Meet Ethan Holliday, Stillwater's next top baseball prospect who’s ‘staying in the moment’
STILLWATER — Ethan Holliday honed his skills in the St. Louis Cardinals’ clubhouse.
No, not his fielding or power hitting.
His dance moves.
With two National League pennants and a World Series title, the Cardinals had plenty of cause for celebration during Matt Holliday’s award-laden career. The left fielder’s oldest son, Jackson, stayed on the periphery of the fanfare, content to sit quietly in the room where food was served.
Ethan had other plans. The younger Holliday, not yet 10, gregariously jumped into the center of everything, dancing alongside the Major League mega-stars he simply knew as Dad’s friends. The proof exists in — of all places — the app Pinterest, where a random photograph shows a small, shaggy-haired Ethan treating the Cards’ carpet as his dance floor with an equally joyous Jon Jay beside him.
“He’s always been a really good dancer and always been into a lot of the latest and trendiest dances,” Matt Holliday said. “The players got a kick out of that.”
These days, that exuberant, life-of-the-party kid is the guy propelling teams to postgame celebrations. Widely considered the top MLB Draft prospect in the class of 2025, Ethan knows how to prepare for a leap into the big leagues. The Oklahoma State commit spent his freshman season in Stillwater’s batting order right behind his brother, seeing Jackson stay composed amid swarms of scouts and news headlines.
The Baltimore Orioles drafted Jackson with the No. 1 pick. As the older brother rises in the minor leagues, the younger brother establishes himself as the next Holliday of Stillwater stardom, stepping into Jackson’s shortstop role after a summer with Team USA.
There is no anonymity granted for someone in a family that’s practically baseball royalty, but Ethan, whose intense competitiveness is wrapped into a fun-loving, energetic presentation, welcomes the hype.
He wants to enjoy the moment. He wants to dance.
“In our area, he’s not sneaking up on anyone,” Stillwater baseball coach Jimmy Harris said. “We know who his dad is, we know who his brother is, but Ethan, I think, is paving his own way. I feel like he’s always paved his own way just because he’s always been really, really good. He embraces being the No. 1 player in the country.”
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From kid brother to Stillwater star
Just how good is he?
Batting second in a dynamic Stillwater lineup, Ethan has a .457 batting average and .619 on-base percentage with 43 hits and 37 RBI. The nearly 6-foot-4 sophomore has smashed 11 home runs, already surpassing his freshman total before the end of the regular season. Leadoff hitter Gage Gundy admitted he has looked back at Jackson’s underclassman stats, and Ethan is even exceeding those.
“That says enough as it is,” Gundy said.
Ethan is climbing, but he’s not rushing his big-league dream. Instead, he’s stopping to take in the scenery along the way.
It’s not a race to catch up with Jackson, either. Ethan said he and his older brother, who was recently promoted from Single A to High A, have helped each other with their support as “best friends.”
“There’s never really been a competition of me feeling like I’m not as good as (my dad or brother) or ever will be,” Ethan said. “I think it’s always been fair game, like everyone wants to be better.”
He quickly absorbed this mentality from parents Matt and Leslee.
Once, when Jackson was playing on a travel team in New York, a couple of teammates couldn’t make it to the ballpark. The squad needed a last-minute stand-in, so the Hollidays scrambled to find a second uniform and sent Jackson’s kid brother onto the field.
Although the details are fuzzy, Ethan said he thinks he had a couple of hits.
Matt corroborated the narrative: Ethan’s day went pretty well.
“At that age, three years is a huge difference, when you’re 10 and you’re playing with 13- or 14-year-olds,” Matt said. “He’s always been up for the challenge and pretty talented at baseball.”
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Like Jackson, Ethan had a knack for imitating batting stances. Matt said when he played for the Yankees, then 10-year-old Ethan could roll through impressions of the whole lineup and impersonate several pitchers, too.
Ethan and Jackson shared a quirky talent, a lifestyle and a dream — but their personalities diverged. Jackson carried himself seriously, like a businessman disguised in a little-league uniform. Sure, he could laugh and joke, but he often internalized his feelings.
The outgoing, expressive Ethan wore his emotions on his sleeve, or, more literally, on his face. He could choose whether this was a blessing or a curse. It’s turned out to be the former — Matt said he loves that Ethan cares so much — but Ethan had to work to handle tough days at the plate.
“I kind of had a short fuse, like I would get super-mad super-easily when I was younger,” Ethan said.
Once, a bat was thrown, prompting a stern message from his older brother. With Jackson’s serious but loving guidance, Ethan has learned how to let his unique personality shine through and help him.
Ethan doesn’t imitate Jackson — after all, the rising minor-league star isn’t one of the 2017 Yankees. But Ethan has figured out how, in his way, to use his lively demeanor as his armor.
His energy keeps his team afloat through good and bad days, whether he’s wearing Stillwater’s home-run hat or striking up a conversation with a teammate on the bus while most players are absorbed in movies or music.
The way Ethan carries himself impresses Gundy, who has offered advice as a young member of another famous Stillwater sports family.
“It’s hard coming into a baseball season after your brother got picked No. 1 in the draft,” Gundy said. “There’s a lot of high expectations from other people, which, really, he shouldn’t think of it that way. He should just think about going in and playing, but that’s not how it is nowadays with all the social media and everything.
“He’s handled it really well.”
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What’s next for Ethan?
Combine that composure with raw talent and power, and Ethan can thrive among greats. He proved this in the summer as he tried out for Team USA, pushing through a difficult process to secure his spot on the gold-medal-winning roster.
Immediately after Jackson was drafted, all eyes were on Ethan. He said he “started hitting really bad,” but exceptional defense was his saving grace. On a pressure-packed stage, Ethan refused to wither.
“I think it was just a mental game for me,” Ethan said. “There was a lot of people there that, I wouldn’t say didn’t want to see me succeed, but they wanted to see me respond to failure.”
Those situations are a way for a kid to grow up quickly. But Matt emphasizes the fact that Ethan is only 16, landing at the center of MLB Draft talks before obtaining his driver’s license. He’s still a teenager, and baseball is still a game.
“It’s not my identity,” Ethan said. “It’s just what I love to do, so I don’t really feel a whole lot of pressure.”
Ethan doesn’t have too many hobbies outside sports. Unlike close friend Gundy, he doesn’t spend his spare time hunting or fishing in the wilderness. But Ethan finds his escape in family, friends and faith, he said.
Matt, who in January stepped down from his role as the Cardinals’ bench coach to spend more time with family, understands. He has helped Ethan fine-tune his swing, but more importantly, the father has influenced the son’s view on life.
“We talk about staying in the moment, enjoying this and enjoying baseball,” Matt said. “I think there’s a real true balance in our family.”
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Matt and Ethan attend an array of OSU sporting events together. They play pickleball, which can get fiercely competitive. And they spend time with the whole close-knit Holliday family — Leslee, Jackson, youngest children Gracyn and Reed, as well as the extended group that includes Cowboy baseball coach Josh Holliday.
When school is out, Ethan plans to visit Jackson in Maryland. Until then, he continues to relish his time in the Oklahoma high school spotlight, chasing a state title with Class 6A Stillwater (24-9).
More than 1,000 miles from each other, the dynamic duo is carrying on, blasting home runs and rounding the bases. Ethan said at first this year, it was strange to not see Jackson greeting him at home plate with high fives, their routine during their one shared season at Stillwater.
But Ethan is spreading that energy to the rest of his team.
And he’s still having fun, as he showed during the Pioneers’ zany annual tradition: a lip syncing and dancing contest. Last year, Ethan and Jackson performed in a group.
How did Ethan handle the absence of his bandmate?
“This year, Ethan was the lead guy,” Harris said, “and he stole the show. He was really good at that stuff.”
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma HS baseball: Stillwater's Ethan Holliday 'paving his own way'
