Nicholas Chad Gordon (born October 24, 1995) is an American professional baseball

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and outfielder for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected by the Twins in the first round of the

2014 Major League Baseball draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

High school career

Gordon attended Olympia High School in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. As a junior in 2013, he was the Florida Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year. He hit .505 with two

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 30 runs batted in as a batter and as a pitcher he was 5–1 with a 0.78 earned run average (ERA), 44 strikeouts and five saves in innings pitched. As a senior, he batted .512 with 6 home runs and 28 RBIs in 28 games, leading his team to the Class 8A regional semifinals. He signed a letter of intent to play baseball at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

Professional career

Gordon was considered one of the top prospects for the

. He was selected as the fifth overall pick in the first round by the

. He signed with the Twins on June 9, receiving a $3.851 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He was assigned to the

Elizabethton Twins The Elizabethton Twins were a Minor League Baseball team of the Appalachian League and a Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They were located in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and were named for their major league affiliate. The team playe ...

where he batted .294 with one home run and 28 RBIs. He spent 2015 with the Cedar Rapids Kernels where he posted a .277 batting average with one home run, 58 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases. In 2016, he played for the Fort Myers Miracle, where, in 116 games, he batted .291 with three home runs and 52 RBIs. Gordon spent 2017 with the Chattanooga Lookouts where he batted .270 with a career high nine home runs and 66 RBIs. Gordon began the 2018 season with Chattanooga, hitting .333 over 42 games, before being promoted to the AAA

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Field ...

, where he hit .212 with two home runs and 29 RBI in 99 games. The Twins added Gordon to their 40-man roster after the 2018 season. He was assigned to Rochester at the end of spring training. For the 2019 season he was limited to 70 games due to injury but played well, carrying a slash line of .298/.342/.459 in 319 plate appearances. Prior to the start of the 2020 season, Gordon tested positive for COVID-19. On April 23, 2021, Gordon was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. On April 26, Gordon was optioned to the alternate training site without making a major league appearance. On May 3, Gordon was recalled to the active roster. He made his MLB debut on May 6 as the starting second baseman against the Texas Rangers. In the game, he registered his first stolen base and his first major league hit, a single off of Rangers starter Jordan Lyles. On June 4, Gordon hit his first major league home run, a solo shot off of

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

reliever Wade Davis. On August 5, Gordon was optioned down to AAA

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

to make room for

Rob Refsnyder Robert Daniel Refsnyder (born Kim Jung-tae; ko, 김정태, March 26, 1991) is a Korean American professional baseball second baseman and right fielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for t ...

, who had been taken off the 10-day

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

Personal life

His father, Tom Gordon, played in the major leagues from 1988 to 2009. His paternal half-brother, Dee Strange-Gordon, is also a major league player.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Nick 1995 births Living people Baseball players from Orlando, Florida Major League Baseball infielders Minnesota Twins players Elizabethton Twins players Cedar Rapids Kernels players Fort Myers Miracle players Surprise Saguaros players Chattanooga Lookouts players Rochester Red Wings players