Cardinals prospect compared to all-time great, but not for reasons you were hoping

If you were compared to Babe Ruth, you'd probably see it as an awfully high honor. That's exactly what Baseball America writer Geoff Pontes did regarding one of the newest members of the St. Louis Cardinals organization when he was interviewed on the St. Louis sports radio station 101 ESPN.

Blaze Jordan has Babe Ruth-like attributes — in a way.

Jordan, whom the Cardinals acquired from the Boston Red Sox for Steven Matz at the 2025 trade deadline, had been making national headlines since he was 13 years old with his prodigious power displays. Ruth, of course, changed how baseball was played with his herculean blasts, steering the sport into the live-ball era. So of course fans are going to get excited when Pontes makes a direct comparison of Jordan to the Sultan of Swat.

Except it's not quite as simple as one might think. Since being drafted in the third round in 2020, Jordan hasn't provided the massive home run numbers that captivated fans in his younger days. This season, across Double-A and Triple-A, Jordan has hit 12 home runs in 321 at-bats — respectable, but far from eye-popping.

Instead, Jordan has become a contact-hitting maven, one who has struck out only 38 times in that span and has hit for a .308 average. But it's not his ability to get on base that led him to be mentioned in the same breath as the Babe.

At 6'0 and 220 pounds, Jordan is a heftier guy, and his speed is near the bottom of the scale. In the interview, Pontes said that Jordan's gait on the basepaths was like that of Ruth's. (How Pontes knew Ruth's running style is a mystery that may never be solved.) Ruth had a career-high 17 stolen bases in 1921 and 1923, so it shouldn't be a death knell for Jordan, and the new Cardinals prospect does have three steals in 2025.

Unlike the left-handed Ruth, Jordan can play third base, but while he has a solid glove and strong arm, Jordan lacks any semblance of range at the hot corner and has played more at first base this season.
Even if speed is not a part of Jordan's game, the Cardinals may have acquired the heir to Willson Contreras. Just don't expect Ruth to be listed in Jordan's player similarity scores anytime soon.