Blaze Jordan has been ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 7 first base prospect in baseball heading into the 2024 season, the publication revealed on Friday.

Jordan played more games (122) than any other Red Sox minor-leaguer in 2023. The 21-year-old split the season between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland, batting .296/.350/.481 with 32 doubles, one triple, 18 home runs, 86 RBIs, 67 runs scored, two stolen bases, 40 walks, and 75 strikeouts over 525 total plate appearances.

After closing out the 2022 campaign in Greenville, Jordan returned to the Drive for the start of his third full professional season last April. The right-handed hitter spent the entire first half with Boston’s South Atlantic League affiliate, slashing a stout .324/.385/.533 with 22 doubles, one triple, 12 homers, 55 runs driven in, 48 runs scored, two stolen bases, 28 walks, and 47 strikeouts in 73 games (322 plate appearances). He then received a promotion to Double-A Portland alongside top pitching prospect Wikelman Gonzalez during the All-Star break in July.

For Jordan, the transition from High-A to Double-A was not a smooth one. Nearly four years younger than the average player in the Eastern League, Jordan struggled out of the gate and mustered just a .579 OPS with one home run and six RBIs in his first 13 games with the Sea Dogs through the end of July. Things began to look up as the calendar flipped to August (.761 OPS in 25 games), however, and Jordan then ended the season by reaching base in eight of his final nine games in September.

All told, Jordan batted .254/.296/.402 with six home runs, 31 RBIs, 19 runs scored, 12 walks, and 28 strikeouts in 49 games (203 plate appearances) with Portland. Among the 135 other hitters in the Eastern League who made at least 200 trips to the plate last season, Jordan posted the fourth-lowest strikeout rate (13.8 percent) and 16th-highest line-drive rate (23.4 percent), per FanGraphs.

On the other side of the ball, Jordan saw playing time at both corner infield spots between his two stops in 2023. After making 35 starts each at first and third base with Greenville, though, the 6-foot-2 infielder shifted more towards first base with Portland. He logged 249 2/3 innings there compared to 139 innings at the hot corner, committing a total of five errors in 216 defensive chances.

To that end, part of Jordan’s MLB Pipeline scouting report reads as follows: “He has soft hands and decent arm strength, but his well-below-average speed and substandard range limit his effectiveness at the hot corner. He’s an adequate if not especially rangy defender at first.”

Jordan, who just turned 21 last month, was originally selected by the Red Sox in the third round (89th overall pick) in the COVID-shortened 2020 draft out of DeSoto Central High School in Mississippi. After reclassifying and graduating early, the Southaven native forwent his commitment to Mississippi State and — at 17 years old — signed with Boston for $1.75 million that July.

Because of the aforementioned COVID-19 pandemic, Jordan did not make his professional debut in the rookie-level Florida Complex League until the following June. He mashed there (1.075 OPS in 19 games) and quickly made his way to Low-A Salem before the end of the 2021 season, though he spent roughly two weeks on the injured list in September for what was, at the time, an undisclosed reason.

This past October, however, Jordan revealed on social media that he had been dealing with severe anxiety and depression around that time and was left hospitalized as a result. He was able to get the help he needed and is “definitely” doing better today, though he noted he still has his ups and downs.

“While I’m still struggling with some of the weight gain issues I’ve had caused by some of this and dealing with things mentally, I’m working through it and getting the help I need to come back better and better each year dealing with this,” Jordan wrote. “… I wanted to come on here and give my story so whoever is dealing with something knows they’re not alone and will learn from my story to reach out to someone way sooner than I did.”

Looking ahead now, Jordan is already in Fort Myers ahead of the official start of spring training. He is expected to return to Portland for the start of the 2024 minor-league season and figures to once again split reps between first and third base. Additionally, Jordan can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time in his career at year’s end, so he has the chance to emerge as intriguing 40-man roster candidate if he proves he can handle pitching in the upper levels of the minors.

(Picture of Blaze Jordan: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)