| Ryan Bolta. 11th April, 2007 - 8:15 pm
 After tearing up Double-A last year, Kansas City Royals super rookie Alex Gordon is proving the transition to the big leagues is not an easy one. Gordon was a five-tool stud for the Wichita Wranglers batting .325 with 29 HR, 101 RBI and 22 SB. Those times are a long way off now, as the 23-year old has started the season very slow.
He enters Wednesday’s contest against the Toronto Blue Jays batting .077 with 10 strikeouts in his 26 AB. These are frightening numbers for a prospect pegged as the next big thing. Expectations from Royals management, fans, and fantasy owners alike may have been for Gordon to duplicate his 2006 numbers, but that would be unrealistic.
The learning curve for a player making the jump to the big leagues is longer then 26 at-bats. So all those worried the 3B prospect was brought up too soon, practice some patience. The stats last year point to the fact the pundits are in fact correct, and we are witnessing he next great baseball prodigy. Waiting a month for him to get accustomed to the big leagues is not a giant sacrifice.
In sending him to the minors now, you would risk shattering his confidence. We saw what he can do in the minor leagues, and it would stunt his development as a ball player to send him back to the minors. He doesn’t need to work out the kinks in his hitting strategy in Double-A; he needs to do it against major league pitching.
The patience has already paid off, as his 2-run HR off of Josh Towers last night made a big impact in the Royals 6-3 win over the Blue Jays. But even this shouldn’t effect whether or not Gordon should be sent back to the minors. The pressure of performing up to the standards set is enough to have Gordon’s mind racing every time he steps up to the plate, he doesn’t need to think only a home run, or game-winning RBI will keep him his job.
Nobody is calling for Albert Pujols to work out his early-season .167 AVG in the minors, nor are they getting worried of a possible Alfonso Soriano relegation as he’s gone 35 appearances at the plate without a HR or an RBI. All of those rooting for Alex Gordon, be it as Royals fans or fantasy owners, need to lay off the demotion talk, and watch as the young stud works his way through the slump in the majors, where he belongs.
The Royals are a team with very modest goals. Success isn’t defined in championship rings or play-off births, at least not yet anyways. A young team, with little expectation, seems to be putting unnecessary pressure on a subject that will not ultimately affect the outcome of their season. Whether Gordon’s learning curve takes three weeks or three months, realistically the team will fall short of the playoffs, most likely by a wide margin. So cheering for the kid to re-create his magic from the minors a year ago would be not only unrealistic, but also unnecessary. Root for Gordon to use this season strictly to learn on offense and in the field, and soon enough we will be discussing all-star bids, awards nominations and potentially world series rings and hall of fame inductions. Then it will seem bizarre we even needed to think of demotions to the minors. |
