Red Sox draft slugger Blaze Jordan at No. 89 overall
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
The Boston Red Sox added some serious power to their pipeline with their second pick of the 2020 MLB Draft, selecting third baseman Blaze Jordan with the No. 89 overall pick.
A 6-foot-2, 220-pound slugger, Jordan made his varsity team at DeSoto Central High School (Mississippi) as an eighth grader, and has totaled 19 homers, 98 RBIs, and hit .440 in his four-year high school run to date.
Most recently, Jordan won the High School Home Run Derby at the 2019 All-Star Game in Cleveland. Jordan was even able to get chummy with (now former) Red Sox star Mookie Betts during his showcase at Progressive Field.
CLEVELAND, OHIO – JULY 08: Blaze Jordan reacts with Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox during the T-Mobile Home Run Derby at Progressive Field on July 08, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Jordan, who will not turn 18 years old until December, was the 42nd-highest ranked prospect entering this year’s draft, and has had a knack for moonshots dating back to his preteen years.
.@RedSox draft pick Blaze Jordan: great name, great power. 💪 #MLBDraft pic.twitter.com/Pcwb4hsE9p
— MLB (@MLB) June 12, 2020
“Few players in the 2020 Draft can do more damage to a baseball than Jordan, whose legend began to grow when he won his first national home run derby at age 11 and belted a pair of 500-foot homers at another when he was 13,” MLB.com wrote leading up to the draft. “His combination of impressive strength and bat speed allows him to hit mammoth blasts without a lot of loft in his right-handed stroke, and he recorded the highest exit velocity (106.9 mph) at the World Wood Bat Association World Championship in October. He still has to answer questions about his hitting ability after a summer of swings and misses against older competition, though his proponents think he’ll make enough contact once he gets more time to adjust.”
Jordan is currently committed to Mississippi State following his high school graduation in 2021.
