Will the Colorado Rockies catch lightning in a bottle twice? They sure hope so. On Sunday, they selected Ethan Holliday with the fourth overall selection of the 2025 MLB Draft — 27 years after drafting his father, Matt, who wasn’t as highly regarded as a prospect as his sons Jackson and Ethan were when they turned pro. (Matt was selected in the seventh round as the 210th overall pick of the 1998 MLB Draft.)
Like his brother (and unlike his father before him), Ethan is slated to play in the infield, perhaps to be trained by the Rockies as their shortstop of the future. The Rockies’ current situation in the big leagues is as bleak as it gets, but perhaps Ethan would bring a similar impact to what Matt had for Colorado, as the recent draftee’s father put up a 6.9 WAR season in 2007 to help lead the Rockies all the way to the World Series (where they lost in four games to the Boston Red Sox).
At the very least, the 18-year-old infielder out of Stillwater High School is raring to begin his big-league career in the Rockies system, with Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reporting that Holliday is “super juiced” to get his pro career started.
Scouts are salivating over Holliday’s 6’4″ frame, which is similar to his father’s, who had a productive career in his 15 years in MLB. The 18-year-old shortstop has considerable power potential, that even though he’s projected to run into some major strikeout issues, the talent he has at his disposal far outweighs whatever risks he carries as a prospect.
In his senior year at high school, Holliday went bonkers, hitting .611 while hitting 19 home runs and driving in 64 runs on an otherworldly OPS of 2.038.
Ethan Holliday looks to continue the family tradition with the Rockies
Ethan’s father, Matt, was a steal of a draft selection, as he compiled 130 home runs and 486 runs batted in during his five-and-a-half year-stint with the Rockies. So while there may be pressure to live up to his father’s production, especially when he’s slated to play for the same franchise, the second of Matt’s sons to be drafted in the big leagues can only be thankful to get an opportunity like this.
“I wouldn’t sit here and say it’s all been easy, but also, I’m so blessed to be able to play baseball. If the hardest thing in my life is expectations and pressure, then I’m going to wake up super-grateful every single day,” Ethan said in an interview with MLB Network, via Thomas Harding of MLB.com.
