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Roundtable Sports' John Denton breaks down all the ways that rookie third baseman Blaze Jordan has had a big impact on the St. Louis Cardinals in his first eight games.
The sample size, of course, has been a small one, but has any rookie made more of an immediate impact on the St. Louis Cardinals more than slugging third baseman Blaze Jordan?
Even in the 6-5 loss to the Royals on Friday night at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium, Jordan’s fingerprints were all over the game in a very good way. His clutch play – both with the glove at third base and at the dish with his more than capable bat – Jordan has proved himself worthy of the big-league call-up that took six years to materialize.
Jordan, 23, has slashed .300/.323/.533/.856 with two doubles, a triple, a homer and seven RBI in just eight games. He had an RBI single in his first MLB at bat, his first MLB homer in his second game, his first triple in his third game and his first hit at Busch Stadium went for a double.
The advanced metrics give an even greater look at how good the third-round pick from the 2020 MLB Draft has been at the plate. His 50 percent hard-hit rate (95 mph exit velocity or greater) would rank 27th in MLB if he had enough at bats to qualify, his 91.8 mph exit velocity would rank 32nd and his 73.7 mph average bat speed would come in at 63rd in MLB. He’s squaring up balls a whopping 35.4 percent of the time – a number that would put him in MLB’s top 20th percentile. Also, he’s struck out just twice in 30 at bats and his whiff percentage is just 13 percent.
Though there were plenty of doubts within the Cardinals’ front office about whether Jordan could survive at third base at the big-league level, he has more than held his own there so far. His two Outs Above Average are half of what Gold Glove shortstop Masyn Winn has compiled this season, and he’s one of just seven Cards with a plus defensive rating. In terms of Defensive Runs Saved, he has been credited with two – ranking him fourth among all Cardinals players after just eight games.
“He’s coming along extremely well and I’m extremely excited to see what he’s capable of doing over there,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “I know (infield coordinator) Stubby (Clapp) is excited about the work that has been done and the program that they have put in place. I’m excited to see how he progresses there at third base.”
Jordan’s contributions come on the heels of Opening Day third baseman Nolan Gorman struggling so badly that he necessitated another Minor League demotion. Gorman is in the beginning stages of a swing rebuild and has yet to play a game with Triple-A Memphis. Gorman, 26, struck out 11 times in 20 at bats in June before the Cards made the switch to Jordan. In 82 games, Gorman hit just .194 with seven home runs and 26 RBI with nearly three times as many strikeouts (74) as walks (25).
Jordan was one of the lone bright spots in a Friday night game in Kansas City where the Cardinals surrendered another big inning and lost for the sixth time in the past nine games. His sprawling, back-handed stop of a hard-hit ball by Salvador Perez and throw to first for an out was about the only thing that went right in a four-run, game-turn rally by the Royals in Friday’s fourth inning. Then, in the fifth inning, Jordan gave ground and fielded a smash by Lane Thomas near the third base line. He calmly fired on to first, using a bounce throw to beat the former Cards outfielder for another out.
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At the plate, Jordan extended the game in the ninth inning by staying inside a 3-2 changeup and plunking it into right field to plate Masyn Winn and Nelson Velazquez to get the Cards within a run of the Royals.
Jordan, who shot to YouTube Fame at age 12 when he was hitting 500-foot homers, said he’s still coming to grips with his boyhood dreams coming true. After reclassifying in high school so that he could be drafted at age 17, he spent six years in the Minor Leagues – four in the Red Sox system and two with the Cards – before finally getting his call up to MLB.
“I worked my whole life for this and it’s so special for this opportunity to finally come,” Jordan told Cardinals.TV recently. “As a kid, (playing in the big leagues) seemed so far away, but for it to be here now and to be doing it, I’m just ready to join in and have fun. I’m sure happy for me and my family because they made a lot of sacrifices for me to be able to do this. So, I’m just super pumped.”
Remember to join our CARDINALS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other CARDINALS fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
Continue reading...
The sample size, of course, has been a small one, but has any rookie made more of an immediate impact on the St. Louis Cardinals more than slugging third baseman Blaze Jordan?
Even in the 6-5 loss to the Royals on Friday night at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium, Jordan’s fingerprints were all over the game in a very good way. His clutch play – both with the glove at third base and at the dish with his more than capable bat – Jordan has proved himself worthy of the big-league call-up that took six years to materialize.
Jordan, 23, has slashed .300/.323/.533/.856 with two doubles, a triple, a homer and seven RBI in just eight games. He had an RBI single in his first MLB at bat, his first MLB homer in his second game, his first triple in his third game and his first hit at Busch Stadium went for a double.
The advanced metrics give an even greater look at how good the third-round pick from the 2020 MLB Draft has been at the plate. His 50 percent hard-hit rate (95 mph exit velocity or greater) would rank 27th in MLB if he had enough at bats to qualify, his 91.8 mph exit velocity would rank 32nd and his 73.7 mph average bat speed would come in at 63rd in MLB. He’s squaring up balls a whopping 35.4 percent of the time – a number that would put him in MLB’s top 20th percentile. Also, he’s struck out just twice in 30 at bats and his whiff percentage is just 13 percent.
Though there were plenty of doubts within the Cardinals’ front office about whether Jordan could survive at third base at the big-league level, he has more than held his own there so far. His two Outs Above Average are half of what Gold Glove shortstop Masyn Winn has compiled this season, and he’s one of just seven Cards with a plus defensive rating. In terms of Defensive Runs Saved, he has been credited with two – ranking him fourth among all Cardinals players after just eight games.
“He’s coming along extremely well and I’m extremely excited to see what he’s capable of doing over there,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “I know (infield coordinator) Stubby (Clapp) is excited about the work that has been done and the program that they have put in place. I’m excited to see how he progresses there at third base.”
Jordan paved way for Gorman swing rebuild
Jordan’s contributions come on the heels of Opening Day third baseman Nolan Gorman struggling so badly that he necessitated another Minor League demotion. Gorman is in the beginning stages of a swing rebuild and has yet to play a game with Triple-A Memphis. Gorman, 26, struck out 11 times in 20 at bats in June before the Cards made the switch to Jordan. In 82 games, Gorman hit just .194 with seven home runs and 26 RBI with nearly three times as many strikeouts (74) as walks (25).
Jordan was one of the lone bright spots in a Friday night game in Kansas City where the Cardinals surrendered another big inning and lost for the sixth time in the past nine games. His sprawling, back-handed stop of a hard-hit ball by Salvador Perez and throw to first for an out was about the only thing that went right in a four-run, game-turn rally by the Royals in Friday’s fourth inning. Then, in the fifth inning, Jordan gave ground and fielded a smash by Lane Thomas near the third base line. He calmly fired on to first, using a bounce throw to beat the former Cards outfielder for another out.
Alec Burleson's Career-Best Hitting Streak Ended, and he's Still Pushing for More
At the plate, Jordan extended the game in the ninth inning by staying inside a 3-2 changeup and plunking it into right field to plate Masyn Winn and Nelson Velazquez to get the Cards within a run of the Royals.
Jordan, who shot to YouTube Fame at age 12 when he was hitting 500-foot homers, said he’s still coming to grips with his boyhood dreams coming true. After reclassifying in high school so that he could be drafted at age 17, he spent six years in the Minor Leagues – four in the Red Sox system and two with the Cards – before finally getting his call up to MLB.
“I worked my whole life for this and it’s so special for this opportunity to finally come,” Jordan told Cardinals.TV recently. “As a kid, (playing in the big leagues) seemed so far away, but for it to be here now and to be doing it, I’m just ready to join in and have fun. I’m sure happy for me and my family because they made a lot of sacrifices for me to be able to do this. So, I’m just super pumped.”
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Remember to join our CARDINALS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other CARDINALS fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
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