ATLANTA — As Matt Holliday’s eldest sons navigated their way through amateur baseball, rising from decent prospects to potential first-round picks, the difference between father and sons became apparent in their public appearances:
Jackson and Ethan were simply different physical specimens than their father, a seven-time All-Star who at 6-4 and 240 pounds still looks like he could bat cleanup – or be an edge rusher – for somebody.
But now, there is an undeniable link between the OG Holliday and Ethan: Son will follow in father’s footsteps as a Colorado Rockie.
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Ethan Holliday’s draft day didn’t begin as anticipated Sunday night, with the Washington Nationals opting for his Oklahoma prep shortstop cohort, Eli Willits, as the No. 1 overall pick, followed by collegiate arms Tyler Bremner and Kade Anderson by the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners.
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But any semblance of a slide turned into serendipity.
The Rockies did not hesitate to snag Holliday with the fourth overall pick, opting for a shortstop who stands eye to eye with his father yet posseses an athleticism that allows him to patrol shortstop.
Ethan is also taller and projected to be stronger than older brother Jackson, and although he did not equal Jackson’s 2022 feat by becoming the first overall pick, he has the ceiling to light up Coors Field.
Holliday batted .661 with 19 home runs and 64 RBIs for Stillwater High School this season, earning consensus as the No. 1 pick yet not separating himself to the extent an organization’s whims or the vagaries of bonus pool allocation might get a club like Washington to switch up.
Yet there’s a certain family tradition he’s now happy to inherit.
Matt Holliday mashed in Denver, hitting 130 home runs in six seasons, with a .936 OPS and a 131 adjusted OPS, meaning that with altitude factored in he was still approaching elite offensive production. He provided one of the more iconic moments in franchise history, sliding home just ahead of the throw (or not – the play would be a lightning rod for eventual replay review) – to score the winning run in a one-game playoff against the San Diego Padres in 2007.
The Rockies would advance to their only World Series weeks later; Ethan Holiday was just seven months old.
“Man, this is a really incredible opportunity,” Ethan Holliday said in an MLB Network interview shortly after the Rockies selected him. “I’m so driven by faith, so grateful. I don’t even know what words to put to this. The Rockies organization, I’m just so thankful to them.
“That just adds such a cool thing, knowing everyone in the organization since I was born.”
Eventually, the Rockies faded and traded Holliday to Oakland, and he went on to have seven All-Star campaigns with the Cardinals. He finished up with a final, partial season in Colorado, by which time young Jackson and Ethan were familiar sights in Matt’s clubhouses.
Now, it will seem like déjà vu in Denver, with a thinner, perhaps more athletic and potentially potent Holliday back in town.
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