Despite multiple major injuries and opportunities on the mound denied over the years, former West Ranch pitcher RJ Gordon has found his way to the pros.
Gordon was drafted by the New York Mets on Tuesday with the 383rd pick of the 2024 MLB Draft, making his dream of playing professional baseball a reality.
The former Oregon pitcher was watching the draft live on TV but had about a 30-second lag. Gordon had plenty of big-league interest but wasn’t sure where he’d be heading if he was drafted. The texts started rolling in before he could get the news from the TV or his agent that he’d trade in his Oregon Green for some New York Blue and Orange.
While the accomplishment of being drafted is a dream come true, Gordon knows the real work will be starting soon as the newest Mets’ pitcher is already heading down to Rookie ball in Florida, less than a day after being selected.
“All the way up to the point before you get drafted is a journey,” Gordon said in a phone interview. “Then once you get drafted, it’s like a reset. Everything’s fair game with the 20 guys that are coming into the Mets this year. They’re all going to be really good players, and it’s a competition.”
Gordon is no stranger to battling adversity, as he has fought his way back to the field and the mound numerous times over his amateur career. The Santa Clarita native attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks up until his junior year. He stood out to many as a talented batter, pitcher and outfielder but was never able to get time on the bump, a similar problem he had back at Hart Pony baseball.
“I don’t hold any grudges against them or anything like that,” Gordon said. “I was at Notre Dame for three years. I went through an injury my freshman year, and then just hit for my next two years. I knew pitching was probably where my future was going to be… I just didn’t get the opportunity to do that there. So, I decided to play for West Ranch and [coach Jim Wagner]. I’ve had a connection with Wags ever since I started with him when I was 7 years old.”
Gordon made the decision to transfer out and finish out his high school career locally at West Ranch with Wagner, his lifelong pitching coach.
“(Gordon) transferred to West Ranch. We had games going on in fall, winter and in the beginning of spring, and he was outstanding,” Wagner said. “I think the Notre Dame coaches were thinking, ‘Wow, we didn’t realize what we had.’”
The Wildcat pitcher hit the ground running with his new team and shined in the off-season and early on the 2020 season that would eventually be shut down. Luckily for Gordon, he had already gotten enough attention from college scouts and committed to Oregon long before the spring season began.
Gordon’s shortened season was full of exciting plays on the mound and at the plate, where he batted .414. One of his biggest hits of the season came against another future pro, El Toro standout Paul Skenes, the now National League All-Star.
Skenes was all over the Wildcats and dominated the day in the shutout win for El Toro. Gordon was the only Wildcat to get the better of Skenes on the day and nearly launched one off the yard of the future Pirate.
“We faced El Toro High School, which had this big guy by the name of Paul Skenes,” Wagner said. “He was just dominating us. RJ said, ‘First pitch that I see I’m just swinging out of my shoes.’ He got a fastball, swung and he doubled off the top of the centerfield fence.”
Wagner owns and operates Throwzone Academy, a local pitching facility that offers camps and group and advanced classes. Wagner has seen dozens of his former standouts go pro but he never gets tired of getting the news of the latest big leaguer.
“I’m over the moon. It’s exciting when any one of your players get drafted and I’ve had, I think, 24 of my players drafted,” Wagner said. “It’s been very fun to see that but it never gets old for someone to call you and go, ‘Hey coach, I got drafted by the Mets. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done. You were a part of that.’”
After moving up to Eugene, Oregon, Gordon had a poor showing in the fall and knew his spot was on the line. The COVID rosters, which allowed unlimited spots for teams, wound up saving the freshman and gave him a second chance.
“I kind of had the option to either stay or leave, and I decided to stay and prove to myself that I’m supposed to be here,” Gordon said. “After that freshman fall, I put on 20 pounds, and ended up earning myself a spot in the bullpen that year.”
Gordon became a starter early on in his sophomore season but was forced off the field for his highly anticipated junior year after an elbow injury flared up.
The injury came as another blessing in disguise as the Duck pitcher believes it sharpened his mental toughness.
“I just had to sit on the bench, watch the guys play, so it took a little toll on me mentally,” Gordon said. “But I was able to find other ways to actually make it beneficial and use it to my advantage, and not just kind of sit around and waste away. I wouldn’t have had the year I had now if I didn’t go through all those mental hurdles. So it was another kind of silver lining there, not playing for a year and gave me more of an edge to play this year.”
As a senior, Gordon became the Friday night starter and played a vital role in the 40-win season for the Ducks. The ace started 17 games and went 7-6 with a 5.13 ERA, 87 strikeouts while holding opponents to .257 at the plate.
Perhaps his most sensational performance came close to home, when Gordon dominated UCLA with 10 strikeouts with four hits allowed over 5.1 innings.
“It was just kind of one of those starts where everything was feeling good,” Gordon said. “The fastball was coming in, I could throw the curveball and slider. There’s always little edge for me facing a team close to my hometown, kind of my hometown college team that in my eyes, overlooked me.”
Wagner praised his newest pro’s work ethic and loyalty as the two still stay in touch after working together for over 15 years.
“His work ethic is absolutely phenomenal. He will do whatever it takes,” Wagner said. “He’s really big into weightlifting. So his lower half is massive, and he put on about 20 pounds of just solid muscle over the last few years. RJ in the weight room is like water to a duck.
“He’s a bulldog on the mound. He is not scared of anybody, he’s a fierce competitor. He can get his fastball up to 96. I think he’s touched 97 but he’s a guy that has a very good change-up that makes his fastball seem even better. He’s got a tremendous curve that he throws down in the zone for strikes.”
The former West Ranch Wildcat will begin his journey of working for a spot in New York, a city he’s only been to once but is amped to find his way back.
“I’ve been there once. I remember liking it. I’ll like anywhere I get to go to play professional baseball,” Gordon said.
Gordon fell to the 13th round of the MLB draft, just like former and current MLB stars: Albert Pujols, Jim Thome, Matt Carpenter and Cedric Mullins. No matter where his former player was picked, Wagner knows not to doubt him.
“It’s gonna be fun to see him pitching at Citi Field one day,” Wagner said. “I would never doubt him. Even though he’s a 13th rounder, I have learned to not doubt what he’s capable of.”
“I know I can continue this dream of mine and be a big leaguer,” Gordon said. “It’s just continuing that process of knowing what it feels like to be overlooked from a young age all the way up until now and then still kind of having that mentality of knowing people are going to doubt me. People are going to be in my Instagram DMs and in my Twitter DMs; saying how much I suck. All that is just noise and I’m just able to embrace it and smile at it while I go have the time of my life doing something I’ve dreamt of since I was 5 years old.”
