Nick Gordon exhibited plenty of confidence when the Minnesota Twins took him with the fifth overall pick in 2014. “I think I can be a line-drive, gap-to-gap hitter, but I think I can hit 20 to 25 bombs a year,” he said. “I could be that leadoff guy like Carl Crawford or Derek Jeter.”
“We’ve been locked in on Nick,” said Deron Johnson, Minnesota’s scouting director at the time. “He’s been our guy since the start. We like his ability to play shortstop. We like his swing. I think he’s going to have power down the road. He’s going to stay at shortstop in my mind and has great work ethic. He’s a great kid and obviously has big league bloodlines with his brother and his dad. We expect big things from him.”
Nick Gordon is the son of Tom Gordon, a former All-Star who pitched 21 years in the majors. His brother, Washington Nationals utilityman Dee Strange-Gordon, made his first All-Star appearance in 2014. Naturally, Nick Gordon’s bloodlines created expectations, as did his draft position. The Twins picked fifth that year because they went 66-96 in 2013. Minnesota was in the middle of an 8-5 home loss to the Milwaukee Brewers the day they drafted Gordon. They’d finish 2014 with a 70-90 record, their fourth-straight 90-loss season.
One baseball player cannot drag a mediocre team to the playoffs. The Los Angeles Angels play in MLB’s second-largest market. They have the best player in baseball and another who can pitch and hit. Their ownership is willing to spend. Still, the Angels haven’t made the playoffs since 2014, when the Kansas City Royals swept them in three games. Nobody the Twins picked in 2014 would save them. But it was fair to expect Gordon to be part of the winning formula.
Now he is. Just not in the way that everyone expected.
Gordon isn’t Minnesota’s leadoff hitter, and his grand slam against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night was the 10th of his career. He’s played more games in center field (71) and left (64) than at short (29) so far. The Twins have also used him at second (27), third (2), right (1), and as a DH (2) and pitcher (3). At age 26, he’s a utility player with upside.
“What he does is not an easy thing to do,” says Rocco Baldelli. “There are not that many guys that you can feel comfortable just putting him at second base for a week or moving him to left field or center field or really almost anywhere. Even putting him on the mound occasionally. I mean, he can do a lot of different things because he’s a skilled player.”
The Twins were right about his work ethic, though. Not only has he put in the work to play all over the diamond, but he battled back from chronic gastritis to functionally replace Royce Lewis this season. Some context is necessary here, of course. Lewis stepped in at short for Carlos Correa at short when he suffered a hand injury and looked ready for the majors (.300/.317/.550 in 12 games). When Correa returned, the Twins used Lewis as a super-utility player, but Lewis tore his ACL in center field and is out for the season. Therefore, Gordon has stepped into his role.
Gordon has had quiet confidence throughout it all. Gone are the days when he’s making proclamations about his power, but he carries himself with a subtle swagger and is willing to play all over the diamond.
“He’s been the same guy,” says Baldelli. “He’s been absolutely the same human being, and the same worker, and the same everything. So, this isn’t some magic that all of a sudden, he’s a different guy right now. I think he just, it’s a good, steady progression in the right direction for him in a lot of different ways.”
Gordon hit .235/.297/.324 in the first month of the season. But he slashed .280/.333/.460 in July and .321/.360/.531 in August, culminating in his grand slam against Boston. Correa and Jake Cave asked their teammates to allow Gordon to exit the dugout alone for the next inning, allowing the fans to give him a standing ovation.
He was beaming and offered them a quick salute in response. However, Gordon hardly reveled at the moment. He immediately walked over to second base and got back to work.
“He’s at an age, and he’s at a period of his career where you see guys take a step,” Baldelli continued. “I think we’re kinda watching that before our eyes, and that’s what it is more than anything else. It’s not like he woke up one day and decided he’s gonna come in with a different mentality or anything like that.
“To be honest, I don’t think that’s how it ever works. I think it’s more along the lines of what we’re seeing as far as guys making adjustments like this.”
Gordon may never become a full-time leadoff hitter. His career trajectory might not be Jeter or Crawford’s. But he’s entering his prime, so it’s impossible to say how good he’ll get. Gordon has become a valuable glue guy for a team with playoff ambitions this season. He’s where he needs to be right now.
