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I hesitate to leverage my reputation for prescient and on target commenting, but I have a theory. Blaze Jordan hit for power pretty effectively in AAA and here he is in MLB. But his power stroke is not here. His approach is 100% about making contact, with everything. He is hard to walk. His BABiP is low, so he makes a lot of weak contact. He fouls off a lot of pitches and apparently hits a lot that he can’t put good wood on and might be better off letting go on by.
So, does it make any sense that a guy makes it to the show and decides to abandon what got him here and adopt a completely different approach at the plate? That is absurd. I think the staff must have put him up to it or he would be doing what got him here. They must want him to focus on bat on ball for now. If that is the case, then maybe the organization is thinking about him long term more seriously than what I was thinking. More seriously than what anybody was thinking. On the farm, Mendoza doesn’t get any attention and Jesus Baez hasn’t played any 3B since Peoria, and even then not much. Maybe they are looking at Jordan manning 3B for a couple years and then see how things look then. They do have other stuff to worry about. I should mention that although his BABiP is low, his BA is 3rd behind Burly and Walker, just ahead of Wetherholt. It should go up if/when his BABiP goes up.
I think in part, this is the hitter Blaze used to be, which is why people were somewhat ho-hum about him. We were excited we got anything at all for a partial season of Matz, but Blaze was a contact-first bat with limited power – at least through most or all of last season. And it’s not like his base running or defense was/is anything to get excited about. He always has had the raw power, but it rarely showed up in games. Then, the staff at AAA worked with him (presumably), and he became an even better hitter with modest power. A really consistent hitter with some power. In my opinion, fighting for his life against MLB pitching which is far better than AAA, he’s reverted back to the approach that helped him survive in the Minors. That probably doesn’t maximize his potential, but it might make him a slightly below average MLB third baseman. That’s the best option we have there right now. Like you pointed out, Mendoza and Baez aren’t likely to be the future at 3B. Gurevitch might be next man up. But he just got to AA. So it’s Blaze for now. And he’s mostly ok. I like the ABs he takes. But hopefully he can slowly unlock some of that power again.
Baez has played a lot of SS though so he could still be in line for 3B. It may have more to do with allowing Ortiz to play 3B at Springfield lately. Not sure. I’m really not sure Ortiz will make it there.
I don’t know if Jordan’s play at 3B is a surprise to the Cardinals, but it is to me. I didn’t think he would be able to play 3B at the MLB level, but he can. He is more athletic than I thought, faster than I thought, better arm than I thought. He is not Arenado but he is not costing us games. He is 23 years old. I can see the Cardinals giving him some runway.
I agree BB. He’s made the plays he should make and his throws look good. I’m assuming his range is nothing anywhere close to vintage Arenado, but he’s not screwing up the plays he should make as a third baseman.
Overall, I’m a big fan of Blaze being on the roster long-term. In a perfect world to me, he’s a right handed complement to Burleson and he could DH, pinch hit, and take some starts at 3B. But minus having a true third baseman, he’s filling in well – probably better than expected.
It’s funny how a reputation precedes a player like Jordan. I think he he had like 2 errors in 60-70 games at third last year. He passes my eye test. He reminds me of Dejong in that he has limited range, but if catches it the batter is out.
Going into 2027 the Cardinals need to plug holes at 3B, LF, and CF. As has been mentioned they may not want to tackle all three with outside acquisitions therefore Jordan gets some 2027 runway. It is worth a shot I suppose but I am not sold that he is a long term option.
But minus having a true third baseman, he’s filling in well – probably better than expected.
I would say that a better third baseman could come along, but that there is not an obvious one on the near horizon. I consider him a true third baseman though. He is only 23 so he will probably get better.
He definitely passes the eye test at 3B. I’m surprised, too. Fangraphs has him at +5DRS at 3B, second only to Wetherholt.
My bet is that Je Baez switches to 3B next year at Memphis, with Ortiz sticking at Springfield given his late start to the year. We’ll see.
I find the theory that he’s reverted to his old form as he tries to deal with MLB pitching interesting and plausible. If Memphis taught him something new, maybe he can use the offseason and spring to cement it.
That’s incredible Gagliano. I hadn’t looked at Blaze’s DRS numbers. I would have expected him to be around neutral though. The fact that he is a net 5 plays better than an average third baseman really stands out – especially in his limited time there.
Maybe they are looking at Jordan manning 3B for a couple years and then see how things look then
At least the rest of this year and next. Is that a good thing? For Blaze it is. I think they’re waiting for Jesus Baez in 28′ or plug a hole with money we keep hearing might happen. That seems to be the most barren position right now.
Yeah i am surprised too, especially that his DRS exceeds Winn’s.
Blaze has saved 2.5 runs. Winn 16. That’s why you have to dig a little deeper into exactly what the metric means.
Hiya Keep-
Curious where you got that. I was surprised and perhaps I’m looking in the wrong place. I went to fangraphs Card stats and sorted on DRS to get the Jordan 5, Winn 3. Where are you finding the 16/2.5? Thanks. Stats lie, but I’d hope I at least got the right stats!
Just went to the Fielding Bible, and they show the same, Jordan +5, Winn +3.
And just went to baseball savant to look at Outs Above Average. Jordan is +3 at 3rd. Tied with Arenado. Masyn is better on that, +10. I’m not great at understanding these stats, but my understanding is that range is more important for Outs Above Average. But I’d think both that and arm would be big Winn advantages.
“Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) calculates how many runs a player saves or costs their team relative to a league-average fielder”
The defensive runs saved quoted as +5 and +3 are ” relative to league average fielder”.
The 16 and 2.5 are actual. And really that’s subjective somewhat. Point is the metrics are still not exact. Thats why they keep changing g. I this case if you follow the game you know Winn saves more runs than Jordan.
Edit: The metrics don’t allow for small sample sizes a lot of the time. you have to dig out the raw #’s.
Thanks, Keep. Where are you getting the metrics? I’d like to go look.
Small samples certainly are less reliable. I don’t expect Jordan’s numbers to hold up, but they’ve still been a pleasant surprised.
Blaze has saved 2.5 runs. Winn 16. That’s why you have to dig a little deeper into exactly what the metric means.
I am not a wonk, most especially with defensive metrics, but I know that some are counting stats and some measure rate or comparison to average at that position. Winn has way more innings than Blaze so far this season, and I believe that SS gets more chances than 3B, so counting stats would not be relevant.
But whatever, I think the point is Jordan is doing a better job fielding the hot corner than we expected, and his defense is more or less in line with the rest of the infield.
Bling-Jordan is 10x better than what I expected. Thats not a stat but I stand by it. Fielding Run Value is the closest official stat I could find but it’s still not actual numbers that someone records as fact.
We had a previous Blaze Jordon thread which I had looked for and didn’t find. I have found it if anyone is interested in the conversation back after he arrived.
As others have said, Jordan definitely passes the eye test on defense. And the stat test as well. At 23 he has earned a shot to play regularly for the remainder of 2026 to see if he can be the answer at third, with Gorman pretty much out of the picture.
I thought Jordan would be a disaster. But he seems to make all the ordinary plays. But the eye test reveals, as it did last night, his lack of range. The stat test is much kinder to his defense than his offense. He’s showing zero production since his run on rbi’s his first few weeks.
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