After a strong first four months in 2023 in Daytona, Carlos Jorge was promoted to High-A Dayton and for the first time in his career he struggled to hit. It was only one month, but his .674 OPS was far and away the lowest he had ever had anywhere he’d ever been. In 2024 the Cincinnati Reds sent him back to join the Dragons to begin the season and that’s where he would spend the entire season.
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The 2024 season began much like the 2023 one had ended for Carlos Jorge – with him struggling at the plate. In the first two weeks he went 6-34 (.177) with 18 strikeouts in nine games. Things turned around over the following two weeks as he went 11-35 (.314) and had eight extra-base hits that pushed his OPS over 1.000 during the 9-game stretch.
Jorge went into a slump on April 28th, going 0-6 and starting an 11-game run where he hit just .093 and had one walk to go with 19 strikeouts. While things did improve a bit over the month that followed, things still weren’t going well. From May 15th through June 14th the outfielder hit just .218 and had five walks to go with 29 strikeouts. At that point in the season his OPS was just .632 and he had 10 walks with 77 strikeouts.
Things started to get a little better in the second half of June as the 20-year-old hit .255 with four walks and 15 strikeouts. July began slowly, though, as Jorge went 2-21. He would not play for three days after that before returning to the lineup on July 9th and going 2-4 with a home run against South Bend. That kicked off a month long stretch where he hit .274/.392/.488. Not only was he hitting well, but he walked 16 times and had just 23 strikeouts in 105 plate appearances.
Unfortunately for Carlos Jorge his season came to an end on August 11th after he injured his thumb while stealing second base in the 5th inning. He remained in the game to continue running the bases, but when Dayton took the field after the inning was over, Jorge was replaced in the field and he was placed on the injured list three days later and he didn’t return.
For all 2024 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Carlos Jorge Scouting Report
Position: Outfield | B/T: L/R
Height: 5′ 7″ | Weight: 176 lbs. | Acquired: International FA (2021)| Born: September 22, 2003
Baseball is a game of adjustments. And up until August of 2023, Carlos Jorge didn’t really seem to need to make any of them at the plate as he was among the best few hitters in every league that he had played in. But the pitchers in High-A changed that.
It took a while to start to see the improvements for Jorge with Dayton, but they finally started to show up as he drew nearly as many walks as he struck out in his final 100+ plate appearances for the Dragons and the hitting numbers followed along with the improved approach.
Defensively the adjustments came much quicker. Carlos Jorge has played shortstop, second base, and center field in his career as a professional. Last season he transitioned to center and at times it was very clear he was still new to the position. But in 2024 he looked like a long time veteran who stood out defensively and was part of a strong Dayton outfield that seemed to track down anything in the air all season long.
At the plate he’s a pull-heavy hitter with a good hit tool, but one that he’ll need to be more patient at the plate in order to get the most out of it. That happened later in the season, but his low-walk, high strikeout results weren’t going to work and led to lesser contact when he was able to get the bat on the ball during much of his time in Dayton in 2023 and 2024.
His power is solid-average. He’s not a guy who is going to hit the ball a long way, but there’s enough power in there for him to hit 15-20 home runs if he’s able to get the most out of his hit tool and make enough contact.
On the bases and in the field, Jorge can use his speed well. Despite struggling to get on base in 2024 and only playing in 95 games, he stole 28 bases. In his career he’s stolen 114 bases and been caught just 22 times. He’s a smart, but aggressive baserunner.
The biggest thing we need to see is the continued patient approach he showed over his final month of the 2024 season. If he’s capable of a better approach it’s going to allow him to hit for both average and power, which will also allow him to utilize his speed on the bases even more.
If everything goes right, Carlos Jorge could be a 5-tool player who can contribute in all aspects and stand out on the bases and in the field. There’s work to do to get there, but after some struggles in the last 18 months, he started to show some adjustments and you can see the possibility of things coming together once again.
Stats
Spray Chart
Video
Interesting Stat on Carlos Jorge
In the final 24 games he played in of 2024 he walked 16 times in 101 plate appearances. During the first 71 games he played in 2024 he walked 15 times in 301 plate appearances. That’s a 16% walk rate compared to a 5% walk rate.