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Boston Globe
4 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
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
