Ethan Holliday is following in some familiar footsteps. Just like his older brother Jackson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Ethan enters this year’s draft as the potential top pick.
And, in a near-mirror image of Jackson, Ethan was recently named the 2025 Baseball America High School Player of the Year — an honor his brother claimed three years earlier. They are the first high school brother duo to each be honored as BA’s Player of the Year.
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“It’s awesome, getting to share something like that with your brother, who you are super close with — and we actually got to play together,” Ethan told Baseball America. A shortstop now, he played third base his freshman year at Stillwater (Oklahoma) High School while Jackson played shortstop. “We’ve got a family business in Stillwater, and baseball is kind of just what we love to do. So it’s a real honor to share that with him.”
During his freshman year, Ethan Holliday watched his brother Jackson become Baseball America's High School Player of the Year.
Now, he finds himself in the same position.
The two are the first high school brother tandem to each be honored with the award.… pic.twitter.com/WYYNZl5t4h
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) July 1, 2025
Ethan tallied a .611 batting average with 19 home runs during his senior season despite being intentionally walked a heavy amount by opposing pitchers not wanting to let him do damage. He also played for the Team USA under-18 team in 2024 and the under-15 team in 2022.
The expectations surrounding Ethan go beyond his last name. As the son of seven-time MLB All-Star Matt Holliday and the younger brother of Jackson, he carries the weight of a baseball lineage that’s both elite and visible. At 6-foot-4, 210 pounds with a powerful frame reminiscent of his dad’s, Ethan doesn’t just play the part, he looks it.
Scouts and fans alike can’t help but draw comparisons to Matt’s physicality and presence at the plate, adding another layer to the already lofty projections for him. But Ethan was raised by humble parents, and despite this and the various awards and accolades he’s racked up in high school, he told Sports Spectrum in February that his identity is “100%, no doubt, rooted through Christ,” and it never wavers regardless of what’s going on with his baseball career.
“I feel like in the last three or so years, I’ve gotten to find where my identity really is,” he said. “So many people can get caught up in the game, get caught up in life, losing their identity in sports or things that are worldly. When I truly found where my identity was in Christ, and that’s where I’m centered, that’s who I am, my life has been incredible.
“That’s a peace you can’t explain. That’s a confidence, that’s a way of life you wish everyone can have. Navigating through sports and life, if I didn’t have Christ as my center, I don’t know how I could ever do it.”
He said these past few years have felt like “chaos” at times, but he’s grown closer to God through it all. He’s attended the Pro Athletes Outreach baseball conference the past three years with his family, but the most recent gathering helped him take an extra step in his faith and become a “warrior of the Lord.”
“I knew there were going to be pressures, expectations, but being able to come and find my identity in Christ has taken so much weight off of this journey and I feel free,” he said in the Spring 2025 edition of Sports Spectrum Magazine. “It’s a peace you can’t explain. … Navigating through sports and life, if I didn’t have Christ as my center, I don’t know how I could ever do it.”
Pastor David Platt of McLean Bible Church in Washington D.C. spoke at the last conference and mentioned how he puts out 5-7-minute devotional podcasts every day. Ethan immediately baked those into his morning routine to “feel connected with the Lord daily.” After the devotionals, he listens to worship music before getting into his school or training for the day. And he ends the day in prayer for about 10 minutes.
But “sometimes when life gets crazy, it’s an hour, hour and a half, where I shut everything off and it’s just me in my room in the dark, just talking to the Lord and really just feeling the Holy Spirit,” he said. “That’s huge for me. I need that time. I need that time even if it’s traveling for a summer event, or wherever I’m at, I need time with the Lord. I need that peace. I need that comfort and that gets me through days where sports aren’t going good, life gets a little crazy. To just be able to silence that noise with the voice of the Lord, that’s powerful.”
As part of the draft process, Ethan has met with several teams as they gauge his fit with their organization. He sees those conversations as a chance to share his faith.
“I get to do these draft interviews with these guys who we’ve never met and they’ll ask me questions, and I get to share just a little bit about the Gospel,” he said. “I don’t know where they come from, I don’t know what phase of life they’re in, but you never know.”
The 2025 MLB Draft will take place July 13-14 in Atlanta to kick off the All-Star Week festivities. Jackson has a game with the Orioles at 1:35 p.m. ET on July 13, but hopes to travel home in time to share the draft moment with his younger brother. Then Jackson could possibly make his first All-Star Game appearance July 15.
Ethan said he’s always looked up to Jackson since he was a child, and if he’s selected first, the Hollidays would join Peyton and Eli Manning as the only brothers to each be drafted No. 1 overall in American pro sports.
“I’m excited,” Jackson told Sports Spectrum. “He’s put himself in a pretty awesome position. I’m really looking forward to what the Lord has in store for big E.”
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