Last August, the son of former big leaguer Matt Holliday and brother of Orioles infielder and 2022 No. 1 overall pick Jackson Holliday was playing in Panama as part of a star-studded 18U national team that swept an eight-game set against their counterparts in Central America.
That team included a quintet of eventual 2025 first-rounders, led by 2025 Nationals No. 1 overall pick Eli Willits and backed by Kayson Cunningham (Diamondbacks), Gavin Fien (Rangers) and Josh Hammond (Royals). Holliday went fourth overall to the Rockies, the team that employed his father for 723 games during his 15-year MLB career.
During his senior season at Stillwater (Okla.) HS, the youngest Holliday was sublime. He hit .611 with 19 home runs and helped his team to a district title. Those numbers also helped give him the edge as Baseball America’s 2025 High School Player of the Year.
Thirteen days after earning that honor, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stepped to the dais in Atlanta and called his name. Shortly after that, he was in Arizona, where he took part in a few bridge league games before shipping up to Low-A Fresno for his professional debut.
Holliday’s first official at-bat came in a game on Aug. 12, a year and a day after his final contest in Panama with his fellow future first-rounders. If you’re keeping track, that means Holliday played games in Panama, Oklahoma, Arizona and California in the span of a calendar year.
Along the way, Holliday has tried to balance the grind with the experience.
“It’s been really cool,” Holliday said. “People have always talked about this chapter of your life, and then now you’re actually here and doing it … You can kind of step back and soak it in, because you can get sped up.”
In the California League, Holliday is facing far more advanced pitching than he’d encountered at any point in his amateur career. Low-A pitchers’ stuff isn’t always premium, but they know how to use what they have and can quickly find holes in hitters’ swings. Couple that factor with any fatigue that could naturally set in toward the end of a long, stressful year filled with milestones on and off the field, and it’s easy to understand why Holliday has struggled somewhat in his first test as a professional.
In his first 10 games with Fresno, Holliday was 9-for-40 with 18 strikeouts over 47 plate appearances. He had two doubles on his ledger and had worked nine walks. Amid stretches like these, a player is charged with looking at the bigger picture and focusing on process over results.
After a career overflowing with results, that kind of perspective isn’t always easy.
“It’s hard,” Holliday said. “I mean, that’s kind of the thing that you’re fighting every single day. If everyone can handle that—the process base—and perfect that, they’d be at the top of the top of this game. You’re going to fail, and you’re going to kind of fall into that little temptation of dying from success and dying from numbers, and you just can’t let your identity get wrapped up into it.”
For Holliday, the process is the most important part.
“You’ve got to commit to being a process-based person and just realize we’re playing a game,” he said. “And, yeah, you’re going to fail. All the greats have. And if you can kind of wrap your mind around taking every pitch (on its own), you’re going to have success.”
Fresno’s regular season concludes on Sept. 7, but that’s not the finish line for Holliday and his teammates. Barring an epic collapse, the Grizzlies are headed for the playoffs. Beyond the chase for a championship, that means more at-bats, more reps in the field, more lessons to be learned and more chances to improve.
“I know what I’ve got to work on, and I’ll learn more about myself over the next few weeks,” Holliday said. “But, yeah, I’m just looking forward to developing my game.”
Afterward, Holliday will head back to Arizona to take part in Colorado’s instructional league program in Scottsdale. Once that concludes, there will be time for the 18-year-old to take a breath and reflect on it all. On what he’s accomplished. On the challenges that lie ahead. And on what he needs to do to make his dreams come true.
That’s no small task, but Holliday is up for the challenge.
“You have everything to work on,” he said. “I’m 18, and it’s a grown man’s game. I’ve got to get stronger, I’ve got to get faster, my swing’s got to get better, my defense has to get better. I mean, that’s, that’s the thing—as a baseball player, as any athlete, you’re pushing for the next thing. You’ve reached the draft. All right, now it’s ‘How am I going to have success at the next level?
“I’m process-based, like I said, and I’m just looking forward to what’s next. But right now—as is with my team—we’re just focusing on the next game and the next pitch.”
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