McAdam: On Day Two of the annual draft, Red Sox grab top power phenom

If Wednesday's surprising first-round selection of Nick Yorke left some people scratching their heads, the Red Sox seemed to engender a completely different reaction Thursday with their next pick in the 2020 draft.

Boston chose high school slugger Blaze Jordan with its third-round pick -- the Sox were stripped of their second-round choice for their involvement in sign-stealing in 2018 -- from DeSoto Central High School in Mississippi with the 89th overall selection.

Jordan is a power-hitting prodigy and arguably the most famous high school player since Bryce Harper graced the cover of Sports Illustrated as a 16-year-old. Jordan took part in the High School Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game last summer. He also won his first nationwide home run derby at age 11 and two years later, at age 13, hit two homers that were measured at 500-feet.

MLB.com ranked Jordan as the 42nd on their list of draft prospects and gushed that "few players in the 2020 draft can do more damage to a baseball than Jordan.''

"Obviously, we were really, really excited to select him,'' said scouting director Paul Toboni of Jordan. "We were thrilled. He's a unique talent with a ton of power upside. He's got a feel to hit, really recognizes pitches to hit and he's doing this all (while) being a year younger than his counterparts. He's just a really exciting talent -- there's no other way to put it.''

Toboni said the Sox took note of how Jordan handled all the attention he received at such a young age.

"For me, the kid is so mature beyond his years,'' Toboni said. "I think it doesn't hurt that he's been on big-league fields taking batting practice, hitting home runs and then slapping high fives with Mookie Betts and other big leaguers. Especially with someone who carries himself with great humility and a strong work ethic, I think it's going to bode well for him in the future.''

Power is one of the most coveted skills in today's game and to acquire someone with an abundance of that tool is rare -- especially in the middle of the third round.

"It's very unusual,'' agreed Toboni, "and probably more unusual is pairing that up with our optimism on how he's going to hit in time. He's got some innate attributes that are very hard to teach -- how he generates bat speed, how he's able to process information out of the pitcher's hand and transfer that to mechanical actions. It's super, super unique and you don't see it very often. But when you do see it, it sticks out to you. And when it's coming from a 16- or 17-year old kid, it really sticks out to you.''

Jordan is committed to Mississippi State and his slot (No. 89) is worth $667,900. But because the Sox will likely sign Yorke for far less than his slot value of $3.6 million, the Sox will be able to pay Jordan well above slot.

Jordan is listed as a third baseman, but his big frame (6-2, 200 pounds at just 17 years old) has led some evaluators to speculate that he will ultimately end up at first base.

"He's plenty athletic enough,'' Toboni said. "He can play at third base, at least to start and we'll see how it comes down the line. He's got the work ethic to really work hard on improving his hands and lateral agility and the types of things that matter playing third base. But he's also proven he can be a very effective first baseman.''

In later rounds, the Red Sox selected lefty Jeremy Wu-Yelland from the University of Hawaii with their fourth-round pick and lefty Shane Drohan from Florida State in the fifth round.

Wu-Yelland, a native of Oregon, was a reliever at Hawaii. Before the game was shut down this spring, Wu-Yelland had an 0.69 ERA over seven appearances. He also pitched for Chatham in the Cape Cod League last summer.

Drohan, at 6-3, 195 pounds, was drafted by the Phillies out of high school (23rd round) in West Palm Beach in 2017. In three seasons with Seminoles, Drohan made 22 appearances with a 4.98 ERA, fanning 78 batters over 56 innings. Half of his 22 appearances came as a starter. His fastball has touched 95 mph.