MLB draft 2025: Inside paths of Ethan Holliday, Eli Willits - ESPN

ONE OF ELI WILLITS' earliest baseball memories is of playing catch with his father, Reggie, in the Angel Stadium outfield. In late June, Eli again took the field that his dad called home during six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels during a private workout with the team, which has the No. 2 pick in the 2025 MLB draft.

«Eli was working out last week for the Angels. For me, it was surreal. He was hitting and taking ground balls, and my boys have been doing that with me since they were little,» Reggie Willits said. «Me, Jaxon and Eli would go out to left field and we'd take BP out there; they were so small. That way, they could hit homers into the bullpen. It was a surreal moment for us as a family. I played my whole career in that stadium.»

Ethan Holliday was born in 2007, the same year that his father, Matt, finished second in National League MVP voting for the Colorado Rockies, and fondly remembers taking a trip to Busch Stadium with his brother, Jackson, when Ethan was 6 or 7 to see their dad star for the St. Louis Cardinals. Both of those teams hold picks in the first five selections of the upcoming draft, but there is no guarantee that Ethan will be available by the time Colorado is up at No. 4 or St. Louis one pick later.

The two Oklahoma high school stars have a lot in common: They're both sons of former major leaguers who also have brothers excelling in the family business. They're both expected to hear their names called early in this year's draft. And they have even formed a tight friendship through baseball.

But for all the glamour that comes with potential stardom, both have learned from their fathers how much work behind the scenes is needed on the road to the top of the draft.

"'Do you like your name above