Bordick shines as A’s leadoff hitter

Mike Bordick he isn’t sure when he last hit in the leadoff spot. Bordick became the Oakland A’s leadoff hitter for two games against the Minnesota Twins this past weekend and went 6-for-8.

“I think I hit leadoff once or twice in my early years in the minors,” recalled Bordick, who is in his eighth pro season. “Then when I got to Triple-A, I hit eighth or ninth.”

Bordick, the former Hampden Academy, Bangor American Legion and University of Maine shortstop out of Winterport, has hit almost exclusively eighth or ninth for Oakland.

The 28-year-old said he finds the leadoff spot exciting.

“It’s a new challenge. There’s more responsibility,” said Bordick, who has hit an impressive .353 (36-for-102) since the All-Star break to raise his average to .278.

“Hitting leadoff is all right. I liked it yesterday (Sunday, when he went 4-for-4),” chuckled Bordick on Monday. “Hopefully, I’ll make the most of it.”

He isn’t sure if he will continue in the leadoff spot but his 6-for-8 performance would lead one to believe he will remain there.

The role of the leadoff hitter is to get on base by any means and that usually requires a more selective approach to hitting.

But Bordick doesn’t buy that philosophy.

“I’ve tried to be more aggressive. I’ve been seeing the ball pretty well lately and I’ve had some pretty good at-bats. I had been taking a lot of pitches (early in the count) that I could have hit. Then it becomes too late (when you get behind in the count). You very rarely get two or three good pitches to hit in an at-bat,” said Bordick, who got a couple of his hits off the first strike over the weekend.

Bordick said he picked up some valuable tips from departed leadoff hitter Rickey Henderson (now with the Toronto Blue Jays), whom he called “arguably the best leadoff hitter in the game.”

In addition to his .278 average (entering Monday night’s game against Milwaukee), Bordick has two homers, two triples, 14 doubles, 35 runs batted in, 42 runs scored and nine stolen bases (in 15 attempts). He has fanned only 37 times in 378 at-bats and has drawn 42 walks. He has made 11 errors but hasn’t committed one since the All-Star break.