Jackson Holliday returned to the Baltimore Orioles in grand style.
Hours after being officially recalled from the minors, Holliday belted a towering grand slam in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
It was the first career major league home run for Holliday, the consensus No. 1 overall prospect in baseball who scuffled earlier this season in his first crack at the big leagues.
Holliday, 20, rocketed through the minor leagues and was called up April 10 to join the Orioles’ elite core of young players. But he went just 2-for-34 with 18 strikeouts in 10 games before being optioned back to Triple-A Norfolk.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Holliday batted 271 with 10 homers, 38 RBIs and 75 walks in 73 games at Norfolk before travelling to Baltimore on Tuesday night and officially being recalled to the Orioles roster Wednesday morning.
After grounding out in his first two at-bats against the Blue Jays, Holliday made the most of his opportunity with the bases loaded, blasting an 0-2 slider from right-hander Yerry Rodriguez well over the wall in right field to give the Orioles an 8-3 lead.
The 439-foot drive was so obviously gone that Holliday paused a bit before starting his trot, then waved to the crowd from the dugout.
Holliday is expected to slot in at second base after the Orioles’ trade Tuesday involving fellow rookie Connor Norby, who was traded dealt with outfielder Kyle Stowers to the Miami Marlins for left-hander Trevor Rogers.
“It was obviously sad to go back down,” Holliday said before Wednesday’s game. “But I got to go down there and make some adjustments and improve a little bit — set myself up for second time around, so glad to be here.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.