Watch: Former Orioles top prospect smashes opposite-field home run

Holliday parked a Kevin Gausman 2-0 fastball over the left-center field wall at Rogers Centre, an opposite-field home run that demonstrated the type of sky-high potential that the young infielder can still tap into. 

The former No. 1 overall prospect bulked up this offseason, entering 2025 at 200 pounds compared to his slimmer 185-pound frame from a year ago. The strength training already seems to be paying dividends early on. 

It was also encouraging to see Holliday's strong spring training performance, in which he sported a .333 batting average and .865 OPS across 48 at-bats. 

Compared to his ugly .189 average and .566 season OPS in his debut season, perhaps the 21-year-old can officially turn the corner by building off his opposite-field crush job on Friday.

Should Holliday continue to rake at a high level, the Orioles as a team will also become that much more formidable in an American League East division that has at least two other legitimate contenders in the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. The Tampa Bay Rays can't be ignored, either, all of which will contribute to making the 2025 season a compelling one to watch. 

This could just be the start of a stellar second year for Holliday.