Since returning to the Royals in late July, Alex Gordon has continue to not really hit. His triple slash line in his return is .225/.279/.382 in 112 PAs.
Post-return, Gordon has struck out in 18.75% of his PAs. Disturbingly, his walk rate isn't tremendous, at just 7.1%. Not terrible, but a bit troubling given the K-rate. Overall, on the year, in comparison to his career numbers, Gordon's K-rate is a little lower than his previous levels, but the walk rate has also dropped. I'm not sure it's a worthwhile payoff.
For the positives, in these 112 PAs, Gordon has shown a little power (4 HRs, 4 2Bs), which is moderately decent. That's about it.
What's killing Gordon now, in addition to the strikeouts, is the really low batting average number. Gordon is hitting just .244 on balls in play, which is probably not sustainable. There are some singles out there that he's missed out on due to bad luck. Nevertheless, Gordon has a fairly sizable track record of low BAs at the Major League level. An even lower BA, plus the lowest walk rate of his year, has equaled a disastrous .279 OBP for Alex. Maybe he's pressing. Maybe he's being screamed at to be aggressive to avoid strikeouts, maybe he's working on a new swing. Maybe the attention to learning a new position is wearing on him. Maybe it's just an ill-timed slump.
Instead of coming back and hitting at his previous levels, or even better, Gordon has been slightly worse. The early season numbers, which are also bad, are actually helping his season totals. Despair now?