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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Blaze Jordan graduates to Triple A after parts of three tumultuous seasons in Portland
WORCESTER -- On Sunday afternoon after the Sea Dogs' loss in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Portland manager Chad Epperson went around gathering the whole team into the main part of the clubhouse. He even told the guys showering to wrap it up and join the rest of the squad. The news he was delivering seemed run-of-the-mill at first, like details of what time to report for the next series. But then he slipped in the big announcement: that Blaze Jordan would instead be reporting to Worcester. Advertisement 'I was off that day, so I knew something was up, but it was one of those deals, you never know what's going to happen until it does happen,' Jordan said on his first day in Worcester. 'It was a pretty cool surprise.' Then came the customary flurry of FaceTimes to deliver the news to family back home in Hernando, Mississippi. His mom was probably the most excited to hear about the promotion; Jordan is pretty sure his dad was excited too, but it was hard to hear him over the lawnmower running in the background as the call came in the middle of Sunday chores. His younger brother, whose birthday it happened to be, might have beat Jordan to the punch, seeing the news online. He finished his round of text messages to friends and then settled in for the 10-hour bus trip back to Maine. Jordan finally got to Worcester in the early hours of Tuesday morning, enlisting the help of new (and old) roommate Tyler McDonough, who Jordan lived with back in 2021, to find his new home. Advertisement Waiting for him in his new city was a pleasant surprise: his parents, his sister-in-law, and his 15-month-old niece. The family initially planned to visit Jordan in Portland, but the Red Sox' decision to promote the infielder saved them a couple hours in the car as they re-routed to Worcester. The promotion to Worcester feels like it's been a long time coming for the 22-year-old who was drafted in the third round by the Red Sox in 2020. He spent parts of three seasons in Double A, comparing it to being in college. He's gone through his share of highs and lows throughout his professional career. He missed four weeks at the end of his first full pro season, revealing a couple years late that he was dealing with severe anxiety and depression and was hospitalized for 4-5 days. He revealed his struggles in 2023 on social media. 'I didn't realize how many people were going [the same things],' Jordan said. 'I felt like I was alone when I was dealing with all that stuff. But it was nice to know that I was able to reach out to other people and [let them] know that they're not alone too.' Advertisement About a month into his first full season in Portland in 2024, he broke his finger sliding into the plate, and missed about a month. In August, the suffered a concussion after being hit in the face by a pitch. He produced in between his IL stints, but not enough to maintain the kind of prospect status expected of a third-round draft pick. 'It was tough. I was going through some tough times for sure, especially not able to be out there with the guys during the injury,' Jordan said. 'And then when I wasn't swinging it well, it was tough. You're like you're thinking to yourself, like, man, can I do this? 'But that's how baseball goes sometimes, ups and downs along the way. And I knew I've always come out of it, and then I just stayed the course and trusted the coaching stuff started to click.' Previously ranked as high as Boston's seventh overall prospect by Baseball America in 2022, he slipped to 21st in that same ranking entering 2024, and dropped off the top 30 list altogether entering 2025. Advertisement 'I think he's dealt with a lot at a young age,' WooSox bench coach Iggy Suarez, who managed Jordan in Greenville in 2022 and 2023. 'I mean, he jumped onto the scene when he was very young, so I think he's had some practice dealing with a lot of media and pressure....I think he was able to get better and be strong on the mental side during the offseason. I think it's helped him throughout the season and now look where he's at.' This season, Jordan made the Red Sox' decision to promote him pretty easy. He crushed Double-A pitching, slashing .320/.415/.513 with six homers and 11 doubles in 44 games. Maybe even more impressive was the fact that he logged three more walks (22) than strikeouts (19) this season in Portland. In his last nine games with the Sea Dogs, Jordan went 15-for-30 with five extra-base hits. He said there were a couple of specific things he was working on this season. 'It was my approach to the plate, just trying to draw more walks and getting the right pitch to the hit,' Jordan said, 'and hitting the ball in the air, because as a corner infielder, that's kind of your job, you know? They want you to hit home runs.' Advertisement Jordan got the start at third in Worcester on Tuesday, batting fifth. He wasted little time getting into the mix, smashing a changeup from Rochester's Cade Cavalli 110 mph down the left field line. He came around the score on a single from Ryan Noda. WooSox manager Chad Tracy said the plan is for Jordan to play some third, some first, and DH 'here and there.' WooSox 6, Red Wings 5 Roman Anthony had the biggest swing of the night, tying the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings. Anthony's ninth home run went 428 feet to dead center, leaving the bat at 110 mph. Advertisement But it was Noda who powered the offense all the way through the game, racking up four RBIs. Noda's two-run double driving in Jordan and Vaughn Grissom was all the offense the WooSox could muster until Anthony's game-tying swing in the ninth. Noda had another huge hit in the bottom of the 10th with the WooSox trailing by a pair, launching a leadoff home run to tie the game again. Seby Zavala had a tough night behind the plate with a couple of errors, but he got to be the hero of the night, laying down a sacrifice bunt that caused the Red Wings to overthrow third, where Trayce Thompson was barreling in after his fourth hit of the night. The overthrow allowed Thompson to come home, where he picked up Nick Sogard on his back as the WooSox walked off the field victorious. Robert Stock went six solid innings, allowing three runs but only one of them was earned. Wyatt Olds tossed a scoreless inning and Alex Hoppe bounced back from a tough outing on May 30 with two scoreless frames. Notes - There were a number of minor moves on Tuesday for the WooSox. Infielder Karson Simas and outfielder Corey Rosier were transferred to Portland as Jordan was promoted and Nick Sogard was optioned from Boston. Advertisement Catcher Enderso Lira was reinstated from the development list. Pitchers Cooper Criswell and Zack Kelly were recalled to Boston, and in corresponding moves Richard Fitts was optioned to Worcester and Nick Burdi was placed on the injured list. - Though no official move has been made as of Tuesday evening, it appears veteran catcher Yasmani Grandal is leaning toward retirement, according to Tracy. The two-time All-Star played in 23 games for the WooSox, hitting .256/.372/.397. The 36-year-old was a positive presence in the clubhouse, always engaging with the young players, some 15 years his junior. 'At the moment, it looks like he's probably going to walk away and potentially hang them up,' Tracy said, adding Grandal wasn't at Polar Park on Tuesday. 'We talked [Monday], and I knew he was gonna pack up and response was 'it's time to be dad.'' Tracy added that he didn't expect Grandal, who has 13 MLB seasons on his resume would be in Worcester all season, but enjoyed the time the WooSox had with him. Advertisement 'He didn't isolate himself, he was right in the middle of everything teaching young guys,' Tracy said. 'It was great.' - Old friend Franchy Cordero was in town with Rochester on Tuesday, and while he wasn't in the lineup, he made the rounds greeting WooSox employees and coached first base. What's Next The WooSox will have a quick turnaround with an 11 a.m. start on Wednesday with Brian Van Belle getting the start for Worcester. Read the original article on MassLive.
Boston Globe
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Blaze Jordan didn't bristle at his extended stay in Portland, and both he and the Sox are better for it
Advertisement 'It was a good thing for me. I wanted to feel like I was dominating that level before I got out of there. I feel like last year I didn't really show that,' said Jordan. 'This year I wanted to prove myself and hit myself and play myself out of that level. And I feel like I did a really good job of that.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 106.3 mph off the bat on this Blaze Jordan home run! — Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) Indeed. Jordan hit .320/.415/.513 with six homers and 17 extra-base hits in 44 games, with more walks (13 percent rate) than strikeouts (11 percent). His season picked up steam as it progressed, with Jordan named the Eastern League Player of the Month in May after hitting .390/.490/.671 with all six of his Sea Dogs homers. Advertisement Beyond the numbers, Jordan made huge strides in the quality of his at-bats. He achieved amateur prominence for his righthanded raw power — Jordan hit 500-foot homers with an aluminum bat as a teenager — but entered pro ball with questions about his bat-to-ball skills. Instead, he unexpectedly proved a standout who tended to make contact, but rarely drove the ball in the air and chased pitches out of the strike zone. (Pitches he often ended up chopping down on for very hard ground balls.) '[Jordan] and Roman [Anthony] probably hit the hardest ground balls in the organization,' said Sox farm director Brian Abraham. '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. That comes from the training.' Blaze Jordan spent parts of three seasons in Double A, playing 182 of his first 403 professional games for the Portland Sea Dogs. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff How to drive the ball in the air — and become more selective in an effort to do so — had been a Jordan issue for years. But this spring training, when 'In the minor leagues, [Bregman] had the same struggles I was kind of having. He wasn't walking as much as he should or hitting the ball in the air,' recounted Jordan. 'And he talked to us about how he simplified his approach, just trying to get the ball up in the zone and just looking for certain zones early in the count, something he can really drive early in the count and just take your walks. 'And obviously, when you get to Boston, you've got that Green Monster in left field, so you really want to use that if you're a righthanded hitter. So that's another thing I've really been focused on with the staff here, just trying to get the ball in the air more to left field. And I feel like it's been paying off.' Related : Advertisement Jordan emphasized better swing decisions to identify pitches he could drive, a cleaner bat angle that wasn't as steep, and moving his contact point forward to drive the ball in the air. In games, his chase rate has dropped from 37 percent to 27 percent, contributing to a huge bump in walks as well as his recent slugging surge. With those improvements, Jordan — primarily a first baseman who also gets some time at third — earned a promotion to Triple A Worcester at the start of this month. Despite his lengthy apprenticeship in Portland, Jordan remains one of the youngest players in the International League — he's a week younger than 'I feel like a lot of people think that I'm a lot older than what I am because I've been in the organization for so long,' said Jordan. 'But I have to remind myself sometimes, I am still pretty young. 'It was good that I spent those three years down [in Portland]. I feel like I've matured a lot,' he added. 'I feel like I'm a better ball player because of that. There were some things that I needed to work on to hopefully be a big leaguer soon.' Miguel Bleis' Last 2 Games: 3 HR 6 RBI 14 TB — Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) Three up ⋅ Outfielder Miguel Bleis, 21, is offering a dazzling reminder of his explosive tools for High A Greenville. In his last 11 games, he's hitting .375/.444/.850 with six homers, along with just six strikeouts in 45 plate appearances, improving his season line to .260/.335/.513. Advertisement ⋅ Righthander David Sandlin, 24, is amidst arguably his best stretch as a member of the Red Sox organization. In his last three starts, he's allowed three runs in 18 innings for Double A Portland, striking out 20 and walking three. He's pitched seven and six innings in his last two outings — his longest starts since coming to the Sox from the Royals in ⋅ Catcher Johanfran Garcia, who entered Saturday hitting .314/.342/.571 during a rehab assignment in the Rookie level FCL, is slated to join Greenville this coming week. Garcia, 20, is considered the best catching prospect in the system. Three down ⋅ Outfielder Roman Anthony, 21, entered the weekend amidst a brief slump, posting a .147/.256/.265 line with a 28 percent strikeout rate over eight games. It resulted in WooSox manager Chad Tracy giving Anthony his first day off in 33 games. (Anthony promptly smashed ⋅ Infielder Mikey Romero, 21, landed on the injured list for Double A Portland with minor elbow soreness. Primarily a middle infielder through his pro career, Romero has seen an uptick in his time at third, which has meant more pregame infield work that might have contributed to a dead arm. The decision to put him on the IL also gives Romero a chance to reset after a 10-game stretch in which he hit .158/.250/.263. ⋅ One of the Red Sox' Dominican Summer League affiliates had to employ multiple position players on the mound in the first game of the DSL season because it didn't have enough pitchers built up and ready. Advertisement Alex Speier can be reached at
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Boston's top pitching prospects start the season with Portland
Apr. 7—David Sandlin is eager for the 2025 season to unfold. A starting pitcher for the Portland Sea Dogs, Sandlin sees the talent around him in Portland's starting rotation and can't help but get excited. "We've got a really deep organization. It's going to be a lot of fun. A lot of new names, too, that people are going to fall in love with," Sandlin said. Advertisement After years of failing to develop starting pitchers, the Red Sox are on the upswing. Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, and Brayan Bello have contributed at the major league level over the last few seasons, and Hunter Dobbins, who spent much of 2024 in Portland, made his first big league start and earned the win Sunday night when Boston needed a starter for Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Cardinals. As the 2025 season begins, Portland's rotation includes some of the top prospects in Boston's system. Sandlin sits at No. 9 in Boston's system, according to MLB Pipeline, one spot ahead of Connelly Early, a left-handed starter with the Sea Dogs. Two other Portland starters are ranked in the top 30, Yordanny Monegro (No. 24) and Blake Wehunt (No. 28). Tyler Uberstine, who started the Sea Dogs' season-opening 14-6 win Friday against the Reading Fightin Phils, is ranked No. 54 by Luis Perales, Boston's No. 5 prospect, underwent Tommy John surgery to repair his right elbow after two starts with the Sea Dogs last season, and could rejoin the team midseason. "Everybody has their own strengths, and we want to take advantage of those strengths. Really try to make sure we're putting them in a good position," said Sean Isaac, who along with Juan Rivera will serve as a pitching coach in Portland this season. Advertisement Drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 11th round in 2022, Sandlin was traded to the Red Sox during spring training last year for John Schreiber. Sandlin began last season in High-A Greenville before a promotion to Portland in late July. He started eight games for the Sea Dogs last season, going 0-2 with a 5.61 ERA. He struck out 82 over 57 1/3 innings in Greenville and Portland last season. Early was drafted in the fifth round out of the University of Virginia by the Red Sox in 2023. He also started eight games for the Sea Dogs last season, going 2-3 with a 4.50 ERA. In 103 2/3 innings between Greenville and Portland, Early fanned 138 hitters. Sandlin pitched five innings Saturday at Reading to get the win, throwing 78 pitches. Early went 3 2/3 innings Sunday, also a Portland victory, throwing 62 pitches. Sea Dogs manager Chad Epperson said he thinks Sandlin and Early could have a leg up on the rest of the rotation to begin the season, because of the experience each gained in Double-A last year. Uberstine and Monegro will make their Double-A debuts this season, and Wehunt started one game for the Sea Dogs at the end of last season. "I think in the beginning, pitchers hold the advantage in this kind of (cold) weather. But knowing that you've already pitched here kind of gives you a little bit more confidence and that experience. I'm not saying these guys are vets by any means, for the league, but they do have a few games under their belt and they know what to expect," Epperson said. "Early on, all of these guys are going to be monitored on a pitch count, like they always are. I'm super excited to watch these guys attack the zone. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch." Advertisement What the Red Sox want to see from their starters in Double-A is consistency, especially when it comes to throwing everything in the arsenal for strikes. Because of the use of the automated ball-strike challenge system used in Triple-A, the strike zone there is tighter, said Brian Abraham, Boston's director of player development. Being able to work throughout the zone is crucial to making that jump. "They (Sandlin and Early) have the stuff. They have different repertoires to get guys out," Abraham said. "They need to be able to get strike zone swings and miss." To Isaac, everything has to start with the fastball. "Velocity is still king, right? For major leaguers, the standard has continued to rise. For us, it's about creating their major league self in these minor league guys," Isaac said. "In terms of being over the plate with off-speed pitches, we've got to be consistent. Making sure we're dominating over the plate as much as we can, particularly early and late in counts." Advertisement Both Sandlin and Early spent a large chunk of the offseason working to increase their velocity. Sandlin's fastball already consistently sits in the high-90s, occasionally hitting 100 miles per hour. Sandlin said he continued to work on developing his splitter and adding a cutter. For Early, adding weight was an additional goal, to help give him the strength to get through a long and rigorous season. He now carries 195 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame, and has seen his fastball tick up from the low to mid 90s. "David, he's a power pitcher, a high-velocity guy. We want to continue that and make sure that's in a great spot. That's going to be a huge contributor to his success at the major league level," Isaac said. "Early, we've seen gains in velocity as well. He's put on a ton of weight, good and healthy weight. Keeping those guys in the mid-to-upper 90s is a huge priority for us, and throwing over the plate consistency." There's no Big Three prospects starting the season in Portland, like 2024 when Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kyle Teel all opened the season on the Sea Dogs roster. Early sees an overall deep team, particularly in the starting rotation. "We've got a bunch of good players this year," he said. "The group we have is pretty solid, so it should be a good year." Copy the Story Link
