A year ago, Ethan Holliday was just a kid on the verge of graduation from high school. Well, not just a kid. He was a baseball phenom, just eight weeks shy of being selected by the Rockies with the fourth overall pick of the major league draft.
Now, he’s a full-time professional who signed for $9 million. That’s not kids’ stuff.
But he’s thriving, and swinging a hot bat for the Single-A Fresno Grizzlies. Not an easy trick for a 19-year-old away from home for the first time.
“I think things are going well and I’ve settled into a groove,” Holliday said in a phone interview Tuesday before the Grizzlies played the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. “Last year was challenging, no doubt. And this is still challenging, but I’m starting to figure it out. I’m trying to keep things as simple as possible.”
Entering Tuesday, the shortstop ranked first in the California League in slugging (.580) and OPS (.984), was tied for first in home runs (nine) and RBIs (30), and was tied for 10th in walks (22). Last Saturday, Colorado’s top-ranked prospect launched two home runs and drove in three runs in Fresno’s 11-6 win over Visalia.
“I was feeling good and on time with my swing,” he said. “I got some fastballs over the middle, and I took ’em deep a couple of times.”
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Holliday is part of Stillwater, Okla., baseball royalty. Ethan’s dad, Matt, the former Rockies outfielder, was a seven-time All-Star and a World Series champion with the Cardinals. Ethan’s big brother, Jackson, was the first overall pick out of Stillwater High in the 2022 draft by the Orioles.
When Ethan was still in high school, some projected that he would have a better big-league career than his dad or his brother. Of course, nothing is guaranteed in baseball. During Ethan’s 18-game taste of pro baseball last summer with Fresno, he hit just .239 with two home runs and struck out in 39.3% of his plate appearances. There were whispers in the baseball industry that he was having trouble hitting fastballs.
The “Worries about swing-and-miss cropped up when he was on the summer showcase circuit, and he expanded the zone too much, and there were a lot of whiffs during his brief pro debut, but he has the chance to be a solid all-around hitter with big home run totals. ”
Rockies general manager Josh Byrnes likes what he’s seeing from Ethan.
“I mean, Ethan just turned 19 in spring training, so he’s got growth ahead of him,” Byrnes said Tuesday at Coors Field before Colorado hosted the Rangers. “In talking to Ethan and his dad, we talked about hitting the fastball better — without losing his other strengths. And in May, he’s really done a lot better with it.
“He’s made some slight swing changes, but taking that into your first full professional season is not that easy. But the overall production, and how he’s doing it has been really, really encouraging.”
Byrnes is also impressed by Ethan’s maturity.
“He’s his own person, but I think his family pedigree has helped,” Byrnes said. “Even so, when I’ve talked to Matt, he’s told me, ‘You don’t have to baby him. He’s a professional baseball player now. The thing is, Ethan loves talking the game, and he loves picking the brains of his brother and his dad.”
Jackson came off the injured list on Tuesday and started at second base for the Orioles for the first time this season. After undergoing right hamate surgery on Feb. 12, Jackson had to pause his rehab assignment twice, first due to right wrist soreness and then due to right hand discomfort. The hamate bone is on the lower outside edge of the hand.
“I’m so glad to see him back with the Orioles,” Ethan said. “Our schedules get crazy, so we can’t talk every day, but we talk a lot.”
And what does his big brother tell him?
“He says, this all the time: ‘Just give yourself some grace. Just go out there and play the game you have always loved. Don’t think too crazy about any of it. Go compete and have fun. And make sure to give it your all every night.’ ”
Jackson needed only 155 minor league games to reach the majors. It took Matt a lot longer. He appeared in 556 games over six years before debuting with the Rockies in 2004. Patience is a prerequisite in pro baseball.
“I tell Ethan all the time,” Matt told The Post during spring training. “I was 24 years old when I made it. I had some really lousy seasons. I let him know, ‘You are 19. Letap relax. You don’t have to get to the major leagues this year.’
“Everybody is on a different timeline. He doesn’t have to be like his brother. He is his own person. And I am proud of him.”
Ethan has taken his dad’s advice to heart.
“It won’t be sunshine and rainbows every day,” he said. “We have to understand that baseball is a game of failure, but you have to show up every day.”
And you have to get away from the diamond when you can.
Last Monday, Ethan and his girlfriend, Mary, drove from Fresno to Yosemite National Park and spent the day there.
“It was unbelievable, breathtaking,” he said. “I need that. Showing up every day, and playing every day is not easy. Thankfully, we have that built-in off day on Mondays. I try to make the most of it.”
