The Colorado Rockies have a chance to turn back the clock on historic Mile High baseball this Sunday. The 2025 MLB Draft begins this weekend during the All-Star break in Atlanta, Georgia, with the Rockies holding the fourth overall pick. Colorado’s eyeing 18-year-old Ethan Holliday, who’s the highest ranked draft prospect in all of baseball and happens to be the son of Rockies legend Matt Holliday.
In 1998, just seven years after the team was founded, the Rockies drafted Matt in the seventh round. He’d prosper into one of the league’s best contact hitters, including five tremendous years in purple to begin his career. From 2004 to 2008, Holliday finished with MVP votes for four straight years, got three straight Silver Slugger and All-Star nods and earned a batting title in 2007.
In the monumental ‘07 season for the Rockies, he made one of the most iconic plays in team history that would eventually lead them to a World Series debut. After a thrilling division race, ending with the Arizona Diamondbacks squeaking out the NL West by a singular win, the Rockies hosted the San Diego Padres for a Wild Card tiebreaker to make it into the postseason.
With an 8-8 tie in the bottom of the eleventh, Holliday tagged up on a fly ball to right. The throw came in but bounced out of the catcher’s glove as the Rockies faithful erupted for the walk-off win. However, underneath fireworks the umpiring crew got together to review the play, since it had appeared that Holliday never grazed home plate.
After review, it was decided that San Diego’s catcher Michael Barrett had been covering the plate in obstruction to the runner, giving the call to Colorado in a highly controversial ending. The Rox would advance to sweep the 89-win Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Division Series then swept Arizona to reach their first ever World Series appearance.
Holliday got traded in ‘08 where he continued to have a borderline Hall of Fame career for the St. Louis Cardinals, including a World Series title in 2011. He’d finish his career a seven time All-Star and four time Silver Slugger, missing out on the baseball Hall of Fame in 2024.
Matt’s son, Ethan, was born in 2007 and is the next heir to the Holliday’s baseball legacy. His brother, Jackson, took the world by storm when he made his major league debut with the Baltimore Orioles in April 2024.
Ethan’s scouting report has shown how much closer he emulates his father’s archetype than Jackson does. All on a scale to 80, his scouting grades came back at a 60 overall with 65 power.
“Ethan is more physical and powerful than Jackson and much more resembles their father,” the report said. “He already has plenty of strength and an easy left-handed swing with plenty of bat speed and leverage.”
No matter the circumstances, if Ethan is still on the board when Colorado’s fourth pick comes up, the selection should be mindless. Although he is the highest rated player, as the draft inches closer, the possibility of him falling to No. 4 is strengthening.
The biggest roadblock to Holliday dropping is the Washington Nationals pick at first overall. There is a likelihood that they will take LSU’s pitcher Kade Anderson, who just led the Tigers to their eighth College World Series title. Anderson is appealing to Washington since he would ultimately cost less than the glitzy Holliday, and could make it to the majors faster since pitchers tend to mature quicker.
Next is the Los Angeles Angels at No. 2 and the Seattle Mariners at No. 3, who are both expected to take arms. The Angels haven’t shown overwhelming interest in Holliday and the Mariners are engaged with 19-year-old pitcher Seth Hernandez.
If the Nationals end up taking Holliday first overall, that would still leave a great options for the Rockies to take early on. They could either jump on a pitcher left out of the top three, or supply depth to their infield and take shortstops Eli Willits or Aiva Arquette.
“He’s a great kid and an incredible teammate,” Matt said about his son Ethan. “He’s a really good player, [but] I’m the most proud of the man he’s turned into.”
Round one of the 2025 MLB Draft begins Sunday, July 13 at 4 p.m. MT, streamed live on MLB Network.
