Interesting news coming from LA in the hours before Scott Van Slyke's walk-off two-run blast to beat the Diamondbacks 5-3 on Tuesday. Dee Gordon, who seemingly has become the forgotten man, may indeed to be on the Dodgers' radar after all.
Gordon took grounders at second and shagged fly balls in center during batting practice. The hope is that during the final three weeks of the regular season, Gordon might see some time here and there in those spots. That's assuming the Dodgers hold onto their 13-game division lead over the DBacks. So in other words, yes, it will happen.
With the renewed interest in Gordon, I have to wonder if management is giving serious thought of adding him to the postseason 25-man roster.
Perhaps watching Billy Hamilton run wild against them this past weekend in Cincinnati was inspiration that they, too, have a speedster to deploy in the late innings. In parts of playing the last three seasons in the majors, he's 63-82 in steals, so the track record is definitely there.
Think about it. His normal position is shortstop, but there's no way Hanley Ramirez is going to miss any time playing that in October. The other two positions he's working on - second and center - feature guys who can be yanked late in the game. Mark Ellis and Andre Ethier both play great defense, but can be lifted to let Gordon run if the situation dictates.
Who knows, maybe this isn't at all on their minds, and this is simply something to keep in mind for next season and beyond. But I think plenty of things add up in this case as I just pointed out. And if Gordon can hold his own defensively, even for short amounts of time, then I think it's worth trying. A stolen base by him could make all the difference.
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