Royals Move Alex Gordon Into Heart Of Batting Order

It's called the heart of the order for a reason. The phrase refers to the spot in the line-up that includes the three through five hitters that typically do the most damage, providing the heart or the life of the offense. For the Kansas City Royals, the No. 3 spot has been difficult to fill.

"We've been struggling a little bit in the three slot, trying to get that to settle down a little bit, and we haven't been able to," Royals manager Ned Yost said.

So a move was made to respond to it by placing left fielder Alex Gordon in the role with the hopes of jump starting the spot. It's an experiment that's likely to last through season's end.

"We felt the time was right to go ahead and put Alex in that spot and ride it out for the remainder of the year," Yost said. "You look at our lineup and project our lineup out in the future, I mean it's very foreseeable that Alex is going to be a run producer, be a 3-4-5 type hitter in our lineup."

Gordon is hitting .291 with 9 home runs and 46 RBI so far on the season. He also leagues the league with 38 doubles.

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