Rockies’ Ethan Holliday Just Did Something at the Plate Nobody Saw Coming

When Paul DePodesta was named president of baseball operations of the Colorado Rockies and Josh Byrnes was named general manager, they walked into a situation where a rebuild was going to be partly surrounded by young players.

Coming off three straight 100-loss seasons, building for the future with young players is going to be key.

One of those young players who figures to be a big part of the future is Ethan Holliday. The fourth overall pick of the 2025 MLB Draft struggled, to say the least. In his first Single-A California League season last summer, he slashed .239/.357/.380 with two home runs and six RBIs.

However, in 18 games, he struck out 33 times and walked just 12. Certainly, that was a concern going into the offseason.

On Tuesday night, Holliday had a night that showed that he is turning a corner in his first full professional season with the Fresno Grizzlies.

Rockies Top Prospect Ethan Holliday Records Eye-Opening Stat Line

Colorado Rockies mascot Dinger | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

It's never easy to make the jump to professional baseball and it's a learning experience for a lot of players. That's the case early for Holliday.

However, he had a line at the plate in a 10-0 win over the Stockton Ports. Holliday went 1-for-1 with a two-run single and five walks. That's right, five walks.

It's not every day that you see a five-walk performance for a player at any level. That's nearly impossible even for Little League. However, if there is one thing to take away from it, it's that this is a good sign for Holliday, given his struggles last summer.

In 16 games so far this month, he is slashing .224/.387/.379 with two home runs and 10 runs driven in. The improvements at the plate are noticeable early in the season, with 20 strikeouts and 12 walks. Both are improvements from last season.

These might be small steps, but they're positive steps for a player who had a promising MLB future ahead of him.

Ethan Holliday is playing in the shadows of his father, Matt, and older brother Jackson, who plays for the Baltimore Orioles. Matt played for the Rockies and had a successful stint, but like every father, he understands the pressure on his son.

There is a nice group of prospects that DePodesta, Byrnes, and manager Warren Schaeffer have to work with and could be key pieces of the future in Denver.

Ethan Holliday taking positive steps early in the 2026 season is a good sign. One way to cut down on mounting strikeouts is to be patient and draw walks. He certainly did that on Tuesday night.

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