Rockies Journal: Drafting Ethan Holliday is a baseball decision, not a sentimental journey

Ethan Holliday son of Matt brother of Jackson could soon be a member of the Rockies If Ethan is still available when the fourth overall pick rolls around Sunday night chances are good that the Rockies will take him That s what all the national draftniks are saying There is a chance Ethan will be drafted first overall by the Nationals but if he isn t the experts say his baseball destiny lies with the Rockies the same organization that drafted his father in the seventh round in and saw him become the star of Rocktober That would be a feel-good story for sure And no group demands good feelings or a star attraction more than the Rockies There would be a certain baseball romance to Ethan playing at Coors Field where his dad was a three-time All-Star and the best performer on the dream unit that remains the only Rockies gang to make it to the World Series But is -year-old Ethan a fresh graduate of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma the right pick for the Rockies If he genuinely is the very best sportsman on the board when the Rockies pick then he absolutely is the choice The Rockies after all have been stuck in an offensive funk for four seasons running and they need firepower However the Rockies must set aside sentimentality That won t be easy Make no mistake Ethan is an extraordinary talent Matt narrated me last year that his son will have even more power than Matt did during his -year career which produced career home runs and four more All-Star nods with the Cardinals The scouting notes on Ethan read like this He s a -foot- powerhouse with a frame that will carry more muscle as he gets older and develops He has a sharp batting eye and can hit with power to all fields There are specific concerns about too multiple swings and misses against high-velocity fastballs The counterargument is that he tried to do too much when he got pitched around and was fed offspeed pitches on the amateur star circuit last summer Hitting fastballs won t be a complication for him multiple scouts say Ethan moves well and could be a major league infielder perhaps even a power-hitting shortstop Other scouts see him as an outfielder or maybe a first baseman He is seen by several as the top offensive talent in the draft perhaps with even more prospective than Jackson the No overall pick in the draft and now the starting second baseman for the Orioles Examining baseball skills is no easy task Doing it for a high school sportsman and then projecting what he ll be like as a big-leaguer two three or four years down the road is even harder Toss in questions about maturity and character and the equation gets even more complicated However in the development of Ethan the Rockies have no worries about Ethan s makeup Ethan is definitely at the top of the draft in terms of his talent and the person he is I will say that Marc Gustafson Colorado s senior director of scouting operations disclosed And he s from a special family that goes without saying It s a wonderful family Last September Ethan sat in the visitors dugout at Coors Field before a Rockies-Orioles contest in which the entire Holliday clan revealed up to watch Jackson play Ethan Holliday left talks with his father former Colorado Rockies player Matt Holliday before the Baltimore Orioles take on the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver on Friday Aug Photo by Andy Cross The Denver Post Related Articles Rockies waste multiple scoring chances lose in walk-off fashion to Reds Grading The Week Are Rockies Ryan McMahon Jake Bird blowing their best chance to escape Coors Field nightmare Rockies draft-and-development philosophy has serious flaws Here s why German Marquez shines as Rockies pull off gritty - win vs the Reds Former Rockies participant DJ LeMahieu cut by Yankees with nearly million left on contract My mom and dad have been amazing Ethan commented They have been so influential They ve seen the pressure they felt the pressure before and they have been in the spotlight They have helped us a lot They ve made it fun Seeing his older brother manage the hype and hurdles of being a top baseball prospect with a famous baseball father has also prepared Ethan for his moment I m so proud of how Jackson has dealt with all of this Ethan mentioned I saw how he went through all of this a couple of years ago I was his wingman and we did everything together so I saw how he handled it all with all of the eyes on him and how he went about his business In the end and this is critical Ethan loves baseball He welcomes the grind that will wear him down in the minors before it builds him up for the big leagues I ve loved baseball for as long as I can remember he announced Not just because of my dad and my brother and all of my family I love the constant grind of trying to get better every day I ve loved getting to know all of the people I ve met through the years And it s the little stuff too The sounds of the meeting the smells of the ballpark all of that That s something you ve got to love if you re going to play this event Now the Rockies are on the clock If Ethan is available to them on Sunday they have a big decision to make Perhaps it s an easy one Perhaps it s tough The bottom line It must ultimately be a baseball decision Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis