Red Sox Want You To Watch Third-Round Pick Blaze Jordan 'Hit Bombs'
BOSTON (CBS) -- The 2020 MLB draft resumed on Thursday evening. The Red Sox had to sit out the second round, as a result of their penalty for a sign-stealing operation in 2018, but when they were on the clock in the third round, the team was quite pleased to find Blaze Jordan still available.
The Red Sox selected Jordan out of DeSoto Central High School in Mississippi with the 89th overall pick. Jordan was the 42nd-ranked prospect in the draft pool, according to MLB.com's rankings, and he's just 17 years old, which gives him some time to improve upon what is already some rare power.
"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's profile read. "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."
As you might expect, the Red Sox are excited about that power -- so much so that the introductory tweet sent out from the Red Sox' account was quite simple:
"Meet Blaze Jordan. He hits bombs."
The internet has footage of many, many more bombs off the bat of Blaze.
That's a lot of bombs.
Given his young age, it'll be a while before Red Sox fans might get to see those bombs fly over the Green Monster. Nevertheless, a quick glance at the raw power Jordan possesses and it's easy to see why they made their pick.
