{"id":624993,"date":"2026-03-15T12:26:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T12:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/624993\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T12:26:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T12:26:32","slug":"rockies-ethan-holliday-makes-significant-adjustments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/624993\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockies’ Ethan Holliday makes significant adjustments"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCOTTSDALE \u2014 Upon reflection after his first pro season, Ethan Holliday<\/a> made significant adjustments to his hitting and scrolling.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI went away from a toe tap to more of a stride,\u201d Holliday said<\/a> after a recent workout. \u201cAnd I try to stay off social media as much as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rockies are universally projected to become the first franchise since the Washington Senators to lose 100 games in four straight seasons<\/a>. They are building an infrastructure, a foreign concept for nearly a decade, while assembling a more competitive Major League roster.<\/p>\n

Part of the new vision centers on customizing plans to help prospects reach their potential. They don\u2019t need them to reach the big leagues. They need them to produce when they arrive.<\/p>\n

Holliday, taken as the fourth pick overall in the 2025 draft, represents an important test case. He was drafted a few months before president Paul DePodesta<\/a> and general manager Josh Byrnes<\/a> took over, but his road could mirror the organization\u2019s return to relevancy.\n<\/p>\n

That is a lot for a kid who turned 19 last month. Even more on a young man who carries the name of one of the organization\u2019s greatest players and is the brother of one of the fastest risers ever in the minor leagues.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is dealing with it times two, following in my footsteps and Jackson\u2019s (the starting second baseman for the Orioles),\u201d said dad Matt Holliday, a seven-time All-Star, and prominent figure in Rocktober in 2007<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s not easy. But he knows he can\u2019t worry about outside things. We try to get him to shrink his world. Be present. Be a good teammate, and don\u2019t be so quick to be on your phone and worry about what people say about you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Criticism found Holliday this February. Baseball America pounced on Holliday\u2019s inauspicious minor league debut, extrapolating from three weeks that he was not \u201ctwitchy or athletic\u201d and that his 33 strikeouts validated \u201cmajor questions around the hit tool.\u201d\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t move. Can\u2019t crush it. Can\u2019t make contact. All that from 84 plate appearances by an 18-year-old in Class-A Fresno who did not face a single pitcher his age?\n<\/p>\n

Impressive deduction.<\/p>\n

And so many reasons to believe it will be wrong.<\/p>\n

Walking into the interview room at the Rockies\u2019 spring training complex provides the first evidence. The silhouette is a cross between that of a guy with the stomach of an Olympic swimmer and the shoulders of a Pro Bowl receiver.<\/p>\n

Holliday is 6-foot-3, 215 pounds. Puka Nacua would get the part if they needed a stunt double for a movie.<\/p>\n

Seeing Holliday in person, it seems there\u2019s no way this could be the physique of a teenager.<\/p>\n

Holliday is stronger, adding 10 pounds of muscle after a winter spent working out with his father, brother and assorted major leaguers. More importantly, he is wiser. The scathing criticism \u2014 he hit .239 with a .357 on-base percentage and two home runs \u2014 focused on his performance and not potential improvement.<\/p>\n

The idea that Ethan will not learn from his first exposure to pro ball is ridiculous. He is a Holliday after all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI changed my whole setup. I went away from a toe tap that helped me a lot in high school with different guys throwing off speed all the time. I took it into pro ball and started to create bad habits by trying to do too much and getting behind in counts,\u201d Holliday said. \u201cI had to take a step back and fix some things.\u201d<\/p>\n

At its core, hitting is about timing. Holliday played against good competition in high school and on the summer circuit. But it did not prepare him to see daily fastballs in the mid-90s and sharper off-speed pitches.\n<\/p>\n

Hindsight suggests that the Rockies should have kept him at the spring training complex last summer in controlled scrimmages rather than sending him to California.<\/p>\n

Holliday scoffs at the notion.<\/p>\n

Humility is a terrific teacher. He leaned on teammates Brody Brecht, Tanner Thatch, Jacob Hinderleider and Kevin Fitzer. Became more committed to his faith when returning to a lonely, dark apartment in a new city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s OK to fail. It\u2019s a really hard game. There\u2019s never been a player that killed it in every single season of their life. So you have to go earn it. I would not change the experience for the world,\u201d Holliday said. \u201cPeople want to think it is harder for me because of my last name. I have failed at multiple levels in baseball. I am very callous to it. Pressure is what you make it. I see it as an opportunity to show what kind of person I am and what kind of player I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using a stride has helped Holliday keep his head still while keeping his body more compact and under control. Watching him take BP, and in a few at-bats as an extra player for Team USA in spring training, it is easy to understand why he believes he is in the \u201cbest position he has ever been in\u201d to hit.<\/p>\n

There will always be heightened awareness of Holliday\u2019s progress because of where he was drafted. An organization attempting to turn a ship around in a swimming pool cannot afford to miss on a talent like this. Byrnes understands the stakes and embraces them after an 11-year run of developing impact players for the Dodgers.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cEthan is in the building foundation phase of his journey, and as he gets to the upper levels, it\u2019s more of a finishing school. There is only one promotion that matters. And that\u2019s the last one,\u201d Byrnes said. \u201cHe is learning how to handle and hit velocity the right way, not just sell out and cheat to hit it. Probably the most important thing is that he is really passionate about this. And understands that there is a lot of hard work ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Jackson only required 155 minor league games to reach the big leagues, Matt navigated a red clay path through the farm system. He appeared in 556 games over six years before debuting in 2004.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell Ethan that all the time. I was 24 years old when I made it. I had some really lousy seasons. I let him know, \u2018You are 19. Let\u2019s relax. You don\u2019t have to get to the major leagues this year,\u2019^\u201d Matt said. \u201cEverybody is on a different timeline. He doesn\u2019t have to be like his brother. He is his own person. And I am proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ethan is on a path of self-discovery. He is independent with a backstop. The Hollidays recently moved from Stillwater, Okla., to Scottsdale to make it easier to fly to their sons\u2019 games across the country.\n<\/p>\n

The Hollidays are not the Mannings. But they are a family capable of becoming baseball royalty.<\/p>\n

The reason? They don\u2019t think of it that way.<\/p>\n

As Ethan knows, keep it simple.<\/p>\n

Be on time for the fastball and spend less time on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody has their own opinion. I get it,\u201d Ethan said. \u201cThe goal is to be a winning player in the big leagues, have a great career and help the Rockies. I can\u2019t focus on what others think. My focus is on my process, my routine and becoming the best version of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver\u2019s teams.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCOTTSDALE \u2014 Upon reflection after his first pro season, Ethan Holliday made significant adjustments to his hitting and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2405],"tags":[5,167,52,4316,6489,2083,853,1026,2125,4,58626,168,1031,185,430,151,8053],"class_list":{"0":"post-624993","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-colorado-rockies","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-colorado","10":"tag-colorado-rockies","11":"tag-coloradorockies","12":"tag-ethan-holliday","13":"tag-josh-byrnes","14":"tag-latest-headlines","15":"tag-matt-holliday","16":"tag-minor-league-baseball","17":"tag-mlb","18":"tag-paul-depodesta","19":"tag-rockies","20":"tag-rocktober","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-sports-columnists","23":"tag-spring-training","24":"tag-troy-renck"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116233191335731851","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}