Kansas City Royals need Alex Gordon to regain hitting skills
The Kansas City Royals expected big things from Alex Gordon when they inked him to a franchise record four-year deal worth $72 million after the 2015 season.
Alex Gordon has not lived up to that deal. While fans were thrilled with the signing at the time, not many are expecting big things from Gordon moving forward, which is unfortunate. When the Kansas City Royals were at their peak, it was because Gordon was doing work at the plate.
Remember the 2015 World Series? It was a blast, right? Well, the Royals might not have been World Champions that year had Gordon not hit the game tying home run in Game 1 of the World Series that year.
Since he signed that mega contract after the 2015 season, Gordon hasn’t been the same guy and it’s painful to watch. He’s still the same (or close to the same) guy in the outfield, but offensively… He’s been downright awful.
When the Kansas City Royals were at their peak, it was because Gordon was doing work at the plate.
In 2016, Gordon missed a month of the season with an injury and ended the year with a slash line of .220/.312/.380 and just 40 RBI in 445 at bats. He did hit 17 home runs, which was about all he was good for offensively that year.
Gordon’s biggest issue in 2016 was striking out, which he did 148 times, the highest in his career. It’s crazy that Gordon struck out that many times despite missing several games and proves that he was headed towards a decline in offensive production.
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Last season wasn’t much better for Gordon. He slashed just .208/.293/.315 with 45 RBI and just nine home runs in 476 at bats. He struck out 126 times this past season.
While Gordon wasn’t the main reason for Kansas City’s struggles the past two seasons, it certainly didn’t help. When a team is paying someone a huge chunk of change to hit just .208, that’s not good at all.
Fans didn’t expect Gordon to get better as he aged, but no one expected this much of a drop-off. It’s almost as if the Royals paid Gordon for what he had done previously in his career and not for what he should be doing. That’s not going to help the team win games.
The 2018 season could be a rebuild for the Kansas City Royals and it’d be nice if Alex Gordon could step up and be the designated veteran of the team. No one will be thinking playoffs if the Royals are rebuilding, but in order to not tarnish his legacy, Alex Gordon needs to get back to his old form… or at least close to it.