Dee Gordon decides he wants nothing to do with this pitch from Michael Pineda
Gordon wants nothing to do with Pineda's pitch
Michael Pineda was four pitches into his start against the Marlins on Wednesday, when he threw a slider for his fifth. Dee Gordon, leading off for the Marlins, saw the pitch coming and simply said, "NOPE."
Vote Gordon: Esurance MLB All-Star ballot
Even with two strikes, Gordon didn't even pretend like he was going to swing. He dropped the bat from his shoulder and brought it down to his hip, like a Samurai letting down his guard. Unfortunately for Gordon, Pineda's pitch was a strike, and Gordon was retired for the first out of the inning.
Sometimes, a pitch is just so good that there's nothing to do but surrender yourself to it.
According to Gordon, he was hoping the pitch, like the one before it, wouldn't be near the strike zone. "I wanted to see if he could throw the pitch for a strike, and he did," Gordon told MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. "I didn't think he would, and he did. That's part of it."
It was a sign of things to come: Pineda racked up nine strikeouts while no-hitting the Marlins through six innings before Christian Yelich's home run in the seventh.