Nick Gonzales

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Nicholas Joseph Gonzales

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Biographical Information[edit]

Infielder Nick Gonzales was the 7th overall pick of the 2020 amateur draft, by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of New Mexico State University. When that season had been suspended and then cancelled after 16 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was hitting .448, and the year before he had batted .432 in 55 games, after putting up an average of .347 in 57 games as a freshman in 2018. He was the highest draft pick in his school's history.

After signing with the Pirates, with Derrick Van Dusen being the signing scout, he spent the 2021 season with the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the High-A East, where he hit .303/.385/.565 in 80 games. He hit 23 doubles and 18 homers, scored 53 runs and drove in 54. He was named a league and organization All-Star. He then played in the Arizona Fall League after the season and continued to batter opposing pitchers, with a .380 average in 19 games. In 2022, the Pirates assigned him to the Altoona Curve of the AA Eastern League, where he slowed down a bit, being forced to play a few games with the FCL Pirates and Bradenton Marauders on rehabilitation assignments. In 71 games for Altoona, he hit .263/.383/.420, with 20 doubles but only 7 homers. He repeated as an organization All-Star. He returned to the AFL after the season and batted .279 and slugged .500 in 18 games.

He started the 2023 season with the AAA Indianapolis Indians, then made his major league debut with the Pirates at the end of June. He ended up playing 99 games for Indianapolis and 35 for Pittsburgh, hitting .281 with 14 homers and 41 RBIs in the International League, and .209 with 2 homers and 13 RBIs in Pittsburgh. In 2024, he reversed the split between the two teams, with 34 games in Indianapolis and 94 in Pittsburgh. He hit .356 in the minors, and .270 with 7 homers and 49 RBIs in the majors. His OPS+ with Pittsburgh was 96 and he played mainly at second base, with 85 games at the position, with a handful at shortstop and third base.

Nick homered during the Pirates' first game of 2025 on March 27th, driving in 2 runs in a 5-4 loss to the Miami Marlins. However, he had trouble rounding the bases after his 6th-inning shot and the next day was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of his left ankle and placed on the injured list. It seems that the injury stemmed from his having fouled a number of balls off his foot in a spring training game a few days earlier.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Justice delos Santos: "'Nick is the truth': Pirates' Gonzales eyeing sophomore encore", mlb.com, March 7, 2022.[1]
  • Alex Stumpf: "Gonzales (ankle fracture) hits IL, testing Bucs' infield depth: Pirates recall versatile left-handed-hitting Valdez", mlb.com, March 28, 2025. [2]

Related Sites[edit]

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