SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Rockies No. 1 prospect Ethan Holliday hadn’t played in a game since September and was last on the field under game conditions in instructional ball last October.
But on Wednesday, less than a year after graduation from Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, Holliday, 19, was on the field in a numberless Team USA jersey, playing against the Rockies in Team USA's 14-4 victory in a World Baseball Classic exhibition game.
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Holliday and a dozen Rockies Minor Leaguers -- some in unnumbered blue USA jerseys, others in Rockies purple Minor League camp gear -- suited up for a Team USA squad full of players still early in Spring Training. The stars are working their way up to playing a full game, which they'll do on Friday against Brazil.
What a way for Holliday to begin his first professional Spring Training camp.
"It was a pretty incredible couple hours,” said Holliday, who joined the squad after spending the morning in Minor League camp, which started this week. “You’ve got people everywhere. You get on the line [for The Star-Spangled Banner] and you see Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper and Alex Bregman. These guys you grew up watching and you’re amazed at the things they can do on a baseball field.
"They took us all in and treated us just like teammates, and that meant a lot to us.”
Holliday, who went 0-for-1 with a strikeout, a walk and a run scored, had a familiar face in the dugout: his father, former Rockies, Cardinals, Athletics and Yankees slugger Matt Holliday, serves as Team USA’s hitting coach.
He smiled at the idea of his son being on the field, especially after hanging around the Yankees' clubhouse when Matt played there in 2017. Later that season, Holliday finished his career in a Rockies uniform and had his sons -- Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday and Ethan -- around the club.
"I played with Judge, so Ethan was this big, so it’s kind of a cool, full-circle moment,” the elder Holliday said.
Matt had his first Spring Training in 1999 and has now seen his two children enter pro ball.
“He’s going good -- enjoying it,” Matt said of Ethan's time so far. “You get there early in the morning and don’t get done until late in the afternoon. He’s figuring it out and figuring out how to do it with his body. He’s handling it well.”
Ethan, who could begin the season at Single-A Fresno, entered in the bottom of the fourth, at the same time future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw entered to pitch.
"It’s something you can’t envision ever happening,” he said -- all made possible by the Team USA experience.