Gordon was drafted as a shortstop by the Dodgers in 2008. He converted to second base in 2013.
Dee Gordon isn’t a super-utility player, and he doesn’t want to be considered as one.
“Yeah, let’s not go there,” he said.
But it’s starting to seem that way this season. With Mariners starting shortstop Jean Segura placed on the paternity list on Friday afternoon to be with his wife, who was expected to give birth later that evening, manager Scott Servais penciled Gordon into the starting lineup at shortstop.
“We decided to slide Dee Gordon over there tonight,” manager Scott Servais said. “He’s excited to go back there. And we’ll see how it works.”
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When asked by Servais, Gordon’s response: “Cool.”
In a season where he was asked to convert to centerfield, and then return to second base with the suspension of Robinson Cano and now play both positions with Cano back, Gordon will now go back to his original position. He was taken as a shortstop by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2008 draft. He was later converted to second base in 2013. He’s started 149 games at the MLB level at shortstop, including two last season for the Marlins. In the minors, he started 464 games at shortstop.
“I just go out there and play,” Gordon said. “And Seggy needs to hurry up come back.”
Gordon took groundballs at shortstop before the game and looked normal.
“Don’t try over-analyze or over-coach him, just slide over to shortstop and catch a few groundballs,” Servais said. “We’ll put him in the right spot based on who is hitting and who is pitching. This guy is a tremendous athlete. That’s one thing that doesn’t go away is his athleticism. We are going to take advantage of it.”
The last time Gordon played shortstop at Safeco Field was back in 2012 (June 8-10) with the Dodgers. He was the starting shortstop for the three-game series in which the Dodgers won two of three.
But it’s not the two wins that he remembers.
“Yeah, y’all got a fake no-hitter,” he said. “I seen an Instagram post about it today and I almost said something, but I was like, ‘Don’t say nothing, don’t say nothing.'”
That no-hitter that Gordon was referring to was on June 8, 2012. It the was the combined no-hitter in which starter Kevin Millwood and five relievers — Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen teamed up to hold the Dodgers hitless. Millwood pitched the first six innings, but was forced out of the game with groin tightness.
Gordon believes he broke up the no-hitter in the top of the ninth on a soft groundball to the left side that shortstop Brendan Ryan fielded and fired on the run to a stretching Justin Smoak. First base ump Ted Barrett gave an emphatic out call. Gordon was incensed at Barrett and had plenty of words. Manager Don Mattingly also came out to protest. But there was no instant replay back then.
“I was safe!” Gordon said. “Safe. First of all, the game started off bad. I remember the home plate umpire Brian Runge, first pitch from Millwood that literally went behind me and he called it a strike. I was like, ‘this is going to be a long day.’ That’s the only time I’ve been no-hit. It doesn’t count.”