Prospect Retrospective: Nick Gordon

[Seth Stohs]

It’s been a long and sometimes grueling road for Nick Gordon since he was the Twins first-round pick in 2014 out of high school, but finally on Friday, that road will lead him from CHS Field to Target Field for his first promotion to the big leagues.

As you will see below, Nick Gordon has been frequently written about at Twins Daily over the years. He has been gracious with his time and I have had the pleasure of talking with and interviewing him several times. Gordon's rise to the big leagues was not meteoric, and in fact, the past few years it has felt almost glacial. But reports are out there, and I have been able to confirm, that Nick Gordon will be recalled to the Twins on Friday.

Below, I will place the timeline of Gordon's career, and insert several articles that I encourage you to click into and read.

First, it has also been reported that Alex Kirilloff is going to be called up on Friday with Miguel Sano going on the Injured List. Don't be surprised if there are a couple more transactions before Friday night's game too.

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Darren Wolfson tweeted it first. Nick Gordon will be promoted to the big leagues.

In 2014, the Twins made Nick Gordon the fifth overall pick in the draft following a fantastic career at Olympia High School in Orlando, Florida. 

As you know, he is the son of Tom “Flash” Gordon and the half-brother of former All Star and batting champion Dee Strange-Gordon. However, he was drafted on his own merits.

READ: Nick Gordon: Beyond the Bloodlines

The Twins sent him straight to Elizabethton where he hit .294 in 57 games. In 2015, he moved up to Cedar Rapids where he hit .277 in 120 games. In 2016, he moved up to Ft. Myers where he hit .291 in 116 games. Following the season, he went to the Arizona Fall League where he hit .346 in 21 games.

READ: In His Own Words: Nick Gordon’s 2016 Season

READ: Juan Hillman, Nick Gordon Share Bond of Brotherhood

Through those first three years of pro ball, he hit five combined home runs. In 2017 in Double-A Chattanooga, he hit .270 with 29 doubles, eight triples and nine home runs in 122 games as a 21-year-old,

That summer, he had the opportunity to play in the Futures Game, and get a picture with Christina Milian.

READ: Nick Gordon on his First Half, Futures Game and More

In the offseason, he continued to workout with Hall of Famer Barry Larkin and other All Star caliber infielders such as Francisco Lindor and his brother Dee Strange-Gordon. He also dropped his first rap album under the name G Cinco. It was successful, and something he enjoyed.

Even then, he was quick to point out. “All in all, I’m a baseball player. For me, hopefully someday, I’ll be on ESPN rather than MTV.”

Also, in September of 2018, Gordon’s son Jaxon was born.

READ: After Rap Debut, Nick Gordon has Twins Debut in Sight.

On the 40-man roster, Gordon began the 2019 season on the injured list due to a stomach ailment. However, he spent the season as a 23-year-old and hit .298 with 29 doubles, three triples and four home runs in just 70 games. Unfortunately, his season ended early after being hit in the knee with a pitch.

  

Late that season, he said, “I actually couldn’t walk. It was a little tough to walk for a week. It was difficult, a lot of pain. It was very unusual, kind of a freak accident.”

It cost him the rest of the season.

READ: Catching Up with Nick Gordon

And then came 2020. Gordon returned to big-league spring training, but was sidelined with the same stomach ailment. Then came the COVID outbreak. When the Twins came together in St. Paul in July, Gordon was not able to. He had tested positive for COVID. Reports are that it really hit him hard. Fortunately, he has recovered and is working in St. Paul.

On Thursday, John Bonnes was at the field and reported this…

Soon after, Gordon received the news that he is headed from St. Paul to Minneapolis and will be at Target Field in a Twins uniform for the first time.

Hopefully his family will be there. Dee Strange-Gordon recently signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. Hopefully he’ll be allowed to leave the alternate site to be in Minneapolis.

Dee Strange-Gordon, then with the Marlins came to Ft. Myers for a spring training game and spent time on the Hammond Stadium back fields watching and supporting Nick during his first spring training.

Twins Daily Top Prospects 2015 - #6

Twins Daily Top Prospects 2016 - #4

Twins Daily Top Prospects 2017 - #4

Twins Daily Top Prospects 2018 - #3:

Twins Daily Top Prospects 2019 - #12

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[jimbo92107]

Wow, what a long, strange road it has been for Nick Gordon. He just seemed to disappear off the prospect radar after that blow to the knee. One thing after another kept going wrong. I didn't know he kept his average in the upper .200's for such a long time.

 

Maybe finally Nick Gordon's bad luck is behind him. May the future grant him a bunch of healthy years. By this time he should be a pretty darn slick infielder.

[wsnydes]

Good for him! Hopefully he's able to take that frustration from the past two seasons and channel it into some good things with the big league squad!

[mikelink45]

It is time for the prospects to turn into productive players.  I look forward to Gordon, Kiriloff and more. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Best of luck to Nick and Alex. We Twins fans have been waiting a long time for this, but I bet it seems like an eternity to Alex and Nick.

[jmlease1]

Nick Gordon has been snakebit. I'm really happy for him that's finally getting a chance, and I think he's a quality player when healthy.  There's no doubt in my mind that he can hit well enough to be a viable MLB player. He just needs to stay healthy. The floor on him is a quality utility guy with the potential to be a quality starter.

 

If he doesn't get hurt, I'm convinced we would have seen him in 2019; he was playing as well as Arraez at the time and Arraez seized the opportunity when Gordon went down. But I think Gordon would have been the pick if he'd been healthy. Good break for Arraez, tough beat for Gordon.

 

Looking forward to seeing what he can do.

[Trov]

Nick has always seemed to have a long learning curve for each level but eventually made it through.  He most likely will not be an all-star, at least not multiple, but he still is of age that some college guys make it up and maybe he can give a few good years of decent ball.  

[Heiny]

I am a huge Kirilloff fan and have no doubt he will be a star in the Bigs.  But as for Nick Gordon,  I am excited for him to get his opportunity and I hope he gets a real chance to show what he can do.  I still believe in his big league talent.  Between Gordon and Lewis I am hoping our shortstop position is filled for 2021 and beyond. Nothing against Simmons, I love his play, but he was supposed to be the 2020 stopgap.  I want the prospects to succeed so the Twins can spend their money on some "Real Pitching".  Is there anybody that can pitch the 5th inning and later?

 

[rdehring]

Interesting moves, Seth. Especially Gordon.

 

I saw your link to John's report. Have you heard more about how he has been doing in St. Paul the past several weeks?

 

What are your thoughts on how he will be used by the Twins? Will he be at short with Polanco at second, Arraez in left and Kirilloff at first? 

 

Could this be the beginning of a retooling or mini rebuild by the Twins?

[Cap'n Piranha]

I hope Nick has a great career, and makes us forget about the fact we could have drafted Trea Turner in his place.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Interesting moves, Seth. Especially Gordon.

 

I saw your link to John's report. Have you heard more about how he has been doing in St. Paul the past several weeks?

 

What are your thoughts on how he will be used by the Twins? Will he be at short with Polanco at second, Arraez in left and Kirilloff at first? 

 

Could this be the beginning of a retooling or mini rebuild by the Twins?

 

Things will change quickly as players return from the COVID-IL.

 

Simmons should be back soon, I would think. Until then, I'd think you'd go with Gordon/Polanco at 2B/SS with Arraez in LF. 

 

When Simmons or Riddle come back, I would think Lin and Riddle would go down. I think Gordon becomes a utility guy until the AAA season starts. I think he should continue playing as much as possible to get ABs that he's missed the last couple of years. 

[nicksaviking]

Low expectations might be what Gordon needs.

 

If the team continues to struggle hopefully they give us the silver lining of giving us a look at any and every logical guy with a prospect pulse.

[Danchat]

I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but I'd like to bring up why Gordon isn't highly thought of. Fangraphs on why they have him ranked as the Twins' 37th best prospect:

 

 

Gordon has a lot to overcome - he's mostly a singles hitter who has struggled as a fielder at SS and 2B. I wish him the best and I hope he can overcome all these obstacles that have been in his way - even if he just pans out to be a bench player. 

[In My La Z boy]

I am excited to see the Twins giving him this shot. He's always had the skills and the instincts - has the family tree, and now finally gets his shot at the bigs. I look for surprising upside here. He's been waiting for this a long time. I hope they give him 2b until Simmons comes back. I bet he makes the most of it and sticks as a bench guy for the rest of the year. That's a feel good story he needs, and we need.

[denarded]

Has a lineup been posted yet?

[Shaitan]

Here's hoping it's all part of a slow development for Gordon.

 

My memory is often wrong on these things, but I feel like everybody had given on up Span by the time of his call-up too, and he had a productive career.

[Vanimal46]

Has a lineup been posted yet?

https://twitter.com/dohyoungpark/status/1385682225228750848?s=21

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Sorry for being slowto comment here, but of course i'm pulling for Nick too!

 

Alas, i hope i'm not bad luck, as the last minor league game i made it to was the one against Pawtucket where he got injured. So yeah,i figure i owe him some good luck this time.