Gordon, who went 0-for-3 in Wednesday's 7-3 Cactus League loss to the Athletics, nevertheless made a positive impact when he cut down Mark Canha trying to advance to third base, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.
The converted infielder has already utilized his elite speed to make several nice running catches in the gaps this spring, but Wednesday marked his first truly challenging throw with a man trying to advance. The second-inning play came after Mariners starter Marco Gonzales had overthrown a pickoff attempt that Gordon had alertly backed up. He then put all of his 170 pounds into a picture-perfect laser to Gordon Beckham at third that nailed Canha and left the former Marlin sprawled at his center field spot momentarily. The throw, along with another in the sixth that had plenty of juice but not enough accuracy to get a tagging Franklin Barreto at third, were deemed sensational but not surprising by manager Scott Servais, who's been raving about his offseason acquisition's baseball IQ since camp opened. "Dee made a great throw, and that was awesome to see," Servais said. "He's got plenty [of arm strength] and very accurate. He almost got the other guy, too, if it had been down just a hair. He's an exciting player. Obviously the speed, but the arm, the bat, it's the whole package."