BaseBallstotheWall

Arguably one of the more controversial prospects in baseball today, Dodgers shortstop Devaris Strange-Gordon (yes, related to Tom Gordon) has seen his stock range anywhere from top 40 to outside the top 125 altogether. Let’s first take a look at his 2009 statistical profile:

2009 Performance (Lo-A):
601 PA .301/.358/.394 43 BB 90 K 73 SB 7.2% BB 15% K .357 BABIP 12% LD .093 IsoP

What’s odd about this statistical profile is that the ranking camps are looking at these things two different ways. To start, Strange-Gordon is extremely raw, having played little organized baseball as well as being the physical equivalent of an early teenager in terms of body type. Those folks considering his rawness suggest that his .301 average, 7% walk rate, 15% strikeout rate and 73 stolen bases represent a player that hasn’t tapped into his potential. Those arguing that rawness is an excuse for a lack of physical projection will suggest that for a player with speed as his main asset, his stolen base rate was not great, he’s not making enough contact for someone that lives with speed, and it’s very unlikely that he’ll fill out enough to hit even 10-15 homers. There are also rumblings about him that he may eventually move off of shortstop.

For the record, I’m firmly in the first camp, and am largely impressed with Strange-Gordon’s 2009 campaign. I’m not one to terribly dwell on bloodlines like some publications tend to, but a player who can put up a luck-neutral .300 average with a respectable on-base average is someone that’s going to garner my attention. I’m not at all concerned about his age (21) considering his rawness, and I’m not really worried if he doesn’t fill out. I think we can expect his understanding of the strike-zone to improve with time, which should lead to even more walks and less strikeouts. One would also expect his understanding of stealing bases to improve as he, well, steals more bases. Power’s the last thing to come in most players, but frankly, I don’t see it happening with Gordon. His frame is not conducive to weight gain. I just don’t personally think he has to have it to be quite an asset.

For a couple video links, check here. That is some ridiculous speed. For some video of his swing, check here. He looks a lot like Orlando Hudson in his swinging video, and I think that might be a pretty good comparison. They have similar body types and they both seem to have short and compact swings. He’s lunging a bit in the video that I’ve provided but the swing is level and compact, and for someone as raw as he is, shows considerable upside.