One after another, top Red Sox prospects zoomed past corner infielder Blaze Jordan at Double-A Portland in 2023 and 2024.
A player who had been heralded as an amateur in Mississippi for his prodigious power instead had shown surprising bat-to-ball skills as a professional but with little impact.
Though the 2020 third-rounder remained young for the level, a number of Boston position players leapfrogged him while pushing towards the majors.
But after a 2024 campaign that was derailed in part by a broken pinkie and concussion suffered on a beaning, Jordan made the most of his return to Portland this season.
The 22-year-old made significant strides in his swing decisions—he lowered his chase rate from 37% to 27%—bat path and contact point to become more selective and generate more hard contact in the air to the pull side.
The result was a breakthrough in which Jordan hit .320/.415/.513 with six home runs in 44 games for Portland, while amassing more walks than strikeouts, to force a promotion to Triple-A Worcester in June.
“(Jordan) and Roman (Anthony) probably hit the hardest ground balls in the organization,” Red Sox farm director Brian Abraham said. “Elevate the ball a little bit more than those five-hoppers to the shortstop, second baseman or third baseman, and you have hits, extra-base hits and damage.”
At Worcester, Jordan carried a .288/.329/.479 line with six homers through 42 games. His strikeout rate remained unchanged but his walk rate shrank as he chased more frequently against Triple-A pitchers.
Still, his overall approach appeared more mature this season. The righthanded batter has consistently hit lefthanders hard in the minor leagues. He plays third base often for Worcester but is best suited for first base.
“It was good that I spent those three years down (in Portland). I feel like I’ve matured a lot,” Jordan said. “There were some things that I needed to work on to hopefully be a big leaguer soon.”
SOX YARNS
— Righthander Yordanny Monegro, amid a breakthrough season in which he posted a 36% strikeout rate in Double-A, tore his ulterior collateral ligament and had Tommy John surgery in late June.
— After the Red Sox acquired James Tibbs III from the Giants in the Rafael Devers trade, the 2024 first-rounder got his first professional exposure at first base, playing a half-dozen games at the position for Double-A Portland.