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Boston Globe
6 days ago
- 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
Boston Globe
16-04-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Franklin Arias is a 19-year-old shortstop talent mature beyond his years on and off the diamond
'He was always really mature for his age. He was 15 years old, but his mind was like an older gentleman — maybe five years older,' recalled Pino. 'He looked like a professional from the first time I saw him. He's the most mature kid I've seen in 14 years of scouting in Latin America.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Arias — signed by the Sox to a $525,000 bonus in January 2023 — remains uncommonly mature, helping him to remain grounded even as he rapidly emerges as a significant prospect in the Red Sox system, as well as across the game. Advertisement The 19-year-old — now 5-11 and 170 pounds — has put together an impressive early season highlight reel. Defensively, he's showed solid range at short (an area of emphasis for his development) that has played up thanks to his anticipation, first step, and quick hands. Some evaluators see him as the best pure defensive shortstop in the Sox system. Advertisement Checking in with Salem for a look at Franklin Arias this week! — Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) Offensively, he's combined plate discipline with a line drive approach — his focus is up the middle, going from gap to gap — to produce a .410/.477/.487 line through 10 games. Arias, who was named MVP and top prospect in the Rookie Level Florida Complex League in 2024 after hitting .355/.471/.584 with 24 extra-base hits and 30 steals in 51 games, described his two-way performance in ho-hum fashion. 'I definitely want to be the best player I can be. [But] I try to take it day-to-day and try not to look too far in the future,' Arias said through a translator. 'I feel that's what helped me get that MVP last year, and I think if I can take that day-to-day approach this year, I can have some similar results.' There are, in fact, markers that Arias is continuing to improve. After a solid performance in a 36-game, season-ending look in Salem at the end of 2024 (.257/.331/.378), he's lowered his chase rate to 23 percent — an outstanding number for his age and level. Even with his up-the-middle approach, he's also shown an improved ability to pull the ball in the air — something that has led to suggestions of 15-20 homer potential. Strong instincts in the field and on the bases contribute to the sense that Arias has a chance to be a talented, well-rounded player. 'He knows what he can do on the field,' said Salem manager Ozzie Chavez. 'He controls the game.' That said, Arias is still young enough — and at a sufficiently early career stage — that it remains premature to say what kind of player he'll become. Advertisement Salem hitting coach Nelson Paulino is in his 28th season as a coach in the Sox system. He's seen virtually every young player who's come through the system, and offered praise for both the ability and aptitude of Arias — but added a measure of caution. Paulino and Chavez saw Arias hit a pair of opposite-field homers after his arrival in Salem last year, and likewise saw him turn on a 96 m.p.h. fastball to pull a homer in 2024. 'I said, 'Oh! He's got some juice,'' recounted Chavez. There's a chance that power becomes a part of his game, but not a certainty. The balance between his pure hit tool and his eventual power has yet to be defined. Nonetheless, there are early signs of a promising combination of skills. 'He's a good player. He's going to be a major league player, but we have to see [what kind of player],' said Paulino. 'It's too early to identify right now what kind of player he'll be. We need to see a little bit more.' Arias seems to favor such a view of his potential. While he's earned national recognition as a top-100 prospect (Baseball America had him at No. 72 to open the year), he's less interested in rankings than improvement. 'I'm definitely happy to hear that everyone's talking about me [as a top-100 prospect]. Obviously, my main goal isn't to draw that attention,' said Arias. 'My main goal is to just be here and play well, and if the result is that people are starting to notice that, then that's good. That means I'm doing the right thing.' Advertisement Salem Red Sox shortstop Franklin Arias, though just 19 years old, is driven to get on a fast track to the majors. Alex Speier/Globe Staff That measured approach does not mean, however, that Arias is without ambition. To the contrary, he wants to prove that he is worthy of being challenged on a fast track towards the big leagues. In 2023, Roman Anthony became the first Red Sox teenager since Xander Bogaerts to reach Double-A. Arias hopes to follow suit. 'I definitely have really big dreams,' said Arias. 'When I was in the [Dominican Summer League in 2023], I wanted to finish in Double-A. So definitely this year, I'd like to see myself finish in Double-A or Triple-A. I'm always thinking of the big picture. I have really big dreams for myself. I don't care if it sounds crazy. That's what I want to do. '[The dream is] to get to the major leagues,' he added. 'I hope to be the same kind of player I am here now, but in the big leagues.' Three up ▪ Roman Anthony, 20, is destroying the ball in Triple-A. Through Monday, he led Triple-A hitters in average exit velocity (99.6 m.p.h.), was tied for fourth at the level with 18 balls in play with an exit velocity of at least 100 m.p.h., and ranked first — by a lot — among 201 Triple-A players with a .473 xwOBA. ▪ Outfielder Yophery Rodriguez, the 19-year-old acquired from the Brewers in the Quinn Priester trade, made a solid debut in High-A Greenville, going 4-for-14 with a double, triple, and four walks in 18 plate appearances. ▪ Lefthander Brandon Clarke, 22, made a tremendous pro debut, logging four perfect innings for Single-A Salem with five strikeouts, topping out at 99 m.p.h. Clarke is using a six-pitch mix in Salem (four-seam, two-seam, cutter, sweeper, curveball, changeup). If he continues to pound the strike zone, he may move quickly to Greenville. Advertisement Three down ▪ While righthander Hunter Dobbins, 25, looked excellent in his big league debut, he's struggled in a pair of Triple-A appearances, allowing eight runs on four homers with four walks and four strikeouts in 6⅔ innings. ▪ Outfielder Allan Castro, 21, a player seen by some as a sleeper prospect with everyday potential, has been on Double-A Portland's injured list with a left hamstring strain. The same injury had slowed him in spring training. ▪ Catcher Brooks Brannon, 20, has considerable power potential but will need to improve his swing decisions to tap into it. He had one walk and 10 strikeouts through 26 plate appearances. Alex Speier can be reached at
