Ethan Holliday is the most famous player in the 2025 draft, but is he the best?
Ethan Holliday is the most famous player in the 2025 MLB draft, and it is not even close. He is also one of the best. Holliday could be the second of Matt Holliday’s children to be selected number one overall. It is already easy to envision the Beltway rivalry turn into a sibling rivalry. However, I am not ready to buy my Ethan Holliday jersey just yet because Ethan has some work to do to be selected over more advanced college prospects.
Ethan Holliday has been a big deal for a while. He has an NIL deal with Adidas despite still being in high school. When I was a senior in high school, I was looking for a prom date, not signing lucrative shoe deals. However, Ethan Holliday isn’t most high school kids. From a young age, he has been destined to be a ballplayer.
With his dad being a seven time All-Star and his brother being a top prospect, it is only natural that Ethan is following in his families footsteps. Like the rest of his family, Ethan is very good at baseball. When he was 16, scouts said he was more advanced than his brother Jackson was at the same age. As we know, Jackson became the first overall pick.
Will Ethan follow in his brothers footsteps and become a number one overall pick? It is possible, but he is not a slam dunk like the Nationals last two number one overall picks Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper.
At 6’4 200 pounds, Ethan Holliday is built a lot more like his 6’4 240 pound dad than his smaller 6’0 185 pound brother. As expected for a kid this big, his biggest calling card is his power. Holliday has prodigious power, registering exit velocities of 111 mph with a wood bat. There is also a clip of him hitting the ball a crazy 118 MPH with a metal bat in a batting cage.
This makes his power a plus, borderline plus plus tool, with MLB Pipeline giving him a 65 grade. In their scouting report, they say that he can be a 35 plus home run hitter. This is why he is their number 1 prospect.
However, Holliday is not without his flaws. On the summer showcase circuit, where he faced the best pitching, Holliday struggled. Questions about swing and miss began to surface. Scouts attributed this to a combination of trying to do too much and a long swing. Both of these things can be fixed, but it is why he is not a slam dunk number one pick. A disappointing summer has left the race open, with college guys like Jace Laviolette and Jamie Arnold fighting to take Holliday’s spot.
While Holliday is a shortstop right now, a move to third base is likely due to his large frame. It would likely be a similar situation to Brady House, where a team might try him at shortstop before eventually moving him to the hot corner.
Another positive in his game is his batting eye. Holliday has a very patient approach and will draw plenty of walks. This makes his swing and miss more palatable because he will still find a way to get on base. If anything, scouts complain that he is too passive. However, that is a much easier problem to solve as opposed to chasing too much.
Is Ethan Holliday worth the hype? Well it depends on how you see him. If you see him as a Bryce Harper style “chosen one” prospect, you are probably overhyping him. However, he is an easy top 5 player in this draft and could be the best prospect. I have Jamie Arnold ahead of him right now, but Jackson Holliday is firmly in the mix for the number one pick.
While a high schooler with swing and miss concerns might bring back bad memories for Nats fans, Holliday is worth consideration at number one. His combination of power, patience and baseball IQ make him a fantastic prospect. After all, who wouldn’t want to see Ethan and Jackson Holliday face off in the battle of the Beltway. It would be a spectacular script.
With his spring season coming up, it looks like Holliday is going to have a monster year. He is already crushing balls in scrimmages and scouts have noticed a smoother looking swing. Ethan Holliday has the highest ceiling in the draft, but his profile is not without its risks. Will Mike Rizzo swing for the fences, or will he go for a safer college player who is closer to the big leagues? Only time will tell, but Ethan Holliday has the potential to be a home run.