Phoenix—Dee Gordon has turned his baseball game up a notch and is more than ready to take over the full-time job at second base. The Dodgers signed Alex Guerrero to a four-year, $28 million dollar contract with high hopes, but the Cuban native hasn’t been able to adapt to the big leagues, which has opened doors for Gordon to compete
for the position.
Gordon is one of those players that actually have the skills and ability to be an everyday starter. He’s been given plenty of opportunities by the Dodgers to prove himself, but the lack of consistency continued to wound his chances. He’s now hoping to bury his past and focus on the future.
“I’m doing things very different now,” Gordon said. I pay attention to every detail and stay more focus.”
Can Gordon relive his 2011 rookie year? He had a superb year as a rookie, hitting .330 and winning rookie of the month in September.
The speedster wants to become a player an organization can depend on daily, so he worked with former Reds star Barry Larkin this off-season. His newly refreshed at-bats are not the only thing that has been noticeable; Gordon showed up on the first day of spring training 25 pounds heavier. Last season he weighed in at only at 150 lbs.
Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly is impressed with Gordon’s performance.
“He’s been really good. I think he’s looked comfortable at second base, Mattingly said. Defensively he looks more comfortable at second than we felt he was at short. Dee just continues to keep growing from the last two seasons. I think he’s playing with more confidence.”
If the versatile player continues to show improvements in Arizona, he could very much find himself in the starting lineup on opening day. And Guerrero will be demoted to the minors before the season starts.
Mattingly remains mum on the battle of second base and don’t plan to make an announcement until next week. The clock is ticking. It’ll be very interesting to see who wins the race.
Tamara is a graduate of Cal State Los Angeles where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism. Tamara is passionate about covering sports. She has covered the NBA and Major League Baseball routinely for the past several years. A Southern California native, Tamara developed her skills as a sports journalist while working for various Los Angeles-based news publications.