Pittsburgh Pirates: Nick Gonzales Off to a Red Hot Start

On a Saturday night there’s nothing better than sitting back with a cold one and listening to Pittsburgh Pirates infield prospect Nick Gonzales do his thing

Over the past five pieces and nights we have highlight Pittsburgh Pirates prospects that stood out to me. It has been a pitching prospect in those five nights that Roansy Contreras, Tahnaj Thomas, Max Kranick, Michael Burrows and Santiago Florez have been highlights. For the first time this season let’s highlight a position player.

I’ve mentioned time and time again how the middle of the infield is stacked with top flight prospects, and no one is as top flight as a Nick Gonzales. At the collegiate level in 2019 we saw Gonzales carry a ridiculous slash line of .432/.532/.773. His OPS was insane at a 1.304, and he was a extra base hit machine with 39 of his 95 going for extra bases.

Now the 7th overall pick in the MLB draft in 2020 is playing his first season of professional ball with Greensboro. We all knew he had a beautiful swing and could put together a pretty damn good AB, especially with how he performed during spring training this year. Last night Gonzales just went off after an off day and decided to go 3-3 with two doubles, and to show patience, he drew a walk.

On the year so far, and it’s still very, very early, but his slash line is .467/.529/.867! I’m sure this kid will struggle at certain points in the year, but I tell you what, the Pirates got a special one in Gonzales. His swing is so beautiful, and he and Liover Peguero have one of the fastest hands I have ever seen.

Other Notable Performers

Rodolfo Castro – 3-5 with a double and an RBI

Jasiah Dixon – 2-3 with an RBI and 3 stolen bases

Endy Rodriguez – 2-4 with 2 RBIs and a stolen base

Eddy Yean – After allowing 5 runs while recording just one out in his first outing of the season Yeah bounced back on Saturday night. The righty was summoned to pitch the 4th and 5th innings for Bradenton and looked much better. He allowed a hit, walked a batter and struck out 2 in 2 scoreless innings of work. Yean looked composed, locked in, and had a mound presence that wasn’t there in his last appearance.