Prospect Retrospective: Nick Gordon

As you will see below, Nick Gordon has been frequently written about at Twins Daily over the years. He has been gracious with his time and I have had the pleasure of talking with and interviewing him several times. Gordon's rise to the big leagues was not meteoric, and in fact, the past few years it has felt almost glacial. But reports are out there, and I have been able to confirm, that Nick Gordon will be recalled to the Twins on Friday.

Below, I will place the timeline of Gordon's career, and insert several articles that I encourage you to click into and read.

First, it has also been reported that Alex Kirilloff is going to be called up on Friday with Miguel Sano going on the Injured List. Don't be surprised if there are a couple more transactions before Friday night's game too.

-------------------------------------------------

Darren Wolfson tweeted it first. Nick Gordon will be promoted to the big leagues.

In 2014, the Twins made Nick Gordon the fifth overall pick in the draft following a fantastic career at Olympia High School in Orlando, Florida. 

As you know, he is the son of Tom “Flash” Gordon and the half-brother of former All Star and batting champion Dee Strange-Gordon. However, he was drafted on his own merits.

READ: Nick Gordon: Beyond the Bloodlines

The Twins sent him straight to Elizabethton where he hit .294 in 57 games. In 2015, he moved up to Cedar Rapids where he hit .277 in 120 games. In 2016, he moved up to Ft. Myers where he hit .291 in 116 games. Following the season, he went to the Arizona Fall League where he hit .346 in 21 games.

READ: In His Own Words: Nick Gordon’s 2016 Season

READ: Juan Hillman, Nick Gordon Share Bond of Brotherhood

Through those first three years of pro ball, he hit five combined home runs. In 2017 in Double-A Chattanooga, he hit .270 with 29 doubles, eight triples and nine home runs in 122 games as a 21-year-old,

That summer, he had the opportunity to play in the Futures Game, and get a picture with Christina Milian.

READ: Nick Gordon on his First Half, Futures Game and More

In the offseason, he continued to workout with Hall of Famer Barry Larkin and other All Star caliber infielders such as Francisco Lindor and his brother Dee Strange-Gordon. He also dropped his first rap album under the name G Cinco. It was successful, and something he enjoyed.

Even then, he was quick to point out. “All in all, I’m a baseball player. For me, hopefully someday, I’ll be on ESPN rather than MTV.”

Also, in September of 2018, Gordon’s son Jaxon was born.

READ: After Rap Debut, Nick Gordon has Twins Debut in Sight.

On the 40-man roster, Gordon began the 2019 season on the injured list due to a stomach ailment. However, he spent the season as a 23-year-old and hit .298 with 29 doubles, three triples and four home runs in just 70 games. Unfortunately, his season ended early after being hit in the knee with a pitch.

Late that season, he said, “I actually couldn’t walk. It was a little tough to walk for a week. It was difficult, a lot of pain. It was very unusual, kind of a freak accident.”

It cost him the rest of the season.

READ: Catching Up with Nick Gordon

And then came 2020. Gordon returned to big-league spring training, but was sidelined with the same stomach ailment. Then came the COVID outbreak. When the Twins came together in St. Paul in July, Gordon was not able to. He had tested positive for COVID. Reports are that it really hit him hard. Fortunately, he has recovered and is working in St. Paul.

On Thursday, John Bonnes was at the field and reported this…

Soon after, Gordon received the news that he is headed from St. Paul to Minneapolis and will be at Target Field in a Twins uniform for the first time.

Hopefully his family will be there. Dee Strange-Gordon recently signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. Hopefully he’ll be allowed to leave the alternate site to be in Minneapolis.

Dee Strange-Gordon, then with the Marlins came to Ft. Myers for a spring training game and spent time on the Hammond Stadium back fields watching and supporting Nick during his first spring training.

Twins Daily Top Prospects 2015 - #6

Twins Daily Top Prospects 2016 - #4

Twins Daily Top Prospects 2017 - #4

Twins Daily Top Prospects 2018 - #3:

Twins Daily Top Prospects 2019 - #12