Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
A while back, many were talking about how Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon could be the next big thing in Major League Baseball. After a couple of years where hitting coaches in Kansas City struggled to get him to that top tier level swinging the bat, others began to have their doubts.
Well, fast forward to 2013, and it looks like Gordon’s breakout talent is coming to fruition.
25 games into this season, Gordon is one of the Royals’ hot bats, batting .321 with three home runs, 18 RBI and 19 runs. His strong start has a lot to due with the Royals being in first place in the AL Central… No, seriously. Gordon is doing most of his damage by keeping the ball in the park, but his impressive BABIP of .400 indicates he is placing the ball where the defense can’t get it in time to prevent runners from scoring, which explains the 18 runs batted in, despite only three homers. Singles and doubles can be just as productive as the sexy long ball. Still, despite many doubting Gordon being a source of power, I’d hold the breaks for a minute. He still does have three homers, including an absolute moonshot of a grand slam not too long ago. While he did launch 23 homers back in 2011, he is more of a 15-18 homer guy, with upside to eclipse 20.
However, at 29-years old, Gordon has the opportunity to get even better.
Let’s take a look at his plate discipline thus far. Gordon’s strikeout-to-walk ratio doesn’t back up his strong start, currently sitting at 26/5. The reasoning behind that is he is 32.3 percent of pitches that land outside of the strike zone, the highest percentage of his career thus far. We have seen guys like Josh Hamilton, who seemingly swings at every pitch he sees, struggle because of this same issue. If Gordon doesn’t start being more patient and disciplined at the plate, opposing pitchers will just refuse to throw the ball down the plate, knowing he will swing at them anyway. Assuming Gordon improves in this area, he’ll see more favorable pitches and will likely improve his statistics even more, ultimately raising his fantasy value.
Gordon is currently the number 16 fantasy outfielder in Yahoo! points leagues. I think his ceiling is around the top 15 among outfielders, not due to lack of talent, but simply because there is a plethora of incredible outfielders in this league. If Gordon continues to adjust and improve at the plate, he will certainly be considered one of them in no time.
Adam Pfeifer is a featured fantasy sports columnist for Rant Sports.
You can follow him on Twitter @aPfeiferRS.
