Holliday, the second-best player on Yahoo Sports’ Draft Board, was seen as a potential No. 1 overall pick. That honor instead went to Eli Willits, also a high school shortstop, who was selected first overall by the Washington Nationals.
Holliday is the younger brother of Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday, the first overall pick of the 2022 MLB Draft, and the son of former MLB All-Star Matt Holliday. The Hollidays are the first pair of brothers to both be taken first overall in the MLB Draft, and they have one more brother, 2027 prospect Reed Holliday, in reserve.
Notably, Matt Holliday was drafted by the Rockies in the seventh round of 1998 draft. He made his MLB debut with Colorado in 2004, spending four years with the team before bouncing around and spending extended time with the St. Louis Cardinals. Matt Holliday ended his career in Colorado, returning to the Rockies in 2018 before retiring.
Ethan Holliday might have even more upside than his brother
When Jackson Holliday was emerging as a top prospect as a high schooler, there were whispers that MLB teams might like his younger brother even more.
To be clear, Ethan is a very different player than Jackson. The case for Jackson as a future All-Star hinges on a combination of bat-to-ball skills and middle-infield defense, elevated by an advanced feel for the game under his father’s tutelage.
Ethan, meanwhile, has a frame more similar to his father, measuring in at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds (Jackson is listed at 6-foot, 185). That would be massive for a shortstop but not unprecedented, given the likes of Corey Seager and Elly De La Cruz. Still, Ethan is expected by many to land at third base and provide plenty of defensive value there.
There will be more pressure on Ethan’s bat if he ends up at third, but he seems more than equipped to oblige there. Holliday has the highest offensive upside of any player in this draft class, from monster exit velocities to a feel for the strike zone similar to his brother’s.
Ethan laid waste to the high school competition in Oklahoma this season, posting a 2.046 OPS and 16 home runs in 118 plate appearances across 32 games for Stillwater High School.
Ethan Holliday was hitting homers faster than they could put them on the screen 😂 pic.twitter.com/L3EcFXbGF1— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) July 13, 2024
but there’s some risk
Holliday has been seen as a top prospect for years, but there is a catch. Yahoo Sports’ Jake Mintz noted earlier this month that Holliday’s stock took a hit during the showcase circuit last summer, when he whiffed on 37% of in-zone fastballs, signaling some major swing-and-miss concerns. It’s not a surprise the Nationals would disregard that red flag considering their draft history, but it has bitten them before (see 2022 No. 5 pick Elijah Green, who has struck out in 45.7% of his appearances at High-A this year).
However, as Jordan Shusterman laid out for Yahoo Sports, Holliday’s weak showcase was explained as a badly timed, temporary flaw in his swing mechanics, which has since been corrected. His future in baseball likely hinges on whether that’s true.