Blaze Jordan is taking his talents to St. Louis.
Late Wednesday night, the Boston Red Sox traded the corner-infield prospect to the St. Louis Cardinals for left-handed pitcher Steven Matz. Jordan was floated in offseason trade rumors involving Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, so his inclusion in the Matz trade wasn’t surprising.
The 22-year-old offered a simple reaction shortly after news of the deal broke.
“St. Louis let’s do it!!” Jordan wrote on X.
A third-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, Jordan joined the Red Sox as a viral star with a reputation for hitting jaw-dropping home runs as an amateur. However, throughout his professional career, Jordan has established himself as more of a contact hitter with impressive exit velocity than a true power-first prospect.
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Jordan was viewed as a middling prospect last year after an unimpressive season with Double-A Portland. But, to his credit, Jordan rebounded this season with a .308 average, 12 homers and an .872 OPS across 88 combined games for Portland and Triple-A Worcester before the trade.
That Jordan rehabbed his prospect status to the point he was a legitimately valuable trade chip — ranked 19th by SoxProspects.com after entering the season 32nd — should be viewed as a win for him and the Red Sox’s player-development apparatus.
As for Matz, he posted a 3.44 ERA (2.87 FIP) and a 1.182 WHIP in 32 appearances, including two starts, before the trade. He likely will serve in a high-leverage relieving role for the Red Sox while adding emergency depth to the starting rotation.
