season and finished second and third in NL Rookie of the Year voting respectively, Holliday was dwarfed by what they showcased.
But this swing adjustment could have a huge impact on him getting back to the top of his game and doing so at the Major League level.
He believes going to the toe tap will help him cut down on strikeouts, the thing that was his biggest flaw throughout the 2024 campaign.
“The main thing is just cutting down the swing and miss. I think when I can put the ball in play at a high mark, I have a chance to get a lot of hits. I feel like I’m in a good spot every time, and I think there’s just a little bit less room for error than there was with the leg kick,” Holliday said per Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun.
If he’s going to imitate the swing of somebody, why wouldn’t it be Ohtani?
The megastar continues to rewrite the history books with what he’s done since coming the United States, and with Holliday looking to create his own name for himself in Major League Baseball, he’ll be using the same type of swing that has allowed Ohtani to become the face of the sport.
