On July 27th, the RailCats signed right-handed pitcher Jordan Riordan. Jordan is from Marietta, GA, and he is 24 years old, standing at 6’4″ and weighing 225 lbs. Riordan attended high school before playing junior college baseball at Pensacola State. He then went on to play for Georgia State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and San Diego State. He got his first taste of professional baseball with the newly formed Oakland Ballers in the Pioneer League.

Looking at Jordan Riordan’s college stats, he had a record of 6-11, an ERA of 8.20, played in 33 games while starting 22 of those games, and pitched 138.1 innings. He had 1 complete game shutout. Jordan gave up 138 hits, 157 runs (126 of which were earned), 13 home runs, 124 walks, hit 48 batters, and struck out 161 batters. He had a WHIP of 1.894, 9.0 hits per 9, 0.8 home runs per 9, 8.1 walks per 9, 10.5 strikeouts per 9, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1.30.

With The Oakland Ballers, he only pitched in 3 games. He had an ERA of 27, pitched in 2.1 Innings giving up 7 runs on 5 hits, 2 homeruns, 7 walks, and striking out 2. Being a small sample size in the pioneer league, which is an offensive-driven league, it’s gonna be hard to judge a pitcher on what he has. Also, coming off of a College season, probably didn’t have much rest. Well, I can say comfortably, I can give a reasoning behind this signing and what we can expect.

Last night, in an 18-9 loss to the Lake Country Dockhounds, Jacob made his RailCat debut. Well, it didn’t go as planned, as he didn’t get an out. He gave up a hit to JT Benson, a hard shot ball to Jackson Valera that played extra hard due to the artificial turf the Dockhounds have, and Valera couldn’t snag it. I think that rattled Riordan, since he hadn’t pitched since July 6th. Jacob gave up 4 runs on 1 hit, walked 3, and hit 2 batters.

Now focusing on him actually pitching. He seemed rushed and nervous, which is something I can completely understand. You’ve been signed to replace a player who went on the inactive list so your time might be short. Obviously, he was all over the place, but it looks like he has some good stuff. Mechanically, he doesn’t look super sound, but again, small sample size, nerves, and let’s be honest, the Dockhounds were all over the RailCats’ pitching staff. I think he can be a diamond in the rough, and I think Manager Rodgers has found good pieces out of the Pioneer League. Just take Gio Diaz and Nate Alexander, for example. One bad outing doesn’t make it or break it for me. I wouldn’t be sweating it if I were Jacob.

But with all that being said WELCOME TO THE SOUTHSHORE!!