Pittsburgh Pirates: Hitter Who Could Become Their Next Top Prospect

Nick Gonzales was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates with their first-round pick in 2020 and he could soon be their next best prospect

The Pittsburgh Pirates finished 2019 at 69-93. While the season didn’t go as planned for the Bucs, they got a high draft pick, landing them with the 7th overall selection. With this selection, Ben Cherington selected infielder Nick Gonzales with his first ever draft pick as the Pirates’ new general manager. While Gonzales has yet to step to the plate professionally yet, he could be the organization’s best prospect.

Gonzales was an outstanding hitter in college. In 596 plate appearances, Gonzales batted .399/.502/.747 with 37 home runs, 39 doubles and an outstanding .519 wOBA. Just to show how good that was, the last player to put up a wOBA in the .500s in MLB was Barry Bonds in the early 2000s. The Pittsburgh Pirates got a good deal on Gonzales too. Both FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline ranked him above where the Pirates selected him.

Gonzales also showed a decent ability to run stealing 13 bases in 17 attempts. He also hit well in the uber competitive Cape Cod League hitting .340/.439/.610 with 25 extra base hits in 190 plate appearances putting to rest any questions about his ability of only being able to hit because of the environment he played in. The middle infielder did play most of his games at a hitter friendly league, but you don’t reach Bonds-level numbers with odds in your favor alone. Gonzales also displayed fantastic plate discipline. He walked at an insane 14.9% rate while striking out at an even better 13.3% rate.

FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen compared Gonzales to Milwaukee Brewers’ second baseman Keston Hiura. Hiura also hit well throughout college batting .375/.466/.581 with 22 home runs and 54 doubles. However, while Hiura played in the Big West Conference where Gonzales played in the Western Athletic Conference, Hiura didn’t display the same plate discipline Gonzales did. Hiura only walked 12% of the time and struck out at a 16% rate. While both of those are good marks, Gonzales reaches beyond elite territory. MLB Pipeline also made the comparison to Hiura, but stated that Gonzales is a bit more athletic than the Brewer infielder.

Gonzales played mainly second base throughout college but also saw some time at shortstop during his 2020 season. While he doesn’t have the arm to stick at short, he can field his position at second base where at the very least he’s considered an average fielder. Given his athleticism, he could be a plus fielder at the position. While he may never be a big home run threat and has more gap power than home run power, he still has the strength to be a 18-25 home run hitter.

Overall, Gonzales could easily be the prospect the Pittsburgh Pirates have by the end of the 2021 season. Ke’Bryan Hayes will lose his prospect status during the year and while Oneil Cruz may not lose his status this year, he’s the only hurdle Gonzales has to get over to be considered the team’s best prospect.