WORCESTER — When Triston Casas sustained a season-ending knee injury, the Red Sox’s first base plans were thrown into disarray. The team had so little depth that for a while the club considered shifting rookie Kristian Campbell to the position.
But while the Red Sox eventually found an answer in Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro, another prospect has emerged as a potential alternative down the road.
Blaze Jordan is enjoying a breakout season and recently earned a promotion to Triple-A Worcester after spending nearly two years at Double-A Portland. The 22-year-old infielder, originally a third-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, is currently batting .317 with eight home runs, 45 RBI, a .918 OPS and nearly as many walks (24) as strikeouts (27) through 58 games split between the two levels.
He’s continued hitting at a high level since his promotion in early June, batting .310 with two homers and an .885 OPS through his first 14 games with the WooSox, and is now potentially a phone call away from realizing his big league dream.
“First and foremost I’m praying for Triston, a speedy recovery to him and you never want that to happen to anybody,” Jordan said. “The way I look at it is I’ve got to control what I can control and all that stuff is out of my hands. I just try to go out there and play the game hard each day and try to help the team here win and all that stuff will take care of itself.”
Currently ranked Boston’s No. 23 prospect by Baseball America, Jordan is coming off a difficult 2024 in Portland in which he suffered a pair of unlucky and painful injuries. He first missed a month with a broken ring finger that occurred on a play at the plate in mid-May, and later he was hit in the face by a 97 mph fastball that sidelined him for two and a half weeks in August.
Jordan said he never felt 100% after breaking his finger and this year he’s finally been able to get into a rhythm.
“This year I’m fully healthy and changing my approach and being more selective at the plate,” Jordan said. “Just sticking to my plan going up there and executing every time.”
Best known for his power, Jordan originally rose to fame in high school after hitting multiple 500-foot homers in a home run derby. He also won the 2019 High School Home Run Derby during MLB All-Star week at Progressive Field, but since then has made considerable strides in every other area of his game.
“I feel like my overall game has changed,” said Jordan, a self-described animal lover who has three dogs back home in Mississippi. “I’ve become a complete ballplayer.”
With only about two weeks of Triple-A experience under his belt, Jordan will likely spend most of the rest of the season in Worcester refining his game. But if he continues to improve it wouldn’t be a shock to see him get a look in the majors, either as a September call-up or, if Casas still isn’t ready to return by next spring, as a candidate for the Opening Day roster in 2026.
Harrison makes strong first impression
New Red Sox left-hander Kyle Harrison arrived in Worcester on Tuesday and threw his first bullpen session with the organization on Wednesday at Polar Park. The session gave the Red Sox pitching coaches their first look at the 23-year-old, and director of pitching Justin Willard said Harrison made a strong impression.
“We obviously heard good reports coming from the people in San Francisco and he lives up to all of those,” Willard said.
One of four players acquired over the weekend in the Rafael Devers trade, Harrison is a former top-30 prospect who has thrown 182.2 innings in the majors since making his debut at age 22 in August 2023. The lefty has a 4.48 ERA for his career and this season has demonstrated improved fastball velocity.
Willard said that fastball will be among Harrison’s biggest keys to success.
“I think the first order of business is helping him understand that the fastball is the main event, that’s what makes him so special,” Willard said. “Both the release qualities and the added velocity he’s gained over the last couple of months has been really cool to see.
“Now it’s how can we leverage his arsenal around that fastball quality instead of trying to create metrically good pitches that he has to manipulate his arm slot,” he continued. “We want to build things around the fastball rather than the other way around.”
Viewed as a potential front-of-the-rotation arm, Harrison will start his tenure with the Red Sox in Triple-A as the club works to refine and improve his arsenal. The hope is that he could be ready to bolster the big league staff soon.
Duxbury’s DiCenzo enjoying new chapter
During his 12-year run as the Holy Cross head baseball coach, Greg DiCenzo often told his players about the importance of taking risks and trusting in yourself. While DiCenzo likely could have spent the rest of his career comfortably in the college ranks, he took his own advice to heart when presented with a unique opportunity.
“I put my money where my mouth was and did the same thing,” DiCenzo said.
Following the 2019 season DiCenzo left Holy Cross to join the Cleveland Guardians organization, and over the past five years he’s established himself as one of the most successful minor league managers in the game. Currently manager of the Double-A Akron RubberDucks, DiCenzo is coming off a playoff appearance and has played a key role in developing a sizable portion of the Guardians current big league roster.
“The organization is one of the premier and top organizations in professional sports, let alone baseball,” said DiCenzo, who is back in New England this week for Akron’s series against the Portland Sea Dogs. “I always said if I’m ever going to do that and leave a place like Holy Cross, which I loved so much out in Worcester, it would have to be something that blew my doors off.”
A three-sport star at both Duxbury High and St. Lawrence University, DiCenzo made the jump to the Guardians only a month before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the disruption, DiCenzo said the pandemic’s timing wound up being great for him professionally, as it allowed him to really enmesh himself in the organization.
Since then he’s spent two seasons as Cleveland’s High-A manager, going 141-108 with a Midwest League finals appearance, and one season as a Triple-A bench coach before taking the Akron manager job last season.
While Cleveland’s affiliates generally don’t spend much time in New England, this month Akron has a two-week road trip through Hartford and Portland, giving DiCenzo a rare opportunity to catch up with friends, family and former players.
“It’s been fun,” DiCenzo said of being back home. “It’s a lot more on the calendar than a typical road trip to Altoona or Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that’s for sure.”
