SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Ethan Holliday’s bat punishing the baseball, and a spot high on the center-field batter’s eye accepting impact at the other end, pierced through the silence at the Rockies’ complex at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Saturday morning.
So, with less than a dozen fans watching in triple-digit temperatures on a back field, does a hit – a triple off Cubs rehabbing Major League reliever Eli Morgan – from Holliday make a sound?
Well, it is heard and seen and analyzed by those who count. This smash occurred during the Arizona Bridge League. Players like Holliday, selected out of Stillwater (Okla.) High School fourth overall in the 2025 MLB Draft and signed for $9 million (a record bonus for a high school draftee) are building up to be sent to a Minor League club or, especially in the case of pitchers and players coming off injury, fall instructional ball.
It’s certainly different for Holliday, 18, whose every pre-draft move was scouted and analyzed by club officials, scouts, Draft experts and other media folk. And it’s welcomed.
“That’s really all there is for us to do – come out here in the morning, play these games on the back field,” Holliday said. “It’s about as raw baseball as you’re going to find.
“That is great.”
Eventually, Holliday is expected to join Single-A Fresno for his official professional debut. The dozen or so autographs will multiply, as fans and memorabilia seekers will flock to California League venues. The scrutiny will begin all over. But Holliday – son of Matt Holliday, who had significant achievements with the Rockies and Cardinals, and younger brother of Orioles shortstop Jackson Holliday – will be fine with being watched by the masses.
If anything, these extreme dry-heat games in Arizona are teaching him that he can’t rely on noise and circumstance to perform.
“Here, you don’t feel like someone’s videoing you at all times, even though you find out that they are,” said Holliday, whose every at-bat of this off-the-grid Bridge League is preserved from multiple angles by Rockies videographers for coaches and analysts. “Like, the high school season was pretty chaotic. But after a while, I got used to it and you don’t really pay attention.”
Saturday’s game in scorching heat was full of players worthy of attention.
Second-round Rockies pick Ethan Hedges, a Southern Cal third baseman, showed the quick feet defensively and on the bases that intrepid visitors to these games have been noting since players arrived days after the Draft. Ashly Andujar, 18, continued to show the electric bat that led to a .318 average in the Arizona Complex League. The Rockies felt they had a steal in eighth-rounder Tanner Thatch, and he looked like a power hitter who could have been picked earlier.
The lineup was stacked enough that Holliday, 6'4" and in the 209-212 lb range, served as designated hitter. As the Rockies said during the Draft, he’ll come into pro ball as a shortstop.
“You’ve got to just get after it every pitch,” Holliday said. “These guys are elite. You’ve got to be locked in, yourself.”
For example, Holliday did not face guys like Morgan, who is returning from a right elbow impingement, in high school. His triple, as well as singles from 74th overall pick Max Belyeu, an outfielder from the University of Texas, and Thatch during the three-run first inning, came after studying a scouting report like the pro he needs to be.
“We went over the scouting report, like, ‘This guy is a big leaguer with a really good changeup – a *really good changeup,'*” Holliday said. “I was talking to Trevor Boone [a Triple-A first baseman-outfielder getting playing time in Arizona] and said, ‘This isn’t a guy that throws really hard. He's is a big leaguer who has had time.’ So that one felt really good. I’m trying to adjust and learn.”
Holliday’s advanced scouting report on the pro lifestyle figures to work to his advantage.
His father was a proponent of “clean eating,” smart workouts, rest and recovery and hydration. He was close enough in age to Jackson for those lessons to be reinforced, even though he wasn’t above “crushing a Snickers in the dugout” while in high school He and Hedges, his roommate in Arziona, help each other stay healthy.
Besides, Holliday can’t rely on dad or mom (Leslee) right now. Matt recently underwent hip surgery.
“I miss them,” he said. “But it’s time to be a big boy.”