Ethan Holliday, Rockies’ top prospect, displays power at Coors Field

All eyes and cameras were on Ethan Holliday during Rockies batting practice Friday night The No prospect the fourth overall pick in this summer s major league draft never flinched His swing was easy smooth and powerful During his first round of BP the -year-old hit line drives to center and right field During the second round he hit three homers over the right-field fence Then Ethan really cut loose He rocketed one homer to right-center clearing the NL pennant banner above the visitor s bullpen estimated distance - feet A sparse swings later the left-handed hitter launched a homer into CarGo Country in the third deck in right field In July former Rockies All-Star Carlos Gonzalez hit a home run near the same spot at an estimated feet CarGo hit his titanic blast in a encounter while Holliday s came in BP but it was impressive nonetheless His dad the former Rockies and Cardinals All-Star outfielder took notice Those were impressive Matt mentioned then recalled his own batting practice debut with the Rockies I hit a sparse out I think but nothing like that I know he has power I ve pitched to him enough to know that But he s such a controlled kid In the first round he was nice and easy I remember my first round I was trying to hit it off the scoreboard from the first pitch But Ethan s out there getting loose and stroking it Then he started letting it go Ethan who s playing in the Arizona Instructional League reported he had a blast at hitting Coors literally I was doing what I do every day in Arizona but the ball flies a little differently here so I decided to let it rip he declared It was really fun Just being out here where my dad played is crazy Ethan the product of Stillwater Okla High School received a record-breaking million signing bonus the largest ever for a high school sportsman in MLB draft history He began his professional career at low-A Fresno slashing OPS in games He hit two homers and four doubles and struck out times Ks in plate appearances in the California League where the other players are years older than him on average For counsel and advice during his first sojourn into pro baseball he turned to his dad naturally as well as his older brother Jackson the starting second baseman for the Orioles Jackson was the first overall pick of the draft We talk a lot Ethan noted I called him up after one event I mentioned Man this is tough I m striking out a lot And he s like Hey I struck out three times the other night This stuff happens You just have to get ready for the following morning Come on dude Ethan announced that nothing really caught him off guard during his -game stint with Fresno I kind of lived through it with my dad and I saw Jackson when he went through the minor leagues Ethan announced I was with him on the phone every night Of program when it s your own life it s different obviously You don t have your parents or your siblings to talk to in person So you just have to learn to flush the encounter and get ready for the next day The blessing in the minor leagues is that you play every day Getting used to that takes particular work but I felt like that at the end of it I was in a better place Related Articles Renck File Labor talks represent inflection point for Rockies Dick Monfort Rockies rally again but lose to Marlins who complete sweep at Coors Field Rockies tie Diamondbacks for the greater part losses by a National League company during the Divisional Era Mickey Moniak posting career year with Colorado after washing out with Phillies Angels Should Rockies bring him back in Rockies late rally falls short in - loss to Marlins at rainy Coors Field Matt believes that Ethan is handling the transition from high school to the pros well That s something we ve talked about with Jackson and him Matt reported Those are conversations about preparation that have happened over the last three or four years Certainly you don t have that degree of conversation when they are in high school but the mental part of the contest is so critical It s not easy but I think he s as prepared as an -year-old can be Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis