Kansas City Royals: Alex Gordon not hitting well in spring training
The Kansas City Royals are in the midst of spring training right now, but apparently no one told Alex Gordon that.
Alex Gordon is not having a good spring training for the Kansas City Royals and that’s against guys with jersey numbers higher than 60 and in a place where baseballs normally fly out of the ballpark. That’s never a good sign.
So, just how badly is Gordo doing this spring? Well, I went to look at the hitting stats courtesy of MLB.com and I had to scroll nearly all the way to the bottom before I got to Alex Gordon’s numbers. He’s 43rd out of 49 batters when it comes to the batting average for the team in spring training. In case you were wondering, that is not good.
As of now, Gordon is slashing .093/.200/.116 in 43 at bats with four hits, three RBI, and two runs. Yikes. In fact, someone by the name of Nick Dini is hitting better than Gordon in spring training. Who even is Nick Dini?
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We’ve seen the decline of Alex Gordon since he signed the franchise’s largest contract two years ago and many, like myself, had hoped that Gordon would have a bounce back year in 2018. Sure, spring training doesn’t mean much, but when a guy is hitting THIS poorly in spring training, yeah, it should be concerning, especially when he hasn’t been hitting well the last two years.
If Gordon wasn’t a Gold Glove caliber left fielder, the Royals might have to make a tough decision with him. His defense is what’s saving him and his defense will probably win the Royals a few games in 2018. That’s definitely a good thing, but paying a guy over $70 million to play in the outfield and bat .200 during the regular season is ridiculous.
Gordon’s numbers have been declining mightily over the last two years and the easiest answer is that he’s getting older. He turned 34 years old last month and has been battling injuries throughout the past few seasons. That will catch up to anyone, no matter how good your workout routine is.
Gordon has gotten old before our very eyes and it’s painful to witness. It’s safe to say that if he can’t get his batting average above the Mendoza line before the end of spring training that we’re in for yet another season of bad offensive production from Alex Gordon.
There’s still a week left of spring training, but at what point do we just admit that Alex Gordon isn’t returning to his pre-2016 form? I think we need to be getting to that point, if we’re not already.