Alex Gordon led off every road game for the Royals last year, and in those 81 at bats, he hit 315/383/548, including four home runs, which is awesome.
Ned Yost moved Gordon into the three hole for a few stretches, and around a couple of other spots in the line up to prove he was managing, but going into this season, he has been vocal about putting Gordon in the lead-off spot and keeping him there.
This is a good thing. After Billy Butler, nobody on the Royals gets on base anywhere close to as often as Gordon does. (Irving Falu did manage to get himself on base at a better clip than Gordon in limited playing time, but the presence of a guy who won an MVP award just eleven years ago pretty much guarantees he will spend most of this season in the minors)
Getting on base is great, because, well… that’s the point of each at-bat. Enough guys get on base, and somebody is going to score. Enough guys score, and you’ve got yourself some wins. It’s such a simple concept, that it’s amazing more baseball teams don’t try it.
Alex was an enigma for some time in Kansas City. Unable to live up to enormous hype when he got to the big leagues, and then battling some injuries before it all came together in 2011. More than any other player on the team, he feels like “Mr. Royal” to me right now. I love watching him play and think he’s going to put together at least one great season and a couple of very good ones as he rides out his peak years in left field.
Here’s looking forward to a few bombs to start off some games, and a lot of time getting chased around the base paths by Billy, Moose and Hos.
