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JORDAN GEORGE, FIRST BASEMAN
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| Born: July 16, 1992 Height: 6’2″ Weight: 200 Bats: Switch Throws: Right Drafted: 35th Round, 1057th Overall, 2015 How Acquired: Draft College: Arkansas State University Agent: N/A |
WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE |
| George, whose first name is given as Zach by some sources, was drafted as a senior first baseman from Arkansas State, where he put in five years. In 2014, he played just ten games before a knee injury shut him down, so he was able to return for a fifth season. He also had a season-ending knee injury in 2013, which occurred almost exactly one year (missing by one day) before his second injury. In 2015, he had an explosive year on offense, hitting .399/.548/.562 in 55 games and showed no effect from the knee injuries by going 9-for-13 in stolen bases. George finished his career with a 74-game on-base streak and he led all of Division I in OBP. Those numbers come with the caveat that he was a month shy of 23 when drafted. As a pro, he’s spent half his time at DH, with the rest split between first and the outfield corners. The infrequency with which he appears in the field probably says a lot about his glove. George signed quickly after the draft.
2015 The Pirates sent George to Bristol, where he only played about half the time. With Carlos Munoz having a huge year, George primarily served as the DH. George hit extremely well himself, with an OPS above 1.000 in both July and August, and more walks than strikeouts. 2016 George had an interesting year, starting off at Morgantown, splitting his time mostly between DH and third base, then moving up to West Virginia in mid-July. At the latter stop, George played mostly in right, in deference to the first base platoon of Carlos Munoz and Daniel Arribas. He drew a very large number of walks at both stops, while showing gap power but no over-the-fence power. He hit for a much higher average at West Virginia, which could be a small sample size fluke. He had no real platoon split. 2017 George missed most of April with injuries, but once he was able to stay in the lineup he built on his success of the previous year, adding power to excellent plate discipline. In late July, the Pirates moved him up to Altoona, where he continued to hit well except with less power. Over the full year he was much better hitting left handed (332/414/510) than right-handed (221/309/347). He spent two-thirds of his time at DH with Bradenton and half with Altoona. Most of his time in the field was at first. 2018 George spent the season at Altoona, backing up Will Craig at first and playing part-time in the outfield corners. He also started ten games at third when Ke’Bryan Hayes was unavailable, although he wasn’t terribly adept there. At the plate, George continued to make contact consistently, but didn’t hit particularly well. He hit for very little power. George has a reasonably good bat, but the lack of power and the fact that he’s limited to first base or left field doesn’t make for much value. There’s also the fact that he’s 26. He’ll probably return to Altoona in 2019. |
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CONTRACT INFORMATION
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| 2019: Minor League Contract |
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PLAYER INFORMATION
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| Signing Bonus: N/A MiLB Debut: 2015 MLB Debut: MiLB FA Eligible: 2021 MLB FA Eligible: Rule 5 Eligible: 2018 Added to 40-Man: Options Remaining: 3 MLB Service Time: 0.000 |
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TRANSACTIONS
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| June 10, 2015: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 35th round, 1057th overall pick; signed on June 18. |
