Blue Jays 2019 Top Prospects: #7 Jordan Groshans

The Jays Journal staff returns with our yearly Top 30 prospect rankings, the #7 spot on the list goes to first-round draft pick Jordan Groshans.

Jordan Groshans is rather new to the Blue Jays organization, drafted 12th overall this past July along with his Magnolia High School teammate, right-hander Adam Kloffenstein of whom the Jays took in the third round.

Name: Jordan Groshans
Position: SS/3B                     Age: 19
Height: 6-foot-3                   Weight: 178-pounds
Throws: Right                        Bats: Right
Acquired: First-round 2018 Draft (12th overall)

Groshans has a big, projectable body standing at 6-foot-3, 178 pounds already and he’s barely 19-years-old. His bat will be his carrying tool and as he matures and fills out, he should add to the power he already possesses.

The young, athletic Texas native has a very well-rounded game as he’s also sharp defensively with a strong arm, but as he grows and potentially taps into some more power, scouts hope it doesn’t come at the cost of strikeouts.

He slashed a respectable .296/.353/.446 in his first pro season with 13 doubles, five homers and 43 RBI’s across 48 games with two rookie league teams.

Hitting

Groshans’ hitting ability is rated a 55/80 by former MLB general manager and current writer at The Athletic, Jim Bowden. That ranks slightly above average for his current hitting ability and Bowden says Groshans “has an incredible ceiling offensively and should fly up this board over the next few years.”

He was one of the top-ranked high school bats heading into this year’s draft and adjusted well to professional arms, starting his career with a 12-game hitting streak, including six multi-hit games and two home runs in his first four games. Groshans creates hard contact to all fields led by his big leg kick and according to MLB Pipeline, he had a track record of punishing fastballs on the showcase circuit.

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Power

His power is also rated a 55 by Bowden and as he continues to get stronger and develop, will be able to add to his pull power from the right side and could eventually have some above-average power. He posted 16 extra-base hits and a slugging percentage of .500 in 37 games with the GCL Blue Jays before struggling in his final 11 games of the season in Bluefield. It will be interesting to see how he fares in his first full pro season and whether he’s added some strength to his 6-foot-3 frame over the winter.

Speed

He is a strong, athletic kid that moves well but will likely never swipe a significant amount of bases. While his speed is not a strength, it’s definitely not a weakness either and if he reaches the majors he will likely carry an average speed tool with him. His running game ranks as a 50 to most scouts and he didn’t steal one base during his first stint in pro ball.

Fielding

Groshans is solid on the defensive side of the ball as well, showing versatility as well as a strong arm. Bowden ranks his current defence as a 50 and his arm a 55, while FanGraphs projects his future arm at a 60. He played over 150 innings at both shortstop and third base last year and despite being drafted at short, he looked more comfortable at third base. He is versatile enough and could handle some duties at second base as well but with his estimated time of arrival around 2022, the Blue Jays still have quite some time to evaluate his best fit.

Future Value

It seems Groshans really has no big flaws in his game as he looks to be average or slightly above average with all of his tools, but no one part of his game absolutely jumps out at you yet. He is very well-rounded though and seems to be rather advanced at the plate for a high school middle infielder. He joins Orelvis Martinez as a highly regarded teenage infielder in the organization as well as a loaded crop of other infielders that should be ready to blossom into everyday big leaguers in the next few seasons including Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio and Kevin Smith.

His future value rates as a 45+ by FanGraphs while MLB Pipeline has him at 50, which projects him as an average, every day big league player in his future. Like many kids fresh out of high school, the ability to adjust to the grind of a full pro season will be important to watch this season but his small sample size of work this past summer should have fans eager to follow his development.