Yesterday, ESPNLA’s Mark Saxon ran a great piece on Dee Gordon’s difficult road to success as the Dodgers (almost) everyday second baseman. In Saxon’s article he details what the 26-year-old Windermere, FL native went through this past off-season and of his total commitment to the Dodgers in what was most likely his last shot at making it to the big leagues as a Dodger.

As you might expect, because Gordon is currently leading the Dodgers with his .353 batting average and .385 OBP, and leads the MLB with his 13 stolen bases and is tied for first in triples with two, he is frequently the center of attention for the media – a position that he is not particularly comfortable in but politely indulges them in.

Rockies pitcher Jorge De La Rosa never had a chance to get Gordon on his perfectly executed leadoff bunt on Sunday afternoon. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But in spite of Gordon’s tremendous success through the first 26 games of the season, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly continues to platoon Gordon with utility infielder Justin Turner based entirely on pitching match-ups; that is, when there is a left-handed starting pitcher on the mound for the opposing team, Gordon sits and Turner plays, regardless of the fact that Gordon is 3 for 17 against lefties compared to Turner’s 2 for 25 – at the cost of incomparable speed and much better defense.

Four pitches later, Gordon slid safely into third base with his MLB-leading 13th stolen base of the season. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

So why does Mattingly sit Gordon against lefties? This is what the Dodgers manager said over a week ago on April 18.

“If [Dee] continues to do what he’s doing then he’s going to keep getting chances against a lefty too.”

Okay, so Mattingly has now set a tangible standard for Gordon that is very clear and easy to understand and track.

Over the next seven days Gordon appeared in six games (starting four of them), went 6 for 19 (.316), stole three bases, struck out three times, did not draw a walk and committed no errors. Over those same seven days Turner appeared in four games (starting in three of them), went 2 for 15 (.133), stole one base (his first of the season), struck out once, walked once and committed no errors.

It seems rather obvious who had the better week and even more obvious that Gordon did exactly what Mattingly had asked of him – he continued “…to do what he’s doing.” Yet Mattingly still started Turner at second base when the opposing team started a left-hander.

So what did Mattingly have to say this past Friday (April 25) when he was again asked why Dee still sits against lefties in spite of meeting his (Mattingly’s) criteria?

“We’ll just keep making decisions as we go,” said Mattingly. “There’s certain guys that it seemed like [Gordon has] been better with and there’s certain guys that are tough on [all] left-handers – we’ll be able to figure out the guys. Dee’s been doing well and we’ll see where it goes because as we start playing 29 [games] out of 30 [days] and you start mixing… using [Justin Turner] in a little bit different way, that will keep Dee in the line-up more against lefties.”

There you have it – clear as mud.

But what about Gordon? Does he feel comfortable playing everyday, even against lefties?

“Ya, I want to, man, I want to help us win everyday,” Gordon said with his trademark smile across his face. “I want to do whatever it takes to help us win, that’s it, just help us win and do what I can do to help the guys, manufacture runs. You’re only going to get better if you get reps, you know. I get more reps off of [lefties] and hopefully we’ll see what happens.”

Asked if he is going to muster up the nerve to knock on Mattingly’s door and ask to play everyday, Gordon laughed.

“No… no, that ain’t gonna never happen.”

How can you not love this guy?

What it all boils down to is that at some point, and hopefully soon, Mattingly is going to have to take the route of his predecessor Joe Torre by playing the hot hand and putting out his best eight position players every day.

While championships are not won in April, they most certainly can be lost in April.