Jackson Holiday (BAL): 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI.

Can that be? Is it really? After a well-documented, miserable start—we don’t need to rehash the numbers—baseball’s top prospect is reaching his potential. Only seven major league players have hit a home run in three consecutive games at a younger age than Holliday: the last three are Fernando Tatis Jr., Ronald Acuña Jr. and Juan Soto. That’s a remarkable team.

His biggest improvement may be a change in his approach on 0-2 counts, which is what helped him hit his home run in this game. He shortens the ball, doesn’t try to snatch it, but puts it in play. Sometimes the ball still goes over the fence, and that’s exactly what happened here.

Notably, Holliday came in for a pinch hitter on Tuesday night when the bases were loaded and a left-handed hitter was in the field. He has only nine batting appearances against lefties so far, so it’s hard to read too much into the numbers, but he has a .143 batting average. However, it’s important to remember that he’s only 20 years old and this was his 17th major league game — with the depth the Orioles have, he could still be benched in certain situations.

Holliday also hasn’t attempted a steal yet, although he’s managed eight in the minors this season and 24 at multiple levels in 2023. He has 90% sprint speed, so that should become part of his game at some point, perhaps when he starts hitting more singles and fewer home runs.

So what does it look like for the rest of the game? He’ll likely stay in the bottom third of Baltimore’s lineup, but that’s not a bad spot. With Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander having standout years and some new players coming in at the trade deadline, the O’s are well-positioned from top to bottom and he’ll do just fine no matter where he strikes.

Let’s see how the other hitters did on Wednesday

MichaelJackson (SDP): 4-6, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI.

Another rookie named Jackson was hyped this year as a contact hitter who could one day flirt with .300. But after today’s double-barrel (his second was a game-winning hit against David Bednar in the ninth inning, and the Pads would eventually win in overtime), he now has 15 home runs and 37 extra-base hits on the season. Merrill had a pretty bad August — 2 for 15 with two doubles — but games like this make a bad streak a memory. He now leads all rookies in RBI and is in the conversation as a top-100 player.

Kyle Schwarber (PHI): 4-4, 2B, 3 HR, 3 R, 7 RBI, BB.

It’s shaping up to be a monster season for Schwarber, capped by this three-home, seven-RBI performance. Everyone knew he was going to hit bombs—he hit 46 and 47 the last two years—but you expected (with good reason) that he would destroy your batting average, which is around .200. Well, with that 4-for-4, he’s now at a more than respectable .261. He might still swing and miss a lot (9th percentile whiff rate), but the league’s most unconventional leadoff hitter leads the National League in walks and could finish the season with fewer than 200 strikeouts. His patience at the plate could make all the difference:

Michael Busch (CHC): 2-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB.

After hitting five home runs in five straight games in April, Busch was at the top of every pick list. But he hit just one more home run that month, followed by just two in May and two more in June. By that point, he was already a drop, as he didn’t have much to offer other than his power (two SBs all season and that 31.2% strikeout rate doesn’t fit in point leagues). In August, however, he regained his form and filled Christoph Morel‘s role as Chicago’s do-or-die hitter. This month he has a .292 batting average with a 1.013 OPS and three home runs, so he might be worth taking another look at.

Jordan Alvarez (HOU): 1-3, HR, R, RBI, 2 BB.

Alvarez, who was drafted just short of the first round earlier in the season, has disappointed a bit. Most of his numbers have dropped a bit since his 37-home run season in 2022, when his OPS was over 1.000 and he had a .306 batting average. Persistent injuries were likely a factor. Now he’s back to .300, and while his slugging has dropped from .613 to .536 this year, he’s still hitting the ball hard (96th percentile in bat velocity, 98th percentile xSLG). Look for spikes in both power and average the rest of the game.

Ketel Marte (ARI): 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB.

In short: Marte is having an MVP-worthy season. Marte was already a breakout player in 2019, but his career has been marked by ups and downs, with some injury-plagued seasons. He had a comeback year in 2023 with 25 home runs and 82 RBIs and a .358 OBP. Well, he’s already surpassed that home run total with 29, is already at 80 RBIs (had 80 in 150 games last season), and is basically playing at the level we expected from Corbin Carroll (even though he only has six steals). If you drafted Marte with the 100th pick this year, I hope you win your league.

Bobby Witt Jr. (KCR): 3-4, 2B, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI.

Speaking of MVPs, Witt is giving Aaron Judge a run for his money. Judge may hit 60 home runs this year, but Bobby Witt has become a superstar in five categories and possibly the best all-around offensive player in the league. Who between Ohtani, Judge and Witt will be number one next year? I’d take Witt and not look back – amazingly, there are still signs that he hasn’t reached his full potential yet.

Austin Riley (ATL): 2-3, 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB.

It’s hard to believe that Riley had hit just three home runs through the end of May after hitting 33, 38 and 37 over the past three seasons. He won’t reach that level this year — in fact, he’ll be lucky if he gets over 25 — but he’s turned his 13-home run season around since then. He seems to prefer batting fifth in the lineup, with a .333 batting average and a 1.093 OPS. If he and Matt Olson stay this good, the weakened Braves are still a contender and Riley is back to being a top-five third baseman.

Freddie Freeman (BOY): 2-4, R, 3 RBI.

Freddie, it’s good to have you back and hitting balls again. Freeman had one hit in each of his first two games back after his time away from the team, but seems to be slowly getting into his stride. Mr. Consistency hasn’t had his best year at the plate – his XWOBACON is down 63 points from last year and he won’t come close to the 131 runs he scored – but he can still top 25/100/100.

Josh Bell (ARI): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.

What a difference a new team can make. Freed from the vast confines of Miami’s aquamarine stadium, this Bell has been enjoying a one-two punch in Cleveland. Since being traded to Arizona on the same day Christian Walker went on the IL with an oblique strain, Bell has been on a roll, sitting in the cleanup spot. He’s hit four home runs in six games and has an OPS of 1.129. Will it stay that way? Probably not. But sometimes going from a losing team to a winner lights a fire, and Bell’s cauldron is burning.

Eloy Jiménez (BAL): 2-4, 2B, 1R, 2RBI.

Here’s another player who went from a bad team (and that’s an understatement) to a contender for the next round. Since joining the Orioles, Jimenez has hit 8 of 16 batters with two doubles and four RBIs. That’s one more RBI than he had in ALL OF JULY with the White Sox (in 76 batting appearances!). Simply put, it’s nice to hit with men on base and a boisterous crowd in the stands. He’s raised his batting average by 17 points in just five games, and the joy on his face was palpable after he hit a two-run double to right. Get him for a while and hope he stays healthy.