Tag Archives: Blaze Jordan

28 Jun

home run tracker

Flashing the power he displayed at Oxford High and Ole Miss, Thomas Dillard hit a pair of home runs in a game for High-A Wisconsin on Sunday. One of the bombs was a reported 438-footer. Dillard enjoyed a 3-for-6 day with five RBIs in a twinbill sweep by the Timber Rattlers, a Milwaukee farm team. Dillard is batting .240 (.420 slugging) with five homers and 37 RBIs in his second pro season. The switch-hitting catcher/first baseman, Milwaukee’s No. 22 prospect, was a fifth-round pick in 2019. He hit seven homers that summer and spent 2020 at the Brewers’ alternate site. … Joe Gray Jr., another Brewers prospect, hit his 11th homer on Sunday at Low-A Carolina. That total leads the Low-A East and is tied (with Brent Rooker in Triple-A) for the most by Mississippian in the minors. Former Hattiesburg High star Gray, in his third pro season, is batting .308 with 49 RBIs, bidding for a promotion to the Wisconsin team. Two more Mississippi-connected prospects went deep in the minors Sunday: Former Itawamba Community College and Houlka High star Tyreque Reed smacked his ninth homer for High-A Greenville in Boston’s system, and Ole Miss product Tyler Keenan, a 2020 draftee, hit No. 4 for High-A Everett in Seattle’s system. And something to watch for today: Blaze Jordan, the storied slugger from DeSoto Central, is expected to make his pro debut for Boston’s Florida Complex League team. Jordan famously hit two 500-foot homers in a showcase event at age 13 and won the high school home run competition at the 2019 MLB All-Star Game.

08 Jul

have a blast

Ronald Acuna, the former Mississippi Braves star, won’t be the only Mississippi-connected player vying for a Home Run Derby crown tonight in Cleveland. DeSoto Central High’s Blaze Jordan is in the final of the High School Home Run Derby, which is slated to be held between rounds 1 and 2 of the big league event at Progressive Field. Jordan hit 20 homers in Sunday’s competition to advance to the final against A.J. Vukovich from Wisconsin. Jordan, a Mississippi State commit, has reclassified to be eligible for the 2020 MLB draft and is expected to go high. The 6-foot-2, 218-pound corner infielder hit 10 homers in 37 games for DeSoto as a sophomore this season. He gained a measure of fame as a 14-year-old 8th-grader when he belted a 504-foot homer to win a national contest at Marlins Park in Miami. … For the record, Ole Miss’ Tyler Keenan finished second in the College Home Run Derby at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., on June 29. Keenan led the Rebels with 15 homers in 2019. … Acuna, who has 21 homers this year and 47 all told in his two MLB campaigns, famously homered in his first at-bat for the M-Braves in 2017. He faces Pittsburgh’s Josh Bell in tonight’s first round. … An mlb.com article rated Bobby Abreu’s victory in the 2005 Home Run Derby as the No. 9 “best moment” in Derby history, which dates to 1985 (when Mississippi native Dave Parker won the inaugural event). Former Jackson Generals star Abreu, who was with Philadelphia at the time, blasted 41 bombs to win the ’05 Derby at Detroit’s Comerica Park. He hit 288 career home runs over 18 MLB seasons. P.S. Current M-Braves star Drew Waters, who somehow didn’t make the roster for the All-Star Futures Game that was played in Cleveland on Sunday night, put on a show at Trustmark Park in Pearl with his fourth four-hit game of the season in a 10-1 win against Biloxi. Waters, 20, a switch-hitting outfielder, is batting .335 with five homers, 31 RBIs, 53 runs, 29 doubles and nine triples.

07 Nov

precocious talent

Blaze Jordan, the phenom from Southaven, is the centerpiece in a Baseball America story (posted today on the magazine’s web site) about the issue of early – or, more precisely, very early — commitments in the college game. It’s a good read. Jordan is a freshman at DeSoto Central High. He committed to Mississippi State as an 8th-grader. Jordan reportedly has prodigious power, having won a national home run contest in January – at age 14 — with a 504-foot blast at Marlins Park in Miami. He hit two homers in 13 games for the DeSoto varsity last season. He also impressed coaches and scouts during last month’s Perfect Game World Wood Bat Association World Championships in Florida. Jordan’s coach at the event compared him to Mookie Betts, Boston’s star right fielder. Keep in mind, the 6-foot, 215-pound first baseman is in the recruiting – and pro draft – class of 2021. … Also quoted in the BA piece are Hattiesburg High senior Joe Gray, another highly recruited player who committed to Ole Miss last January, and Rebels coach Mike Bianco.