ARLINGTON, Texas — If the Hollidays had it their way, the family’s second son would come off the MLB draft board with the first overall pick to the Washington Nationals, renewing the “Battle of the Beltway” with two brothers hailing from Stillwater, Oklahoma.

In 2022, Baltimore used the first overall pick on Jackson Holliday, the son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday. Now, it may be Ethan’s turn. And he’s got all the credentials.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound recent high school graduate was named Gatorade’s Oklahoma Player of the Year and Baseball America’s High School Player of the Year. Jackson has previously admitted his younger brother is better than he was at that age. Ethan’s arm strength and powerful left-handed swing earned him top prospect status in this year’s draft class.

“Hopefully the Nationals want him as bad as my family would enjoy that,” Jackson laughed. “But all those teams are great.”

If Ethan doesn’t wind up in nearby Washington, there’s a decent chance he plays for one of Matt’s former teams. The Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals have the fourth and fifth picks, respectively.

Ethan will see his dream realized on July 13. The draft is set to be held in Atlanta. The projected top pick will be home in Stillwater with friends and family like his brother was three years ago.

It’ll be tricky for Jackson to get home in time. The Orioles play a 1:35 p.m. game in Baltimore that afternoon so it’s unlikely he’s next to his brother on the couch when he gets the official call shortly after 6 p.m. 

But they’ve been able to spend time together less than two weeks from the big day. Jackson, his wife Chloe, and Ethan had breakfast together in Arlington, Texas, Tuesday morning before the middle game of this week’s Orioles-Rangers series. Ethan seemed pretty relaxed with all the fanfare on the horizon, Jackson said. “It’s kind of out of your control at some point. Just kind of whatever the team wants.”

If Jackson were a front office executive charged with making the kind of decision that will determine where Ethan goes, he’d say there’s some Gunnar Henderson to his game. Corey Seager, too. “Obviously, Cal [Ripken Jr.] was probably the original” tall shortstop. Two All-Stars and a Hall of Famer is quite the comparison from big bro.

“The left-handed hitting shortstops, I think he could follow in the footsteps of those two guys [Henderson and Seager],” Jackson told The Sun. “The sky’s the limit for him.”

“I think it’s his hit ability and the way that he can control the strike zone matched with the incredible power that he has to kind of all parts of the field,” Jackson added. “I know I’m jealous of his ability to throw a baseball so I think you can put him anywhere on the infield.”

Perfect Game USA describes Ethan as having a fluid swing with “natural feel for the barrel” that can work all corners of the field. Baseball America added his swing-and-miss tendencies may impact his hitting but that scouts are confidence his power-and-patience combo is enough to compensate.

If that’s enough to make Ethan the No. 1 overall pick this month, the Hollidays will outdo the draft positions of the Upton brothers; B.J. was the No. 2 pick in 2002 and Justin went No. 1 in 2005.

“I haven’t really given him any crazy advice as far as just being like a brother,” Jackson said. “It’s a special moment no matter where he goes. It’s life changing so it’ll be a really cool experience.”

They spent one high school season sharing the infield. Jackson manned shortstop as a senior. There to his right was his younger brother. Ethan had the demeanor of most freshman boys. The way Jackson lauded Ethan’s coming-of-age over the past three years sounds eerily similar to the way Orioles teammates speak about Jackson.

The Hollidays, who spent a well-documented childhood growing up around professional baseball, carry themselves with a maturity beyond their years.

“The past three years he’s gotten really mature in the way that he handles his business and his work,” Jackson said. “I’d say that’s probably the biggest jump that I’ve seem, which makes me really proud of him the way that he’s handled all this stuff.”

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