If Dylan Jordan pitches for your team, you’re likely to win.
The 2024 Viera High School graduate pulled off a rare feat this year. Now pitching pro ball in the Los Angeles Angels’ farm system, Jordan won a pennant with one team and nearly won a second pennant with another.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDuring the years Dylan attended, Viera went to Florida’s FHSAA Class 6A playoffs all four seasons, reaching the championship game in 2023, and the semifinals in 2021 and 2024. During his 2023 and 2024 seasons, professional scouts started showing up to watch him pitch.
“I was getting looked at by some scouts in my junior year,” Dylan recalled in a November phone interview. He drew more attention in his senior season. “They would show up right as I started pitching, and when I came out of the game they left.”
The scouts kept in touch through calls, texts and home visits.
“There were a couple teams that would text me pretty often,” Jordan said, “but the Angels weren’t one of them.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat’s not unusual; in the scouting world, some scouts are more proactive than others. A scout might court a player but, come draft day, his name might be called by some other team. The decision is made by highers-up looking at amateurs across North America. “Eight to ten were keeping in touch, seeing what I’m doing every couple days,” he said.
The Angels contacted Dylan twice during his senior season. At the time, he didn’t think they were all that interested. Their area scout was Luis Raffan, a former Florida college baseball player who scouted for the Cubs, Phillies and Padres before joining the Angels in February 2024. Dylan recalled that Raffan called him about ten days before the July 2024 draft. “He said he’d seen me pitching a couple times.”
Dylan Jordan pitches for Viera during the game against Melbourne Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at USSSA Space Coast Stadium. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORKJordan had already signed a letter of intent to play at Florida State University. As is typical in professional baseball, a team signing a top prospect is expected to compensate him with a sizable bonus to buy out his college commitment.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We said we had a baseline number that we wanted and we were going to stick to it,” Jordan recalled. “We weren’t going to go any lower than that. Some teams were trying to lowball, but the Angels came around in the fifth round. They said they would sign me for the number that we wanted.”
According to Baseball America, the industry’s trade magazine, Dylan signed for $1,247,500. Their projected bonus that year for his draft slot was $480,000.
A week later, Jordan reported at age 18 to the Angels’ minor league complex in Tempe, Arizona, a Phoenix suburb. He stayed there through fall instructional league, then returned home to Viera.
Dylan Jordan is a Viera High grad currently with the Los Angeles Angels minor league team. These photos were taken at the 2024 fall instructional league.Dylan began 2025 with the Tempe Angels, the Angels’ rookie-level team in the Arizona Complex League. Tempe took the pennant in late July, with Dylan winning Game 1 of the championship series against the Scottsdale Giants.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBrevard County denizens are well aware of our hot and humid summers, but Phoenix was a next-level experience.
“We were melting on the field,” he said. “I can’t believe we were playing in that. I would sweat so much when I pitched.”
In the Phoenix area, July daily temperatures typically exceed 100 degrees with much less humidity than Brevard. “It was like we were cooking in an oven.”
After winning the ACL pennant, the Angels promoted him at age 19 to the California League’s Inland Empire 66ers in San Bernardino. The 66ers had been losers, 18-48 in the first half. After Jordan and other Tempe Angels arrived, the 66ers became winners, 42-24 in the second half. The 66ers made it to the Cal League championship series, but lost the pennant to the San Jose Giants.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“There was definitely a jolt of energy when those young pitchers got here,” recalled 66ers broadcaster Steve Wendt. “Immediately, you saw the talent.”
“He’s not a rah-rah guy,” Wendt said of Jordan. “He’s stone cold and goes right to work. I was so impressed with his poise. Ultra-competitive. By and large it was carve 'em up, then back in the dugout for his next opportunity to carve 'em up.”
Dylan Jordan is a Viera High grad currently with the Los Angeles Angels minor league team, the Inland Empire 66ers, located in San Bernardino, California.At age 19, Jordan was named the California League’s pitcher of the month for August, with a 1.05 ERA in 25 2/3 innings. In six starts, he struck out 27, walked just 7, and gave up only 15 hits.
In a late August column, Baseball America chose Jordan as No. 1 of “10 MLB Prospects Who Caught Our Attention.” The column began, “Five starts into his first pro season, things clicked into place for Angels 19-year-old right-hander Dylan Jordan.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“It was a treat to watch him,” Wendt said. “It was evident to me very early that this is a guy you’ll want to keep an eye on.”
After the season, MLB Pipeline named Jordan the Angels’ 2025 pitching prospect of the year. The analysts wrote of his promotion to Inland Empire that he “threw better up a level, always a good sign.”
Taylor Blake Ward of Baseball America saw Jordan pitch several times and was impressed.
“He’s got a big-league fastball. Big-league ready now.”
In Ward’s view, Dylan has “cleaned up his mechanics and his delivery very well.” Like many recent high school graduates, he needs to refine his other pitches, “but the foundation is there to see a future big-league arm.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWard compared Jordan’s mechanics to Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays and Logan Webb of the San Francisco Giants. Steve Wendt was also reminded of Webb. He described Jordan’s sinker as having more than 20 inches of movement.
Comparisons are a scouting shorthand to help explain how a prospect’s mechanics are similar to a known talent. Dylan Jordan won’t be Kevin Gausman or Logan Webb. He’ll be Dylan Jordan.
Only he will determine if, years from now, some scout compares a young pitching prospect to Dylan Jordan.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Angels minor leaguer Dylan Jordan, Viera grad, 'big-league ready'
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