Mariners Draft Profile: The bigger Holliday brother, Ethan Holliday

On Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk this week, they’re letting producer Lyle Goldstein take the reins for a daily Seattle Mariners draft profile segment.

Previous M’s Draft Profiles: SS Aiva Arquette | LHP Jamie Arnold

Goldstein is also half of the Marine Layer podcast that covers the Mariners closely, and he’s had his eye on this MLB Draft for a while, especially since the M’s were lucky in the draft lottery and landed the No. 3 overall pick.

The draft starts with the first round at 3 p.m. Sunday on ESPN and MLB Network. Here’s Goldstein’s third profile, which focuses on Oklahoma high school shortstop/third baseman Ethan Holliday.

Seattle Mariners Draft Candidate: Ethan Holliday

The pros

• Ethan Holliday is the brother of Baltimore Orioles second baseman and 2022 No. 1 overall MLB Draft pick Jackson Holliday, and the son of former MLB All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday. At 6 foot 4 and 210 pounds, he has his dad’s size, which is four inches taller than his brother.

• The biggest thing that jumps out immediately is the effortless power. Ethan Holliday destroys baseballs and has some serious bat speed, putting up exit velocities of 111 mph as an 18 year old. Many evaluators believe that he is going to add more muscle to his frame going forward, only enhancing the power potential.

Top draft prospect Ethan Holliday's swing is too smooth 😮‍💨

(📽️: @PrepBaseballOK) pic.twitter.com/QCrPITsCfY

— MLB (@MLB) May 9, 2025

• He has a very selective approach and a good feel for the strike zone, which has led to him showing the ability to draw a good amount of walks at an early age.

• Holliday will likely play third base long term rather than shortstop, but there is 35-40 home run potential out of the bat at a corner infield spot, which is easy to dream on – especially considering the Mariners have not had enough power production out of either of their corner infield spots the last two seasons.

• Defensively he has shown some range – likely more third base-style range than shortstop – and he has an extremely strong arm.

The cons

• Jackson Holliday has long said that he believes Ethan is better than he was at his age, but Ethan isn’t seen as advanced of a pure hitter as Jackson. To compare the two brothers, MLB Pipeline rated Jackson Holliday in 2023 a few months after he was drafted like this on the 20-80 scouting scale: 70 Hit, 55 Power, 60 Run, 55 Arm, 55 Field. Ethan’s ratings in 2025: 50 Hit, 65 Power, 50 Run, 55 Arm, 50 Field.

• His swing is pretty long, which will have to get cleaned up over time as it has caused a pretty good amount of swing and miss in his game. This is the big concern, and why he is by no means a slam dunk prospect. If the swing and miss becomes overwhelming, it could severely limit his ceiling as a prospect. That being said, the swing mechanics are pretty smooth. It looks a bit like Cody Bellinger’s old swing from early in his career when he won an MVP.

Ethan Holliday, brother of No. 1 MiLB prospect Jackson Holliday and son of 7x All-Star Matt Holiday, is making some serious noise. 😳

He is currently listed as the top overall high school prospect in the 2025 class.

📹: @CarlosACollazo pic.twitter.com/widVIX0hpG

— MLB (@MLB) August 14, 2023

The verdict

If it all clicks, Ethan Holliday could be a more athletic version of Max Muncy – a 4.5 to 5 WAR third baseman with a high walk rate paired with a bit of swing and miss, who could make a few All-Star Games and garner a couple of Top 10 MVP finishes. He may offer the best upside of any bat in the draft. But if the swing whiff rate gets too colorful and he only proves to be an average to below average third base defender, it could limit his floor.

More on the Seattle Mariners

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• The good signs Hyphen saw from George Kirby’s last start
• The Mariners apparently came close to trading King Félix – twice
• Salk: Dreaming big on 3 Seattle Mariners trade targets
• Drayer: Seattle Mariners’ pitching steps toward regaining dominance

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