2025 MLB Draft picks’ famous family members

Every MLB player’s love for the game was instilled or nurtured by a family member. Sometimes, those family members can offer first-hand advice because they know what it takes to make it in the Majors.

Such is the case for Ethan Holliday and Eli Willits. Holliday’s father, Matt, was a seven-time All-Star over 15 seasons while Eli’s father, Reggie, spent six seasons with the Angels. On Sunday night, their sons became first-round Draft picks: Willits was selected 1st overall by the Nationals, while Holliday went with the No. 4 pick to the Rockies.

But they are just a couple of the many incoming pros with famous family connections to baseball or elsewhere. Here’s a look at those notable 2025 draftees, in order of when they were selected. (You can see our full pick-by-pick coverage of the Draft here.)

Player: Eli Willits, SS, Fort Cobb-Broxton HS (Okla.) (No. 5 prospect)
Drafted: 1st overall, Nationals
Relative: Reggie Willits (father, 6 MLB seasons)
Reggie Willits played in 414 games over six seasons, all with the Angels. His best season came in 2007, when he batted .293 and had a .391 on-base percentage in 136 games. He’s one of nine players in the past 70 years to collect at least 800 at-bats without a home run. Willits currently serves as associate head coach at the University of Oklahoma, a role in which he has served for three seasons.

Player: Ethan Holliday, SS, Stillwater HS (Okla.) (No. 1 prospect)
Drafted: 4th overall, Rockies
Relative: Matt Holliday (father, 15 MLB seasons), Jackson Holliday (brother, Orioles second baseman)
Ethan joined Jackson, the first overall selection by the Orioles in 2022, as a top five pick, but both brothers will be chasing the accolades and accomplishments earned by their father for a while, and Ethan’s legacy will be particularly entwined with dad’s. Matt Holliday was a seven-time All-Star, had 316 career home runs and 1,220 RBIs, and he won the World Series with the Cardinals in 2011 while playing in two others, but he was also a 7th-round pick by these same Rockies in 1998 and had five incredible offensive seasons there from 2004-08 during which the club won their only National League pennant.

Player: Tate Southisene, SS, Basic HS (Nev.) (No. 39 prospect)
Drafted: 22nd overall, Braves
Relative: Ty Southisene (brother, Cubs’ No. 29 prospect)
Older brother Ty, a second baseman, was a fourth-round pick by the Cubs in 2024 and is currently with Single-A Myrtle Beach.

Player: Brady Ebel, SS, Corona HS (Calif.) (No. 64 prospect)
Drafted: 32nd overall, Brewers
Relative: Dino Ebel (father, Dodgers’ third-base coach)
Dino Ebel has coached with the Angels and the Dodgers, where he’s been third-base coach since 2019. He coached third for Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and will reprise that role in 2026. He played seven seasons in the Dodgers organization, reaching Triple-A.

Player: Quentin Young, 3B/OF, Oaks Christian HS (Calif.) (No. 37 prospect)
Drafted: 54th overall, Twins
Relatives: Dmitri Young (uncle, 13 MLB seasons), Delmon Young (uncle, 10 MLB seasons)
The Young brothers each recorded more than 1,100 hits and 100 homers in the big leagues. Dmitri was the No. 4 overall pick in the 1991 Draft and was an All-Star with the Tigers (2003) and Nationals (2007). Delmon, the No. 1 overall selection by the Rays in 2003, was the runner-up American League Rookie of the Year in ’07.

Player: Cade Obermueller, LHP, Iowa (No. 53 prospect)
Drafted: 63rd overall, Phillies
Relative: Wes Obermueller (father, 5 MLB seasons)
Wes Obermueller played in five seasons for three MLB teams, winning six games for the Brewers in 2004. He also pitched a season in Japan and one in Korea. Like his son, he played collegiately at Iowa and is now the Hawkeyes’ director of player development.

Player: Cam Leiter, RHP, Florida State (No. 114 prospect)
Drafted: 65th overall, Dodgers
Relatives: Kurt Leiter (father), Al Leiter (uncle), Mark Leiter (uncle), Jack Leiter (cousin), Mark Leiter Jr. (cousin)
This is the definition of a baseball family. Mark Leiter and Al Leiter pitched for nearly 30 combined seasons in the Major Leagues, with Al making two All-Star teams and helping the Marlins win the 1997 World Series. Mark Jr. and Jack are continuing the legacy as current players, and Kurt reached Double-A for the Orioles.

Player: Ethan Hedges, 3B, Southern California (No. 159 prospect)
Drafted: 77th overall, Rockies
Relative: Tim Hovland (uncle, former professional beach volleyball player)
Hovland earned more than $1 million while playing beach volleyball for two decades. He was inducted into the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2024.

Player: Josh Owens (No. 89 prospect)
Drafted: 84th overall, Rangers
Relative: Jeremy Owens (father, former Minor League outfielder)
The elder Owens was an 8th-round pick in 1998 and spent 10 seasons in the Minors with the Padres, Red Sox and Rays, followed by eight more in indy ball.

Player: RJ Austin Jr., SS, Vanderbilt (No. 112 prospect)
Drafted: 93rd overall, Orioles
Relatives: Reggie Austin (father, 3 NFL seasons), Jay Austin (cousin, 1 MLB season)
Reggie played three seasons in the NFL with the Bears from 2000-02. There’s baseball lineage in the Austin family, too, with Jay taken by the Astros in the second round of the 2008 Draft.

Player: Kaeden Kent, SS, Texas A&M
Drafted: 103rd overall, Yankees
Relative: Jeff Kent (father, 17 MLB seasons)
Jeff Kent had an excellent MLB career from 1992-2008, hitting 377 home runs with an .855 OPS as a second baseman, while he was a five-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger Award winner and the 2000 NL MVP for the Giants. Kent had a borderline Hall of Fame case, receiving 46.5 percent of the vote (75 percent needed to be elected) in his final year of eligibility in 2023.