Jackson Holliday named Orioles’ minor league player of year; Chayce McDermott earns top pitching honor

The accolades keep coming in for Jackson Holliday. This one is far from a surprise.

Holliday, the No. 1 prospect in baseball, was named the Orioles’ Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year, the club announced Saturday. Right-hander Chayce McDermott was also honored, claiming the Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year award.

In his first full professional season, the 19-year-old Holliday became the sport’s best prospect, rose from Low-A Delmarva to Triple-A Norfolk in historic fashion, played in the MLB All-Star Futures Game and was named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year.

The 2022 No. 1 overall pick hit .323 with an impressive .941 OPS between the four levels. He tallied 30 doubles, nine triples, 12 homers, 75 RBIs, 24 stolen bases and 101 walks against 118 strikeouts.

He followed in the footsteps of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson as Baseball America’s No. 1 overall prospects. Those two young stars helped lead the Orioles to an American League East title and the club’s best regular season in 40 years. Holliday could join them at just 20 years old in 2024.

McDermott, meanwhile, emerged as one of the organization’s top young arms this summer and one of its biggest risers. Ranked as the club’s third-best pitching prospect at No. 13 in the Orioles’ system, according to Baseball America, McDermott is one of several up-and-coming arms Baltimore received at last year’s trade deadline. In addition to getting All-Star Yennier Cano and prospect Cade Povich in the Jorge López trade with the Minnesota Twins, the Orioles acquired McDermott and Seth Johnson in the Trey Mancini deal.

McDermott, 25, opened the year with Double-A Bowie, pitching well with a 3.56 ERA. But he soared once he was promoted to Norfolk, pitching perhaps the best he has in his professional career. The 6-foot-3 right-hander posted a 2.49 ERA in 50 2/3 frames with the Tides, allowing just a .156 batting average against and 4.8 hits per nine innings.

Also a part of the Orioles’ 2023 minor league award winners, the club named Norfolk manager Buck Britton as the winner of the Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award and Dave Jennings the Jim Russo Scout of the Year. The four men will be recognized at Camden Yards before Saturday’s game against the Boston Red Sox, although the two prospects and Britton won’t be in attendance because they’ll be in Las Vegas for the Triple-A Championship Game.

After losing Game 1 of the International League Championship Series to the Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay’s top affiliate, on Tuesday, Norfolk came back to win Games 2 and 3, including a 7-0 victory Thursday that overlapped with the Orioles’ AL East-clinching win. The IL title is the first for Baltimore’s Triple-A club since the Rochester Red Wings did so in 1997. The Tides, bolstered by a roster that includes nine of the Orioles’ top 14 prospects, will play the Oklahoma City Dodgers, a Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate, in a winner-take-all game for the title Saturday night.

Also this week, three players in addition to Holliday were recognized by Baseball America for their stellar seasons. With Holliday as the publication’s first-team shortstop, Double-A Bowie catcher Samuel Basallo, who excelled in his age-18 season, and Baltimore outfielder Heston Kjerstad made the list. Third baseman Coby Mayo, whose .974 OPS led the Orioles’ farm system, was a second-team selection.

This story will be updated.

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