Blaze Jordan Generates Easy Power

When the Red Sox drafted Blaze Jordan in the third round in 2020, the scouting consensus on him was fairly clear. Jordan’s prodigious power had been known for years.

He hit tape-measure homers in big league ballparks while taking part in showcases as an eighth grader. But with Jordan’s standout power came obvious concern about the frequency with which the 6-foot-2, 220-pound righthanded hitter would strike out—and whether he was destined to be an all-or-nothing hitter who would be relegated to first base.

Early in the 18-year-old Jordan’s professional career, those concerns have given way to excitement within the Red Sox organization about his offensive and defensive traits.

Boston kept Jordan in extended spring training at the start of the minor league season in hopes of giving him an environment to focus on his defensive work at third base, with encouraging signs in that regard.

But Jordan’s offensive approach in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League proved surprisingly advanced. Through 20 games, Jordan hit .362/.408/.667 with four homers and 12 extra-base hits, while drawing six walks against 13 strikeouts.

Beneath those surface plate discipline numbers, Jordan received high marks for the ease with which he generated power, his high contact rates on pitches in the zone and his limited chase rate.

The overall performance resulted in a quick promotion to Low-A Salem in early August, and offered reason for optimism that his ability as a hitter will permit his middle-of-the-order power to play.

“He’s shown a lot of improvement in the short amount of time he’s been here. But there’s also signs he will continue to improve upon that as he progresses through the system,” Red Sox farm director Brian Abraham said

“There is obviously big power. There is some swing-and-miss, but the ability to work an at-bat, to have an approach, to battle through at-bat to at-bat on multiple pitches and not chase outside the zone, there’s a ton of positives there. And pitches within the zone, he’s shown the ability not to miss those too often.”

 

SOX YARNS

— Second-round Florida outfielder Jud Fabian—taken with the 40th overall pick—didn’t sign, becoming the highest Red Sox draft pick not to sign since first-rounder Greg McMurtry (No. 14 overall) in 1986.

— Righthander Kutter Crawford, back from Tommy John surgery that he had in 2019, was promoted to Triple-A Worcester after forging a 64-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 46.1 innings (10 starts) in Double-A. In his second Triple-A start, he elicited 21 swings-and-misses in five innings, including 15 on fastballs. Crawford pitches at 93-96 mph.