Ethan Holliday Talks Transition to Pro Ball at Rockies Continuation Camp

Colorado Rockies first-round pick Ethan Holliday is getting his first taste of pro baseball, and he hasn’t even played for a team affiliate yet.

Apr 23, 2022; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Colorado Rockies cap and glove in the dugout during the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

After signing a record contract for a prep player, Colorado Rockies prospect Ethan Holliday is getting his first taste of pro baseball in Arizona.

Holliday is with many of the other Rockies draft picks in what is called continuation camp. With the Arizona Complex League done for the season, this is a chance for recent draft picks to get into game action against young pros from either the ACL or the Dominican Summer League that have come stateside.

For the 18-year-old Holliday, that means his first cuts wearing Rockies purple.

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Ethan Holliday On His Pro Games

Ethan Holliday during the high school baseball game between Dale and Stillwater at Carl Albert High School in Midwest City, Friday, April, 11, 2025. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The stats don’t count in these games. They won’t go on Holliday’s MiLB.com page. He won’t play in official games until he reports to an affiliate.

If he does, it will likely be the Rockies’ Class-A team in Fresno. The Grizzlies wrap up their season on Sept. 7.

Holliday talked with Baseball America (subscription required) about his initial experience in the continuation camp, which is made up of the Rockies, along with the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago Cubs, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Athletics.

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“It’s a different kind of baseball out here,” Holliday said. “I’m settling in well. I’ve got a great group around me to learn from and build with. These guys have really welcomed me, even as the youngest one here.”

Baseball America described Holliday’s first games as those of a player that is taking sharp swings but also making the adjustment to “sharper pitching” from players that have at least one pro season under their belts.

About Ethan Holliday

Ethan Holliday in a Rockies uniform is the best thing I’ve seen all day🔥 pic.twitter.com/JQCQRgcb2D

— DNVR Rockies (@DNVR_Rockies) July 31, 2025

The Rockies selected him No. 4 overall. He signed a bonus worth $9 million, which is the highest bonus a prep draft pick has ever signed. Colorado paid him above the expected slot bonus of $8.77 million in the hopes he would carry on the family legacy in Denver.

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His father, Matt, played with the Rockies for the first six years of his career and the last year, as he played in the Majors for 15 years from 2004-18. The Rockies selected him in the seventh round of the 1998 MLB draft out of Stillwater High School.

The left fielder was a seven-time All-Star, a four-time Silver Slugger, won a National League batting title, claimed an NL Championship Series MVP and a 2011 World Series ring with the St. Louis Cardinals. With the Rockies, he made the All-Star Game three times, won three Silver Sluggers and the 2007 NL batting title with a .340 average.

Jackson Holliday, Ethan’s older brother, plays for the Baltimore Orioles and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft. For three years he held the prep signing bonus record.

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