Weekly Pebble Report: Rockies top prospect Ethan Holliday tunes out the noise

Fresno Grizzlies shortstop and top Rockies prospect Ethan Holliday rounds the bases after hitting his first home run of the 2026 season on 4/10/2026. Photo courtesy of the Fresno Grizzlies. | Photo courtesy of the Fresno Grizzlies.

Colorado Rockies top prospect Ethan Holliday (No. 2 PuRP) has started his first full season of professional baseball with the Low-A Fresno Grizzlies.

Currently, the 19-year-old short stop is slashing .200/.360/.560 in 20 at-bats. Granted, it’s early in the season, and we don’t yet have meaningful data. This comes off a 2025 season where after being drafted, Holliday went .239/.357/.380 in 71 games with the Grizzlies.

Still, on Friday night, Holliday his hit first home run off the 2026 season.

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Holliday understands that he’s at the start of a long baseball journey, and he’s prepared to accept what’s ahead and learn from it as he told Purple Row in the closing days of spring training.

“It was a good experience to get out there and fail,” Holliday said of his first taste of professional baseball. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I got to go out there and learn a lot about myself, and I made those physical and mental adjustments.”

Like his teammates, Holliday spent the offseason working to improve based on those lessons.

“I’m more advanced than I was then,” he said, “and I’m going to continue to continue to progress every single.”

Plus, between watching the career of his father, Matt, and his older brother, Jackson, Ethan knows that improvement takes time.

“You can’t expect everything at once in this game. There’s a lot of failure,” he said. “It’s just part of the process. And if you’re process based, everything’s a win.”

Given his baseball lineage coupled with being a top-five draft pick, Holliday is surrounded by noise. But he’s not giving it his attention.

“Those opinions don’t matter to me,” he said. “I’m not playing for their approval or anyone but the people in the dugout. I’m trying to win the games, and I couldn’t care less what people say.”

Even though he’s young, Holliday knows criticism goes with the territory.

“I haven’t really taken it too much to my heart,” Holliday said. “It’s what I signed up for. It’s part of the job description. And people can say whatever they want. They’re not with me every single day, and I know they wouldn’t say it to my face. So I’m just focused on my process and trying to get there out every single day and just completely block out those externals that aren’t really gonna be factors in my life.”

Plus, he’s not losing sight of the big picture.

“I’m trying to go out there and have fun and enjoy the game. And I’ve always loved it.”

And he’s positive headed into 2026.

“I’m adjusting and still getting ready for this long season,” Holliday said. “I’m super excited for it.”

Weekly Pebble Report: April 6th-11th

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (5-1, 8-7 Overall)

It was a strong week for the Isotopes in the win column as they managed to take five of six games on the road against the El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego Padres). It marked just the eighth time Albuquerque has claimed a minimum of five contests in a set since Minor League Baseball began playing six-game series in 2021. The offense was the star of the series as Albuquerque slashed .329/.397/.603 with 16 doubles, three triples, and 14 homers in the series. They scored 58 runs this week, their most in a series since May 2-7, 2023. They capped off the week with a thriller in extra innings on Sunday, putting up 10 runs in the 10th inning.

⬆️ Stock Up: Carrigg-ing the Offense

The Isotopes got plenty of offense from Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP) over the series. In five games, Carrigg slashed .346/.393/.615 with two doubles, a triple, a home run, seven RBI, four stolen bases, and seven runs scored. In Sunday’s finale, he came up a double shy of the cycle after he went 3-for-5 with that three-run triple and his first Triple-A home run, while swiping two bases. The speedy outfielder, with spells at shortstop, is starting to settle in a bit more at the top of the Isotopes order and continues to build promise for the Rockies.

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⬆️ Stock Up: Sullivan the Savant

The Rockies need their pitching prospects to learn to succeed in Triple-A and left-hander Sean Sullivan (No. 8 PuRP) rose to the task this week. Making two starts in the series, Sullivan posted a 2.70 ERA in 10 innings, with seven strikeouts against four walks. In his first outing, he gave up one run on four hits in just four innings, but battled his command, issuing four walks. His next outing went six innings, giving up five runs on seven hits. However, only two counted as earned runs, and his command was on point by striking out four and walking none. Sullivan is another prospect with the potential of making his debut this year and there is a lot to like from the crafty lefty.

Upcoming

The Isotopes head home to welcome the Oklahoma City Comets (Los Angeles Dodgers) on Tuesday.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (2-4, 4-5 Overall)

It was a tough week for the Yard Goats as they dropped four of six in their second series of the season to the Reading Fightin’ Phils (Philadelphia Phillies). The Yard Goats took the series opener, but a combination of failing to launch on offense—something the Rockies are quite familiar with—and pitching woes saw them drop the next three games as well.

⬆️ Stock Up: Babbling About Brooks

Former Rockies prospect Bradley Blalock is doing well with the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp after a change of scenery and we’re definitely happy for him. However, his trade seems to have brought the Rockies quite a parting gift. Also featured last week, right-handed pitcher Jake Brooks had yet another fantastic start. Brooks gave up just one earned run via a solo home run in six innings of work and gave up just four total hits. He struck out a career-high 11 batters without issuing a single walk, and now has 20 strikeouts and just one walk on the season.

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⬇️ Stock Down: Between a Roc and a Hard Place

Second baseman Roc Riggio (no. 14 PuRP) was obtained last season from the New York Yankees in exchange for pitcher Jake Bird and turned in a strong overall performance over the final 26 games of the season with Hartford. Now on a repeat assignment, Riggio is struggling immensely out of the gate. Riggio has just two hits to start the young season through his first eight games. Against the Fightin’ Phils he went just 1-for-16 at the plate with a double and struck out eight times, though he did draw five walks.

Upcoming

The Yard Goats are headed back home to Dunkin’ Park for a six-game set against the Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants).

High-A: Spokane Indians (2-4, 4-5 Overall)

The Spokane Indians had an up-and-down first full series of the season. They went 2-4 against the Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks), and were only outscored 32-29. They won the first game, but then lost three in a row before salvaging the fifth game behind a strong performance by Jordy Vargas (more on that below).

⬆️ Stock Up: Jordy Var-goes!

Jordy Vargas (No. 21 PuRP) had a stellar outing against the Hillsboro Hops on Saturday, pitching five innings and allowing just one run — a solo homer in the first inning — on one hit with two walks and six strikeouts. It was the right-hander’s longest outing since 2023, having undergone Tommy John surgery in July of that year.

⬆️ Stock Up: Humphrey’s Peak

Outfielder Jacob Humphrey has been off to a torrid start in Spokane so far this season. The 2025 undrafted free agent from Vanderbilt has played in eight games and is slashing .394/.487/.697 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and six RBI. He also has five walks to nine strikeouts and five stolen bases in six tries. Against the Hops he went 8-for-18 with a double, a triple, and a home run while collecting all five of his stolen bases.

⬇️ Stock Down: Wrecht

Brody Brecht (No. 3 PuRP) made his High-A debut this week, and struggled. The 2024 38th-overall pick lasted just 2.2 innings and gave up three runs on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Brecht overall struggled with his command. He threw 49 pitches, only 27 of which were strikes, and he induced just five swinging strikes.

Upcoming

The Indians return home for a five-game set against the Vancouver Canadians (Toronto Blue Jays).

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (4-2, 6-3 Overall)

The Fresno Grizzlies enjoyed a successful first homestand of the season with a 4-2 series victory over the visiting Stockton Ports (Sacramento Athletics). The Grizzlies scored eight or more runs in all four of their wins, with their most commanding victory coming in the series finale as they won 11-1.

⬆️ Stock Up: The Representative From California Has the Floor

After having just one hit in the Grizzlies’ opening series, Ethan Holliday found his footing this last week with a strong showing against the Ports. Holliday played in five of the six games during the series and had at least one hit in four of those games. Overall he went a solid 6-for-19 with four RBIs and only struck out five times. He also connected on his first home run of the season.

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⬇️ Stock Up: Emener Sandman

After missing essentially the entire 2025 season due to injury, left-handed pitcher Austin Emener is back with the Fresno Grizzlies and getting the job done. Emener pitched the eighth and ninth innings in both of his appearances against Stockton without giving up any runs. He allowed just one hit and two walks while tallying eight total strikeouts—four each—over his two appearances and four innings.

Upcoming

The Grizzlies have a six-game set in store as they head to Ontario, California for their first-ever match-up against the newly formed Ontario Tower Buzzers (Los Angeles Dodgers).

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