KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Desperate times call for desperate measures, and while there may not be much logic, Royals left fielder Alex Gordon is back in his familiar spot at leadoff.
"The truth is we have to keep trying things to get us going," Royals skipper Ned Yost said.
And the truth is, the Royals, for whatever reason, were better as a team with Gordon leading off.
The Royals were 17-13 with Gordon leading off, but 4-14 when Yost made the batting order switch of moving Gordon to the No. 3 hole.
Gordon gave the move back to leadoff a huge thumbs up.
"It's nothing I haven't done before," Gordon told FOXSportsKansasCity.com. "I think it's a great job by Ned to try and shake things up and get us going. Maybe it will spark the lineup.
"When you're struggling like we are, maybe you make that change and it will spark a couple of guys in the lineup. Hopefully it will help the team.
"I really like the change. Let's hope it gets us rolling."
Gordon has no idea why his switch to the No. 3 hole proved so deadly to the Royals' fortunes.
"I can't explain it," he said. "I have no idea. It's got to just be a combination of everyone not hitting quite as well as they were earlier."
Gordon actually hit better in the 3 spot (.391 average, .449 on-base, one homer, eight RBIs) than he did at leadoff (.311 average, .336 on-base, five homers, 23 RBIs.)
But Gordon has always worked hard at becoming an effective leadoff hitter.
"It's not pride," he said. "It's just trying to do your job. As a player and a teammate I just try to do whatever it takes to help the team win, no matter where in the order I hit. It's not about trying to prove you can do this or that.
"If you hit leadoff, you have a job to do."
And now it's Gordon's once again.
