Brewers Draft Prospect Profile: First Baseman Blaze Jordan

With the MLB draft just around the corner, here at Reviewing the Brew, we’re going to take a look at top draft prospects that the Brewers might consider. In this edition, we take a look at a first baseman out of DeSoto Central (MS), Blaze Jordan.

Blaze Jordan is a 17-year-old first baseman currently committed to play at Mississippi State. A right-handed hitter, Jordan has been named one of the youngest top prospects of the 2020 class.

A Mississippi native, Jordan attends DeSoto Central High, where current Atlanta Brave Austin Riley got drafted from in 2015. Riley is known as a power hitter, but Jordan has even more raw power than Riley did.

Jordan, offensively, is a power hitter. He won his first home run derby at age 11, and a viral video went around when he was just 13, when he smashed two 500-foot home runs in an amateur home run derby. Scouts were amazed with his raw power, as that’s something you normally don’t see coming from such a young player. His strength and impressive bat speed allows him to blast these balls practically out of the park. In October of 2019, Jordan recorded the highest exit velocity at 106.9 mph at the World Wood Bat Association World Championship.

Defensively, however, Jordan has been working hard improve at third base. Though he works at third base, it is said that scouts believe he’ll be stronger as a first baseman. He’s not a very fast runner and doesn’t possess great arm strength, which is why first base figures to be his long-term position. The Brewers don’t have much for first base prospects in their minor league system.

So why should the Brewers go for Jordan? The guy’s got power and potential. Although he’s a high schooler, graduating at 17 and going into the professional ranks is something that scouts look out for and major league clubs love. He’s stood out among the rest of the other high schoolers across the country, making him more interesting to teams.

At the 2019 National Showcase, Blaze Jordan was placing among the top competitors. He recorded a max barrel speed of 88.360 mph (99.6% percentile), an exit velocity of 102 mph (99.3 percentile), and an FB of 92 MPH (99.5 percentile).

Ranked 42nd on MLB Pipeline’s top 200 draft prospect list, Blaze Jordan is an interesting prospect who brings a lot of potential and development with him. But in a year with fewer total rounds, high school prospects could get pushed down the board. The 2020 draft will be interesting to watch this year, as it’ll be some of the first baseball content fans will be receiving besides the return of KBO.