Blaze Jordan drives in two runs against Royals

Jordan went 3-for-5 on Friday, only to sit the next two days anyway. The Cardinals obviously aren’t in love with his defense at the hot corner, and José Fermín made his third straight start there tonight with Jordan giving Alec Burleson a day off at first base. The good news for Jordan is that Nolan Gorman is hitting even worse in Triple-A than he did in the majors. Still, that doesn’t really assure Jordan much if the Cardinals don’t want to use him at third.

Jordan had started 13 straight games. In his place at third base today is Bryan Torres, who last started a game on June 14. Jordan is batting .267/.280/.444 with one homer and 12 RBI. He’s only 4-for-19 with one double in his last six games, but he’s knocked in seven runs anyway.

The triple looked like a routine fly to right, but Austin Martin got worried about the wall and missed the ball. The homer was very legitimate, leaving Jordan’s bat at 110.2 mph and traveling a projected 418 feet to left-center. Jordan probably isn’t a third baseman for the long haul, but the Cardinals needed to give him a look, and if he shows he belongs, they can figure something out. He’s 4-for-8 so far.

With Nolan Gorman optioned to Triple-A, the runway is there for Jordan to get everyday at-bats with the Cardinals to show what he can do. The power potential is legit here, which may make him an intriguing addition in deeper mixed leagues.

It’s the first trip to the big leagues for Jordan. The 23-year-old slugger was originally a third-round selection by the Red Sox from the 2020 draft class. He was having a terrific season at the Triple-A level, slashing .313/.379/.548 with 11 homers and 35 RBI in 252 plate appearances, so the Cardinals will see if he can provide some of the thump that Nolan Gorman was lacking.

So far this season, Jordan has hit .480 with two doubles, three home runs, and eight RBI. The Cardinals have Alec Burleson entrenched at first base, but if Jordan continues to hit, he could push his way into a shot at DH at-bats for a rebuilding Cardinals team.

Fernandez made 32 relief appearances for the Cardinals as a rookie last season and will open the year back in the minors as extra organizational depth. Naughton is one of the more prominent names here as he figures to be an option for St. Louis in middle relief at some point during the year. Jordan is a power-hitting corner infield prospect with some thunder in his bat and could wind up getting a look at some point later this season.

The 23-year-old slugger tagged Astros’ closer Bryan Abreu for a 422-foot (107.7 mph EV) solo shot in the fourth inning, pulling the Cardinals to within two runs at 4-2. He’s having an absolutely brutal time in Grapefruit League action, hitting .097 (3-for-31) with one homer and one RBI.

The Cardinals liked Jordan enough to make him the return from the Red Sox in the Steven Matz trade last summer but not enough to protect him from the Rule 5 draft over the winter. Fortunately, he went unselected. While Jordan very much looks like a power hitter and did manage 19 homers in the minors last year, his exit velocity numbers have been pretty poor. One of his best assets as a hitter is that he rarely strikes out, doing so just 11% of the time last year. However, he’s fanned nine times in his 29 plate appearances this spring. He’ll begin this year back in Triple-A.

Wetherholt has an opportunity to break camp on St. Louis’ season-opening roster with a strong performance in Grapefruit League play and possesses the advanced hit tool and emerging power skillset to be a colossal fantasy difference-maker at a relatively weak second base position group. The 23-year-old top prospect batted .306/.421/.510 with 17 homers and 23 steals in 109 games in the upper minors last season and could split time between third base and the keystone with defensive wizard Masyn Winn occupying shortstop. It feels like only a matter of time before he ascends to the top of manager Oli Marmol’s lineup card as a top-of-the-order spark plug. The other interesting name to watch is power/speed combo threat Joshua Baez, who broke out with a 16-homer, 34-steal campaign at Double-A Springfield last year. Here’s the full lineup: Winn (SS), Alec Burleson (1B), Nolan Gorman (3B), Pedro Páges (C), Wetherholt (2B), José Fermín (LF), Nathan Church (CF), Baez (RF) and Blaze Jordan (DH).