Under Armour Game A Showcase For Jordan

CHICAGO—Saturday’s Under Armour All-America game at Wrigley Field is a chance for some of the best prospects in the 2017 draft class to show their tools on a national stage on national television.

For Hunter Greene, it’s another chance to show scouts why there are still debates about whether he best projects as a power pitcher or a power-hitting shortstop.

For Nick Allen, it’s another chance to demonstrate why he’s one of the better up-the-middle defenders in next year’s draft class.

For Alex Scherff, it’s a chance to make the case that he may be the best prep pitching prospect for next June’s draft. For Joe Gray, it’s a chance to give everyone a first look at one of the best draft prospects in the 2018 draft class.

But for tall righthander Ben Jordan, Saturday means even more.

Jordan, a 6-foot-9 pitcher out of Olive Hill, Ky., first was noticed on the summer showcase circuit a couple of years ago because it’s hard to not notice a relatively athletic pitcher who is significantly taller than almost everyone else on his team.

When he first drew attention as a rising sophomore, he sat in the high-80s, intriguing scouts and college recruiters with what he could develop into down the road.

But after badly spraining his ankle during basketball season as a sophomore, Jordan’s 2015 summer did not go as he had hoped. His delivery was disjointed. His velocity didn’t get improve. The interest seemed to wane, and as he headed into his junior season at Olive Hill’s West Carter County High, Jordan’s stuff seemed no better than it had a year before.

And then this summer, it happened.

At a tryout for the White Sox’s Area Code team, Jordan’s delivery synced up. Without appreciably more effort but with his legs working as part of his delivery instead of seemingly going off and doing their own thing, Jordan’s 88-92 mph fastball touched 97.

“It’s hard to believe. But I’m big. I knew it was in there. It’s a matter of syncing up the body and showing it. Now that I’ve showed it, it’s a matter of doing it consistently,” Jordan said. “It’s smoothing out. It’s being relaxed and smoothing out.”

The Kentucky commit doesn’t reach those velocities regularly, and there are still times on the mound where his delivery gets out of sync, his lower half gets ahead of his arm and he ends up throwing without getting his legs into the pitch. When that happens, the velocity drops back to the high 80s.

But he’s now shown it in front of some scouts. Potential is becoming present power. When he steps onto the mound at Wrigley Field, it could be Jordan’s coming-out party as a prospect. If he relaxes and stays in control of his delivery, he could pound the zone with one of the best fastballs in the showcase game. But if his delivery is not as smooth, then he could lose almost 10 miles an hour off his fastball and seem out of place on the mound.

“The biggest thing is syncing up. When I’m synced up it’s so easy to pound the zone,” Jordan said. “When it’s not? My arm drags. My arm doesn’t catch up and I don’t finish it very well. When I’m synced up I finish well.”

Jordan still has a lot of work to do. He has plenty of room to add strength and weight to his long and lanky frame. He’s working on a changeup grip but has barely used one in games. His feel for his curveball and slider vary significantly from outing to outing.

But he’s 6-foot-9. He’s athletic with solid body control and flashes plus velocity. Scouts have almost a year to figure out how intrigued they are by that potential. Depending on the answer, Kentucky’s new coaching staff could end up with another big arm in the mold of former Wildcats pitcher Alex Meyer.

Saturday’s Under Armour All-America game will be another significant step in that evaluation.