Rocktober Reboot: Rockies draft Ethan Holliday, Matt’s son — top HS prospect

Twenty-seven years after drafting Matt Holliday in the seventh round out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, the Colorado Rockies have selected Stillwater High School’s Ethan Holliday with the fourth pick in the 2025 MLB Draft.

The older Holliday was a three-time All-Star in Colorado, led the Rockies to the World Series with an MVP performance in the 2007 NLCS and is responsible for the club’s most iconic moment as he slid into home plate to cement Rocktober’s legend.

The Rockies missed out on drafting Matt’s older son, who was selected first in the 2022 Draft and has already become a star for the Baltimore Orioles. But little brother, who many think is the best high school prospect in the country, somehow fell to No. 4 — and is coming home to Colorado.

Ethan was born before the magical 2007 season and is too young to remember his father’s time in purple. Already, the youngest Holliday has made a name for himself in baseball.

Committed to play for his uncle, Josh Holliday, at Oklahoma State — but unlikely to do so — Ethan wasn’t just the Gatorade Oklahoma Baseball Player of the Year, but also Baseball America’s 2025 High School Player of the Year. Jackson earned that honor in 2022, and other stars like Bobby Witt Jr., MacKenzie Gore, Kyle Tucker and Byron Buxton have claimed that award.

“I think growing up and having our dad as our hitting coach, we probably have a pretty similar approach, and to be able to hit the ball all over the field and similar mindsets at the plate, I’d say,” Jackson told MLB.com about Ethan this week. “Just kind of what our dad’s ingrained in our minds since we were little kids. But we hit together every day, we play catch and take ground balls, so some of our games might look alike eventually. Obviously, he’s a little bit bigger [6-foot-4, 210 pounds] and a little bit more physical, but as far as approach and kind of how we go about the game, it’s pretty similar.”

Holliday projects to play the premium left side of the infield with his right-handed arm, though he bats left-handed, unlike his father. In a perfect world, Ethan can play the infield like his brother but bring more pop like his pops — just from the left side.

His senior year stats at Stillwater were insane, as are most top MLB Draft prospects playing at the high school level. This spring, he hit .611 with 19 home runs and an OPS of 2.038 — these are not typos.

On MLB’s 20-80 scouting scale, Andrew Simon rates his tools as such:

• Hit: 50
• Power: 65
• Run: 50
• Arm: 55
• Field: 50
• Overall: 60

“Baseball comes with a high failure rate — you’ve got to expect adversity but keep going,” Holliday told Men’s Health recently. “My dad says, ‘Keep your circle tight and your mindset steady.’”

Holliday is instantly the most hyped prospect in Rockies history and joins last year’s top pick, college star Charlie Condon, in the farm system as the future of the club’s infield and lineup.

Colorado already has Ryan McMahon signed to play third base through 2027, though he has shifted positions in the past and is the subject of trade rumors. More importantly, 23-year-old Ezequiel Tovar is inked to play shortstop in Denver through 2031 — and the dream of the Venezuelan star anchoring the infield alongside Condon and Holliday should bring legitimate hope to Rockies fans beaten down by three straight 100-loss seasons.

But the Rockies’ farm system still lacks; they were only named No. 18 in MLB.com’s preseason minor league system ranks.

That ranking still counted right-hander Chase Dollander, who has been up for most of the year. Adael Amador struggled in another stint with the big club, and his prospect hopes are fading while former first-rounder Zac Veen’s first taste of the majors wasn’t great. Last year’s late first-round pick Brody Brecht has done well in his first taste of pro ball, but the 22-year-old is still in Single-A. He and Dollander are the only arms of note on the farm.

Look for the Rockies to go heavy on pitchers in the rest of the Draft, especially with their two second-round picks.

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