Nick Gordon - 2018

[Teflon]

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Nick+Gordon+Minnesota+Twins+Photo+Day+QcMmnV0Z1iDl.jpg

 

Nick Gordon is a 22-year old lefty-hitting shortstop drafted fifth overall in the first round of the 2014 June amateur draft out of Olympia High School in Orlando, Florida. As a senior, Nick batted .494 with a .567 on-base average and was named the Gatorade Florida Baseball Player of the Year for a second straight year. Regarded as the best shortstop available in the 2014 draft, Nick chose to sign with the Twins for the slotted $3.8 million dollars instead of playing collegiately for Florida State.

 

 

Nick’s baseball bloodlines are well-known. His father, Tom, made his big league debut in 1988 as the second youngest player in the major leagues and pitched for 21 seasons, exiting as the game's oldest player in 2009. Along the way he made three All-Star teams. Nick’s older brother, Dee, currently with the Seattle Mariners, won the 2015 National League batting title and is a two-time All-Star.

 

Nick debuted in professional baseball at the age of 18 in 2014 for the Twins’ Rookie League team in Elizabethton where he hit .294/.333/.366 in 57 games – 49 played at shortstop. Baseball America named him the #2 prospect in the Appalachian League that season and also ranked him #61 on their top 100 list.

 

The Twins assigned Nick to Low A Cedar Rapids in 2015 and he batted .277/.336/.360, scoring 79 runs and stealing 25 bases in 120 games. Cedar Rapids played for the Midwest League championship that year, losing to West Michigan. Baseball America again pegged him as a top prospect in his league ( #4, Midwest League) and once again included him in the their top 100 list of prospects. (#53)

 

Moving up to High A Fort Myers in 2016, Nick hit .291/.335/.386 in 116 games and earned  a third-straight top ten prospect ranking in his league from Baseball America. (#4) At the end of the season, the Twins sent him to play in the Arizona Fall League where Nick was a pleasant surprise in Surprise with a .418 OBP and .862 OPS for the Saguaros in competition against other up-and-coming players.  Baseball Prospectus, MLB, and Baseball America all included Nick in their top 100 lists going into 2017.

 

Keeping to their progression schedule, the Twins promoted Nick at age 21 to the Chattanooga Lookouts in the AA Southern League. Gordon showed some increased pop in 2017, hitting 9 home runs to go with 29 doubles and 9 triples in 578 plate appearances. He slugged over .400 for the first time in a full season and logged his highest on-base percentage at .341.  In July, Nick played in the MLB Futures Game in Miami. The Lookouts finished with the best record in the Southern League at 91-49 and shared the league title with Pensacola. (The championship series was cancelled due to Hurricane Irma.) As in each previous year, Nick was placed among the top ten prospects in his league by Baseball America and named to their top 100 list.

 

2018 will be a defining year for Nick. The Twins are decidedly deep in young talent at shortstop with Royce Lewis, Wander Javier and Jermaine Palacios. Gordon was invited to Spring Training with the MLB club as a non-roster player and is being given looks at both shortstop and second base. With 2B Brian Dozier's contract expiring at the end of the year, the Twins are undoubtedly considering their options for 2019.

 

Away from baseball, Nick is a budding rapper – going by the handle “G Cinco.” He just released his first EP, I Do It All, backed by three videos.

 

Im the Man

 

Big Checks

 

I Do It All

 

You can follow Nick on Twitter at @FlashGThe3rd and check out his music page at http://gcincomusic.com

[Teflon]

Adding a link to Nick Nelson's Twins 2018 Position Analysis: Shortstop

[Teflon]

Spring Training Update - March 14th

 

Nick, a non-roster invite to spring training, has played in 10 of the Twins' 17 Grapefruit League games. He's been used mostly at second base, playing 32 innings there - more than any other Twin except Brian Dozier. Gordon has collected 8 hits in 17 spring at-bats, including a double and triple.

 

You can see Nick make a nice spring training play at second base against the Yankees here.

 

 

[goulik]

Spring Training Update - March 14th

 

Nick, a non-roster invite to spring training, has played in 10 of the Twins' 17 Grapefruit League games. He's been used mostly at second base, playing 32 innings there - more than any other Twin except Brian Dozier. Gordon has collected 8 hits in 17 spring at-bats, including a double and triple.

 

You can see Nick make a nice spring training play at second base against the Yankees here.

Negotiating ploy with Dozier or are they really cutting Dozier loose after the season? Dozier seems like such a cog in this offense and the veteran leader for all these young guys. They keep talking about veterans in the clubhouse... this usage of Gordon gives me angst. Doesn’t this also diminish his trade value if he’s a 2B instead of SS?

[Monkeypaws]

Gordon is looking good so far - encouraging.

[Teflon]

 

Negotiating ploy with Dozier or are they really cutting Dozier loose after the season? Dozier seems like such a cog in this offense and the veteran leader for all these young guys. They keep talking about veterans in the clubhouse... this usage of Gordon gives me angst. Doesn’t this also diminish his trade value if he’s a 2B instead of SS?

 

I think the Twins like having position flexibility from their middle infielders as we've seen with Nunez and Escobar and Adrianza. If Dozier does become a free agent next year, better to have Gordon prepared as a potential option.

[Teflon]

Adding a link to Nick Nelson's Twins 2018 Position Analysis: Second Base

[Teflon]

Update - March 18th

 

Nick Gordon was among six players sent to minor league camp by the Twins today. Here's the notice on that move from Seth: Twins Send Six to Minor League Camp

 

With Jorge Polanco suspended for 80 games, an impressive start in AA or AAA for Gordon could quicken his arrival to the big leagues.

 

 

 

 

 

[Teflon]

Dee Gordon (@FlashGJr) has some questions on the Twins' use of bother Nick at second base this spring.

 

 

[Teflon]

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/9/2/251273692/cuts/222x168/cut.png

 

As per today's Chattanooga Lookouts press release, Nick Gordon will be starting the 2018 season with the AA Lookouts under new manager, Tommy Watkins. Opening Day for the Lookouts is April 5th at home against the Birmingham Barons.

[Teflon]

Gordon Triples in First At Bat - Gets 4 Hits in Chattanooga Season Opener.

 

Nick batted at the top of the order yesterday and played shortstop for the Lookouts in their season opener against the Birmingham Barons at AT & T Field in Chattanooga. Nick batted 4 for 5 and had a hand in the first two Lookout runs of the season, scoring on Edgar Cocino's sac fly following his leadoff triple in the first inning, and driving in Ryan Walker from second base with a third inning single. The Lookouts lost the game, 5-4, however, as their pitching staff issued 10  bases on balls and reliever Todd Van Steensel surrendered the lead in a rocky 7th and 8th inning appearance.

[dgwills]

"Regarded as the best shortstop available in the 2014 draft, Nick chose to sign with the Twins for the slotted $3.8 million dollars instead of playing collegiately for Florida State"

I think some people thought the next shortstop taken was better. I'm sure that guy was a bust anyways

[Teflon]

Nine games into the Lookouts' 2018 season, Nick Gordon continues to hit well. In last night's 3-2 victory over Pensacola, Gordon went 2 for 4 with the go-ahead RBI and a stolen base. On the season, Gordon's hitting .361/.395/.500 with 13 hits and 18 total bases in 38 plate appearances - all of which lead Chattanooga. He's also only struck out 5 times has made just one error at short. (Last night)

 

After starting the season batting lead-off, Nick has been moved down to the #2 spot by manager Tommy Watkins to try to generate some more scoring as the Lookouts' offense apart from Gordon has been anemic so far. (24 runs in 9 games)

 

Gregorio Petit, a 15-year minor-leaguer with 171 games of MLB experience in call-ups over 5 different seasons, has been the everyday shortstop for the AAA Red Wings to start the season and would be the most likely contingency currently for the Twins in case of an injury to Eduardo Escobar or Ehire Adrianza.

 

The Twins will be forced into interesting decisions once Jorge Polanco is eligible to return from his suspension. Polanco wouldn't be eligible to play in the post season so it would seem unlikely that the Twins would put him back at starting shortstop. Both Polanco and Adrianza are out of options so couldn't be sent down without clearing waivers, first.

 

What does all of this mean for Gordon? The AAA shortstop position will likely be used by the Twins to keep Petit on-call until Polanco returns and then will be up for grabs between Petit, and whichever player, Polanco or Adrianza, the Twins choose to expose to waivers. Nick Gordon may play well enough to earn a promotion to AAA this season but, at this point, it looks like circumstances may be a hurdle to getting there.

[Teflon]

Hot Week for Chattanooga and Gordon

 

Chattanooga won their 7th straight in a row on Thursday and Nick Gordon, now batting third in the lineup, has been mashing. In the just-completed series against Jacksonville, Nick went 5-15 with a pair of homeruns, 5 runs scored and 3 batted in. Through 13 games, he has the following slashes  .353/.377/.588

 

After a solid showing in Spring Training, Nick continues to demonstrate everything the Twins might want to see from him as a hitter. He's getting on base, he's getting extra bases, he's showing some pop with the bat.

 

Nick and the Lookouts will try to keep the hot streak going as they open a weekend series against the Jackson Generals in Jackson tonight.

 

[ashbury]

Hot Week for Chattanooga and Gordon

 

Chattanooga won their 7th straight in a row on Thursday

Was that consecutive?

[TheLeviathan]

Man....this kid is hitting.

[Teflon]

After going 0-4 in the series opener against Jackson on Monday, Nick Gordon was 6-12 over the last three games of the series with a homer and a pair of doubles on Wednesday. Having settled into the third spot in the Lookouts lineup, his batting average remains a robust .342. (5th in the Southern League) The Lookouts were trailing the Generals in the Southern League North (I know...) as the week began but Tommy Watkins' squad has now moved into first place by a game and a half with a 21-13 record and looks to complete a 5-game sweep of the Generals tonight at AT&T Field.

 

Nick currently leads the Lookouts with 17 RBI and is slugging .542 with a .381 on base average. Nearly all of Gordon's pop has come against RH pitching, however, (.607 slugging vs .389 against lefties) but he's still batting over .300 against lefties and getting on base at a .350 clip so is not exactly what you'd call a liability.

 

The club's experiment with Gordon at 2B seems to have been suspended for the time being as Nick's now logged over 200 innings at shortstop. (4 errors, 21 DPs)

 

 

[Teflon]

From Gunnarthor this morning:

 

Gordon promoted to AAA?

 

Red Wings via Twitter:

SS Nick Gordon - son of "Flash", brother to Dee - promoted to the Wings today after hitting .333 with 18 XBH (5 HR) in 42 G at Double-A @ChattLookouts!

[Squirrel]

Finally!!! Yay!!!

 

Was just coming here to scoop ya ... but you got it in before I could!

[Teflon]

Quick Nick Update: Since his promotion to AAA Rochester on Tuesday, Nick has carried over his hot hitting from AA, batting 3-for-8 with a pair of doubles. After entering his first Red Wings game as a defensive replacement, Gordon has started the last two (both wins) at shortstop, batting second in the lineup behind Zach Granite.

 

Picture from Cheryl Purcell via Twitter

 

  

[Teflon]

Toolshed: Prospects in need of strong finish

 

A season that started out with promise for Nick Gordon in 42 games at AA Chattanooga (.333/.381,525) has mired down considerably with the Red Wings as the 22-year old Gordon has been indisputably over-matched versus AAA pitching. (.214/.248.294 in 77 games)

 

A couple of rays of sunshine amidst the gloom  - Gordon has continued to pick up experience at 2B, having now made 29 starts this season with only one error in 243 defensive innings. He's also cut back on his excessive strikeout rate from last year which totaled 134 Ks in 519 AB but which has dropped to 89/461 this year. (Although his solid walk rate from last year has dropped significantly, too.)

 

It would be nice if Nick could finish strongly at Rochester and give the Twins some renewed optimism but at this point, it's looking like a return to Chattanooga to work on his hitting is a more likely scenario.