Luke Jordan Knows What He Wants October 24, 2026 – Luke Jordan is exhibit #1 that what happens in Vegas most definitely does not stay in Vegas. That’s his home town—at least that’s where he was born. “I like Yellow Springs,” he says now. “I hope I can call this place home for a long time.” And you know what, you can take this guy’s word for it. While the rest of the world is going to Hell in a fake advertising front, Luke Jordan is as loyal as an unturnable Jedi Knight.
“He is the Force,” said teammate Luis Bacca at an interview earlier this year. “He’s the most stable guy I know. Never sways much … never panics. There’s a word for that, right, what is it?”
“Implacable?” the interviewer added.
“Yeah. That’s it. Luke is implacable.”
He’s also quietly growing into the guy a lot of fans wanted to see when the team drafted him as the #1 pick in the draft three years back. A year later, 2024, when injuries forced the Yellow Springs hand a bit, Jordan came up as a 23-year-old, and modestly held his own in hitting 13 homers and posting a 92 OPS+. All right for the average rook, but Luke Jordan was #1, and the bullet seemed to have lost a touch of its shine.
2025 was stronger, though (17 homers, .262/.302/.434), and 2026 was stronger still (18 HR, 78 RBI, .277/.328/.470, 118 OPS+).
Team insiders are suggesting that he’ll enter his 2027 season at age 26, poised for a true breakout. Scouts look at the numbers and smile, then they say the kid Jedi hasn’t finished his training yet, that he’s still got patience and plate discipline to grow into. When that happens, they say, he’ll be hitting .300 and be a candidate for 50 doubles to go with those 20+ homers he’ll hit. Do you know how hard is to hit 20 homers when you play in Chavez Memorial? they say, then they shake their heads and move along.
Jordan’s got other things on his mind now.
He’s getting married in the off-season, to his college sweetheart, Melissa Ling, an emergency room clinician who spends months administering to kids and mothers in third world countries. “She’s awesome,” he says when asked to describe her. “She cares more about people than anyone else I’ve ever known.” They’re honeymooning in Hawaii, and will set up house here in Yellow Springs. No pets, though. Not yet.
“I’d love to have a big dog,” Jordan says. “But we’re not in the right businesses for giving that kind of attention to an animal. I’m on the road all the time, and Missy can be gone for months at a time. Maybe when I’m done playing ball. We’ll see.”
When the club splits for Spring Training, Jordan will go there, and his wife will head to the Congo.
“Yeah,” he says. “I’ll miss her, but that’s the gig we’ve got. It’ll all work out in the end.”
We're still happy to have him.
