Southern notes: Gordon gaining versatility
Nick Gordon got a family scouting report on Chattanooga and the Southern League before the Twins' No. 1 prospect began the season with the Double-A Lookouts.After all, Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon -- Nick's half-brother -- experienced both in 2010 while stealing a league-best 53 bases and being picked for
Nick Gordon got a family scouting report on Chattanooga and the Southern League before the Twins' No. 1 prospect began the season with the Double-A Lookouts.
After all, Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon -- Nick's half-brother -- experienced both in 2010 while stealing a league-best 53 bases and being picked for the All-Star Game while Chattanooga was a Dodgers affiliate.
"He said the league was really competitive, which you'd expect moving up, and that Chattanooga was a great town with a lot of good fans," the Lookouts middle infielder said. "He had a lot of fun playing here and so have I so far. It's been great."
The younger Gordon has certainly been an early fan favorite at AT&T Field. How could he not be with the way he has hit at his home ballpark?
Gordon, ranked No. 44 among MLB.com's Top 100 Prospects, delivered a walk-off hit in extra innings for the Lookouts in the second game of the season and had a .397 batting average in his first 15 home games with a .438 on-base percentage and .534 slugging mark.
The 21-year-old son of former Major League pitcher Tom Gordon hadn't come close to those numbers on the road, but he still had an impressive .322/.392/.433 line overall. The left-handed hitter had three doubles, two triples and a homer while driving in 12 runs from the top of the order and had almost as many walks (11) as strikeouts (19).
Nick Gordon doesn't have Dee's speed, but he's much further along as a hitter than when the older Gordon reached Chattanooga as a 22-year-old. Dee, though, was up with the Dodgers by the next season and won the National League batting title with a .333 average in 2015 after a trade to Miami.
There are pros and cons to being from an established baseball family. Nick, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2014 Draft, has handled it all without a glitch.
"Nick's his own person. He doesn't try to be anyone else," said Chattanooga manager Jake Mauer, who knows about having a familiar name thanks to brother Joe with the Twins. "His family gives him the leeway to be himself, and I think that's important. Nick is confident in his own ability and who he is."
Gordon played nearly exclusively at shortstop his first three seasons, including a year under Mauer at Cedar Rapids in the Midwest League in 2015. This season he started eight of his first 21 games in the field at second base because the Lookouts also feature 22-year-old defensive whiz Engelb Vielma, another shortstop by trade who is batting .325.
"It's fun," Gordon said of being paired with the Twins' No. 29 prospect and playing both sides of the middle infield. "I've learned from him, and I think he's learned from me as well. We push each other, and I think we've definitely developed some chemistry, no matter which side we're on. I don't think it's really been that hard for either of us to switch. We both have a lot of fun on the field."
"They've been really good and turned some big double plays," Mauer said. "I think it's beneficial for both of them to get the experience of playing a different position. It can only help later on."
Dee Gordon made it to the Majors at 23. Nick's timetable could be similar.
"Nick's always been confident and had a good feel for the game," Mauer said. "He still needs to get stronger, which he will, but I think he's just a little more comfortable with everything now. He's off to a really good start, and I just see him continuing on."
Dee was a Chattanooga fan favorite seven years ago. Nick already is this season thanks to his parade of hits at AT&T Field.
In brief
No small gain: Getting a big boost from their new nickname and logo, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are off to a record start in attendance as well as merchandise sales. The team drew a franchise-best 41,276 for their first series at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, including 10,477 on Opening Day, and followed that up with 28,904 for their second five-game set. For the first 10 home dates, the Jumbo Shrimp averaged 7,018 fans -- the most in the Southern League and all of Double-A. Birmingham was second in the SL with an average of 6,645. As the Suns, Jacksonville averaged 4,197 fans last year and ranked fourth behind Birmingham, Pensacola and Tennessee.
A win at last: Tennessee right-hander Duane Underwood Jr., the Chicago Cubs' No. 15 prospect, got credit for his first victory in more than 22 months when he allowed three hits over five scoreless innings at Chattanooga on April 24. The second-round pick in the 2012 Draft had made 25 starts since his last win on June 16, 2015 as he battled elbow and forearm issues. Underwood, 22, followed up the victory with a no-decision at Mississippi on April 29 and was 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA after four starts, striking out 17 and walking four over 20 innings.
Continued success: Jackson had the best regular-season record in the Southern League last year and topped things off by sweeping Mississippi in the Championship. The Generals are now an Arizona affiliate, rather than a Seattle farm team, but the winning hasn't stopped. Jackson had the league's best record at 15-9 through five series thanks mostly to an offense that was tops in batting average (.288), on-base percentage (.365) and slugging (.468). The Generals had 29 homers, and outfielder Victor Reyes led the SL with a .365 batting average.
All or nothing: Outfielder Adam Brett Walker, who led the Southern League with a Chattanooga-record 31 homers in 2015, found himself back in Double-A two years later despite 27 homers with Triple-A Rochester last year. Claimed off waivers from Minnesota by Atlanta, Walker struggled to make contact the first two weeks with Gwinnett, and that continued to be an issue with Mississippi. He had three homers through his first 10 games with the M-Braves, but was batting .143. Walker, 25, fanned 195 times two years ago and had 202 strikeouts last season.
Guy Curtright is a contributor to MiLB.com.
MiLB collaborates with Stand Up To Cancer
Minor League Baseball announced a new collaboration with Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C), an organization that funds the development of new and promising cancer treatments to help patients today. Founded in 2008, SU2C raises awareness and funds research to detect and treat cancers with the aspiration to cure all patients.
These are the best tools on the new Top 100 Prospects list
Players featured on last year’s edition of the best tools among Top 100 prospects should look familiar to even casual baseball fans at this point. Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes (best fastball, slider) took the Major Leagues by storm as the NL Rookie of the Year, thanks to his hard-throwing ways
Answering your Top 100 Prospects list questions
MLB Pipeline released its new Top 100 Prospects list on Friday, and it was met with a bevy of questions and comments about fans' favorite prospects. To help make sense of all the inquiries, Pipeline's Jonathan Mayo took to Reddit and responded to fan questions in a Top 100 Prospect-focused
Here are every organization's Top 100 prospects for 2025
MLB Pipeline’s 2025 Top 100 Prospects list went live on Friday night, led by the newest Dodger, right-hander Roki Sasaki, Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony and Twins outfielder Walker Jenkins. There’s a lot of offensive firepower throughout the list, beyond those two outfielders at the top, but while the bats
Check out MLB Pipeline's 2025 Top 100 Prospects list
He was one of the most sought-after talents this offseason, and he hadn’t even played stateside ball yet. Now, he can add another bullet point to his already lengthy baseball resume. Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki tops MLB Pipeline’s 2025 preseason ranking of the Top 100 prospects, followed by Red Sox
The Show Before the Show: Episode 488
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Get ready to cheer for ... the Bathtub Donkeys?
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to The Baseball Traveler newsletter here.
These are MLB’s No. 1 prospects at each position
MLB Pipeline's 2025 rankings of the Top 10 prospects at each position are official and the 2025 Top 100 Prospects list will be revealed at 7 p.m. ET on Friday on MLB Network and MLB.com.
Sasaki leads Top 10 RHP Prospects list. Who else made the cut?
Last year, the right-hander we had at the top of this always-deep Top 10 prospects list went on to win the National League Rookie of the Year, as Pirates flamethrower Paul Skenes went from No. 1 pick in the 2023 Draft to top rookie in the NL a year later.
Here are the Top 10 LHP prospects for 2025
MLB Pipeline will reveal its 2025 Top 100 Prospects list at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 24, with a one-hour show on MLB Network and MLB.com. Leading up to the release of the Top 100, we'll examine baseball's top 10 prospects at each position. MLB.com has produced top 10
Here are the Top 10 outfield prospects for 2025
MLB Pipeline will reveal its 2025 Top 100 Prospects list at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 24, with a one-hour show on MLB Network and MLB.com. Leading up to the release of the Top 100, we'll examine baseball's top 10 prospects at each position.
Here are the Top 10 shortstop prospects for 2025
MLB Pipeline will reveal its 2025 Top 100 Prospects list at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 24, with a one-hour show on MLB Network and MLB.com. Leading up to the release of the Top 100, we'll examine baseball's top 10 prospects at each position.
Here are the Top 10 third base prospects for 2025
MLB Pipeline will reveal its 2025 Top 100 Prospects list at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 24, with a one-hour show on MLB Network and MLB.com. Leading up to the release of the Top 100, we'll examine baseball's top 10 prospects at each position.
Did you know these famous people played Minor League Baseball?
This story was excerpted from The Baseball Traveler newsletter.
The Show Before the Show: Episode 487
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the Top 10 second base prospects for 2025
Once upon a time, second base was not often seen as a position that would provide a ton of offensive impact. Boy, have times changed.
Here are the Top 10 first base prospects for 2025
MLB Pipeline will reveal its 2025 Top 100 Prospects list at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 24, with a one-hour show on MLB Network and MLB.com. Leading up to the release of the Top 100, we'll examine baseball's top 10 prospects at each position.
Here are the Top 10 catching prospects for 2025
The Dodgers understand the importance of a top catcher. While superstars Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman grab plenty of headlines, Will Smith remains one of the pillars of Los Angeles’ success. Since he debuted in 2019, Smith ranks second among all Major League catchers with an 18.5 fWAR,
In honor of National Hat Day, here are 10 of MiLB's most popular caps of '24
We are celebrating the small yet mighty canvas that is the Minor League cap for National Hat Day. Clubs across the Minors utilize them as a fun way to represent their teams, regions and sometimes even their parent organizations. Not to mention they also look pretty sweet. Here's a close
Did you see the wildest Minor League games of 2024?
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
The Show Before the Show: Episode 486
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other