Blue Jays: Jordan Groshans turning into a legitimate prospect already

The Blue Jays raised a few eyebrows when they took Jordan Groshans in the 1st round of last year’s draft, but he’s already proving why it was a wise choice.

When the Blue Jays selected high school prospect Jordan Groshans with the 12th overall pick in the 2018 draft, it was viewed by some as an “off the board” pick as he ranked No. 31 on MLB Pipeline’s draft rankings.

High risk, high reward for the team that followed a strategy of signing Groshans under the recommended slot value of roughly $4.21M to allow room for the 43rd ranked prospect, Adam Kloffenstein and the 50th ranked prospect Griffin Conine to be signed at or above their slot value in the second and third round.

Although he’s yet to play a full pro season, his 71 career games in the minors have displayed more of the high reward side from the Texas native. Groshans owns a .309/.376/.457 slash line over that time, and his .337 average over 23 games in low-A Lansing this year has impressed the scouting community.

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The 6-foot-3, 205-pound shortstop/third baseman has jumped up to third in the organization’s prospect rankings behind two potential up and coming stars, shortstop Bo Bichette and hard-throwing right-hander Nate Pearson.

19-year-old Groshans has dominated at the dish early in his career, and on the defensive side the Jays worked him just about an even amount of time at third and shortstop in 2018, however, he’s yet to see the hot corner in 2019 with the Lugnuts.

This will be something to monitor with Bichette’s major league debut looming and the constant whispers of a potential move for Vlad Guerrero Jr. across the diamond to first base somewhere down the road.

No matter which position Groshans takes on the left side, the continued approach of his from the right-side of the plate will be what moves him up in the system. His added strength over the summer was another positive adjustment in his development and he’s proving his 37 games with the GCL Blue Jays last year wasn’t just a hot streak when he posted a .331 average with four home runs and 12 doubles.

The Toronto Blue Jays organization currently boasts two can’t miss prospects that are revered in the MiLB community, the previously mentioned Bichette who’s the 8th ranked prospect in baseball, and Pearson who ranks No. 41.

Groshans has also jumped in the top 100 at No. 84 and if he continues on this pace throughout the entire 2019 campaign, he could find himself in the Bichette/Pearson territory at some point.

There’s been nothing but positives early in his career and the continued track record will be what continues to move him up the rankings and into the conversation among baseball’s most elite youngsters.