Jordan’s Offseason Focus on Strength and Versatility Leads to Breakout Season

Editor's note: This article initially appeared in the July edition of the Rumble Ponies' gameday program “Who’s Next?” It has been slightly edited to reflect Rowdey Jordan's updated statistics.

By Matt Levine

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – New York Mets outfield/infield prospect Rowdey Jordan focused on getting stronger this offseason and believes he has gotten better because of it.

“I think I’ve just improved honestly from last year,” Jordan said. “I’ve gotten a little bit stronger, which is obviously some of the reason why I have hit more home runs … my eyes have gotten a little better around the zone, so some of the pitches that I might have chased last year, I am not chasing as much this year.”

It took Jordan just 50 games for Binghamton in 2023 to double his home run total from all of last season. The 24-year-old has seen his home run total (11), on-base percentage (.358), slugging percentage (.404) and OPS (.762) improve from last season. Jordan drove in 33 total runs in 96 games last season and had 47 RBIs in his first 94 games this year.

“When you look at my numbers compared to last year, most of them are better outside of the average just because I’ve gotten better,” Jordan said. “I really think as the year goes on, my average will continue to go up and at the end of the year it’s going to be higher than it was last year.”

The Auburn, Alabama, native credited his work this offseason for why he has gotten better. During spring training in Port St. Lucie, Jordan dialed into his weight training routine.

Jordan gained his strength by doing back squats and bench press workouts. His routine consisted of five sets of five for both workouts on Monday with an increase in five pounds for the same workouts later in the week.

“If you do that week after week after week, you’re going to get significantly stronger,” Jordan said. “I did some other stuff, obviously. But, when you’re talking about pure strength and just being able to fill out your body, five sets of five is great.”

Jordan took inspiration from a video that he saw on social media and translated it into his routine. He is lifting more weight than he did last year, while also having more success at the plate.

“It’s better than it was last year,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing for me is being able to improve.”

In addition to building strength, another aspect of Jordan’s offseason was his movement around the diamond defensively. He was drafted by the New York Mets in the 11^th round of the 2021 MLB Draft after winning the national championship at Mississippi State.

Jordan was recruited by the Bulldogs as a middle infielder, but to maximize his playing time he transitioned into the outfield. He helped lead Mississippi State to its first national title in school history, as the starting center fielder and leadoff hitter as a senior in 2021.

He had the best year of his collegiate career in 2021, earning College World Series All-Tournament Team, NCAA Starkville Regional All-Tournament Team, and All-SEC Second Team honors.

“I changed positions and that ended up working out,” Jordan said. “The most ideal situation was to play shortstop at Mississippi State. It didn’t go my way and I went to the outfield, and it ended up working out. So, being able to play another position and just going out there and playing, it is going to work itself out … and I think being able to play infield and outfield is going to help my career in professional baseball.”

Jordan was drafted by the Mets as an outfielder. With all the work that he did in the offseason, Jordan has also been able to play second base for the Rumble Ponies.

Through 94 games in 2023, Jordan made 51 starts in the outfield, 38 starts at second base, and five starts as the designated hitter.

Jordan –– who was born William Jordan and got the nickname “Rowdey” from his father Kevin’s favorite movie, Days of Thunder –– played some second base for High-A Brooklyn last year.

Three of the ballparks in the South Atlantic League have turf surfaces, including where Jordan played home games for Brooklyn at Maimonides Park. With the 90-plus degree temperatures in Florida during spring training drying out the natural-surface fields, Jordan felt that most of his improvement in the infield came during that time.

“If you’re not on your toes on the infield [at spring training], it’s very tough to field ground balls,” Jordan said. “Being able to go into spring training and play on a difficult infield every single day and work with all the coaches was very beneficial to me playing second base [in Binghamton].”

Focusing on his strength training and versatility on defense during the offseason helped Jordan put together his best professional season so far.

“Just being able to trust that if I go out there and play hard and do a good job, it’s going to end up working out and that’s the way I look at it,” Jordan said.

Additional Reporting from Jacob Wilkins