Dee Gordon did indeed make changes in 2014, including recent adjustments

I recently wrote about Dee Gordon and the changes his stance/swing have undergone in 2014, and that article included some worry that he was reverting back to his old form.

My article apparently managed to goad Pedro Moura of the Orange County Register to ask Dee about his mechanics, and Dee confirmed changes did occur.

Dodgers coaches had proved to him his previous stance was not working, at least not in the majors. And so, to put it simply, he opened up his legs and moved his hands lower on the bat, allowing him better access to pitches on the inner half of the plate.

But Gordon appeared to have fallen back into some bad habits with his stance in recent weeks. He said video study this week showed him his hands had creeped back higher, and he promptly focused on lowering them in batting practice.

“I tried to get it back right,” Gordon said Thursday. “Every now and then, you gotta check it, because sometimes your body gets out of whack.”

So Dee didn’t go into all the details, which is understandable, but the important thing is that adjustments are being made, and if he can execute, then it probably bodes well for him moving forward. That said, the last time I looked at him in the batter’s box, he didn’t look all too different, so perhaps it’s still a work in progress.

While I don’t do analysis of swings/motions as often as people request, this does mark the fifth time (that I can remember) that a hitting/pitching coach for the Dodgers has acknowledged changes happening after I identified a problem or difference, like with Chad Billingsley, Matt Kemp (not the recent one, years ago), Carl Crawford, and Brandon League in the past. And they’ve certainly made countless other adjustments that I’ve missed over the years.

So this does serve as a nice reminder that the coaching staff are not “idiots” (except when it comes to playing the odds :o), despite what seems like inaction on their part (so no need to rage asking me why they don’t do something). Sometimes the players can’t execute their changes, sometimes it takes time to adjust properly, and sometimes (like with Matt Kemp earlier) it takes time for the player to buy in.

In any case, at least for Dee Gordon, he seems to be taking steps in the right direction.