Minnesota’s Nick Gordon has been a great asset in reality for the Twins, as he has made appearances at second base, shortstop, left field, and center field. His multi-positional eligibility is a big value add for fantasy baseball managers, but beyond just being able to slot him in at multiple positions, is it time for Gordon to be a priority add in all fantasy baseball formats? Some of the surface level statistics look decent, and his batted ball metrics for the year have been surprisingly impressive. Gordon is a former first round pick, top five in fact, so the talent has always been there, but with added opportunity Nick Gordon is emerging from his newfound fantasy baseball sleeper status to viable fantasy commodity. If Gordon is available in your fantasy baseball league, go add him off the waiver wire. In this week’s player spotlight at the second base position, we take a deeper dive into Gordon’s 2022 season as a whole, as well as his impressive August and make a case for why he should rise up the board in rest of season fantasy baseball player rankings.

 

 

First and foremost, let’s just take a look at the base level stats for Gordon (89 G): .279/.327/.429, 5 HR, 20 RBI, 30 R, 5 SB (3 CS)

Per 162 games or 650 PA, Gordon’s production would lend itself to the following: 9 HR, 37 RBI, 55 R, 9 SB

Gordon wasn’t bad to begin the season by any means, but things have picked up since the calendar flipped to July. Since July 1, Gordon is hitting .325 with two home runs, nine RBI, 12 runs scored, and two stolen bases. Since the aforementioned date, Gordon is in rather exclusive company. Here are the players since July 1 that are hitting at least .315 with at least two home runs and two stolen bases: 

Name

PA

HR

SB

AVG

wRC+

Aaron Judge

146

15

6

0.345

248

Starling Marte

126

5

6

0.322

153

Jose Altuve

143

4

5

0.325

161

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

148

5

4

0.338

152

J.T. Realmuto

100

8

3

0.348

201

Francisco Lindor

155

8

3

0.324

172

Sam Haggerty

76

3

3

0.338

165

Nolan Arenado

115

8

2

0.364

216

Freddie Freeman

149

6

2

0.367

184

DJ LeMahieu

156

5

2

0.331

172

Nick Gordon

87

2

2

0.325

154

Courtesy of FanGraphs

Gordon has been impressive over the last month and some change. Don’t discount that just because he only has a couple of home runs and stolen bases. There is reasonable belief that this production is sustainable to an extent, but what intrigues me is the increased power potential.

  • 86th percentile average exit velocity
  • 72nd percentile max exit velocity
  • 92nd percentile hard hit rate
  • 81st percentile barrel rate
  • 6.6 xHR

The batted ball metrics are impressive for Gordon, and sure, he swings-and-misses a bit more than one would like, and he’s prone to leave the strike zone, but if he clears that up, he makes a ton of loud contact. He’s hit for a better average on the road this season, but four of his five home runs have come at home, and when looking at Baseball Savant’s Park Factors, Target Field is tied for the sixth-highest park factor for left-handed hitters on a 3-year rolling average. The majority of his power is to his pull side, like most tend to have, so he’s in a good lineup and park to help play up his numbers.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect him to be Aaron Judge or Pete Alonso the rest of the way in the power department, but one can reasonably believe that he improves upon his AB/HR from the first half of the season. I also don’t expect him to drastically cut into his strikeout rate, but if he can stay in the zone more, especially against non-fastballs, he’ll get more pitches in the zone, and his propensity to make hard contact will only become more prevalent.

I mentioned Gordon’s flexibility earlier in this article, and it’s time to bring it up again. Trevor Larnach is still on the injured list, and the team just lost Alex Kirilloff for the rest of the season. Miguel Sanó was also placed on the 60-day IL, effectively ending his season, and star outfielder Byron Buxton has been limited to DH duties since the end of July due to a bum knee. With all of the available openings in the Minnesota lineup, Gordon’s path to regular playing time down the stretch is pretty wide open. Furthermore, if he continues to produce, Rocco Baldelli will have no choice but to write his name in Sharpie, not pencil, on the lineup card. Gordon has started every game for the Twins in August, making four starts in center field, three in left field, and one at shortstop.

The playing time will be there for Gordon moving forward, and while his batting average may be his biggest asset to your fantasy baseball team, along with the multi-positional eligibility, don’t discount his power and speed production down the stretch. He makes a ton of hard contact and if he can do so while lifting the ball, he could enjoy a nice uptick in power down the stretch. Minnesota will continue to let him run every now and again, and I wouldn’t rule out him getting to 10+ and 8+ stolen bases by season's end. Gordon may not be the ceremonial “league winning” addition, but he is a sneaky good addition that has a legitimate chance to help your team in multiple categories.

 

Statistical Credits:

Fangraphs.com

Baseballsavant.mlb.com

Baseball-reference.com