Brian Holiday is no stranger to the skepticism and whispers of doubt that have accompanied his path to professional baseball.Â
But the 5-foot-11 right-hander out of Oklahoma State, who was selected by the Cardinals in the third round of the MLB draft on July 15, views that uncertainty as opportunity.Â
"I like being underrated," Holiday said. "I like being under pressure, and everything, to prove myself. I think it's a blessing in disguise, almost, because some people are going to tell you that you can't do it, but at the end of the day, that's just somebody else's opinion, and just because somebody thinks that about you doesn't mean that you can't do that."
Holiday, an 'undersized pitcher' who received zero college offers while competing at Land O' Lakes High in North Tampa, embodied that mindset throughout a three-year journey that brought him from a junior college walk-on just two seasons ago to a top-80 selection in the 2024 MLB draft.Â
People are also reading…
It's a path that still surprises Holiday, who kickstarted the process by betting on himself.
"I had an opportunity to play at Florida SouthWestern State College down in Fort Myers, Florida, and I was offered a walk-on spot there," Holiday said. "I was more than grateful for the opportunity and knew that I had to go in there and prove myself and earn a spot ... but it made me kind of want to play with a little bit of like a chip on my shoulder, just to show that I was worth a scholarship.
"I wanted to prove that I could pitch at that level."
Holiday did just that, earning all-state honors while also being named the Florida College System Activities Association Fireman of the Year, an award given to the top relief pitcher in the region. He parlayed that into a spot with the Chatham Anglers in the Cape Cod League the following summer, where Holiday played under longtime baseball coach Tom Holliday, the father of former Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday and current Oklahoma State coach Josh Holliday.Â
Entering the 2023 spring season, Holiday transferred to the College of Central Florida and quickly emerged as a dominant starting pitcher for the Patriots, who won the 2023 junior college national championship. Holiday starred in the title run, earning NJCAA JUCO World Series most outstanding pitcher honors with a win, save and 23 strikeouts in 9⅓ innings during the tournament. By the time those honors rolled around, though, Holiday had long decided his next destination: Oklahoma State.
"The recommendations were two-fold — based on his ability to throw the ball and get people out, and equal parts who he was as a person, as a player, and what he would bring to our team," Josh Holliday said. "People that knew him, played with him or coached him couldn't stop bragging about how wonderful he is ... and in today's day and age, in athletics, when people are amazing teammates (and) people, they stand out because that's not a compliment that gets passed around very much anymore."
Opponents had a much different perspective of Holiday.
The righty, who specializes with a four-pitch arsenal that includes a four-seam fastball (mid-90s), curveball (77-81 mph), slider (81-84) and changeup, earned second-team All-American honors with the Cowboys. Holiday, an All-Big 12 Conference first-team honoree as well, pitched to a 7-3 record with a 2.95 ERA and a league-best 128 strikeouts to just 19 walks in a conference-most 113 innings as Oklahoma State's Saturday starter.Â
His impact truly shined through in several of the Cowboys' biggest moments of the season. Holiday pitched back-to-back complete games in the postseason against UCF (seven strikeouts) and Florida (10 strikeouts), and he added a pair of 14-strikeout performances earlier in the season against TCU and Houston. Perhaps the most defining of his outings came in his second start of the season against then-No. 1 Arkansas, when Holiday allowed one run and struck out six.
"He pretty much laid it out there that night," Josh Holliday said. "(Holiday) pretty much made a statement (like) 'Boys, I got this. You can count on me. I'm going to be a leader. I'm going to perform and take the ball in big stages, and I'm going to light up. I'm not going to back down.' "Â
Behind the dynamic season, Holiday quickly rose up draft boards. In the process, though, questions arose again surrounding his size and how that would translate to the professional level. During those times, Holiday said he looked to undersized right-handed pitchers like New York Yankees starter Marcus Stroman and Atlanta Braves ace Spencer Strider as examples of inspiration, but he also turned to a pitcher who more resembles his game — Cleveland Guardians ace Shane Bieber.
"(Bieber) is not going to overpower you with stuff," Holiday said. "Obviously, he has great stuff, and he's a great pitcher. But he's not going to throw the hardest, he's not going to spin it the absolute best, but what he's going to do at the highest level is execute. ... and that's where I feel like our game is kind of the same."
His college coach offered another comparison, one Cardinals fans should be familiar with.Â
"(The Cardinals) are getting a guy that reminds me a lot of Sonny Gray," Josh Holliday said. "I coached Sonny in college, and (Holiday) has that elite ability to compete every single pitch (and) he seems to rise to the occasion ... (They've) got a guy associated with winning. Everywhere Brian goes, he wins. So, I think they're a guy out of that mold, maybe a little undersized, but extremely strong in the areas thar matter most — courage, confidence and competitiveness."
That perseverance appealed to the Cardinals when they took a gamble of their own with pick No. 80
And based on Holiday's track record of quieting the skepticism surrounding him, that's the attitude he'll bring to the organization.Â
"He's a special competitor," Josh Holliday said. "He's just really, quite honestly, a once in a lifetime type of kid.
"The Cardinals got a good one. They identified something in him, stepped up and drafted him before anybody else got to, and the reward will be an amazing performer, an amazing teammate and somebody that very much is in line with the Cardinal culture that I observed as my brother played for them for a number of years."