Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Rum Bunter’s Top 5 Position Player Prospects

Number 2 – Second Baseman Nick Gonzales

The Bucs’ 2020 first-round pick, Nick Gonzales came out of college blazing hot. He ended his time at New Mexico State batting .399/.502/.747 with 37 long balls, 39 doubles, and a .510 wOBA. Gonzales had walked more than he struck out with an 89/79 BB/K ratio in 596 plate appearances. He also hit well in the Cape Cod League, posting a .340/.439/.610 line and .400 wOBA across 190 trips to the plate.

So far, Gonzales has looked great at High-A Greensboro. He’s currently batting .281/.354/.482 with 9 home runs, and 4 stolen bases in 254 plate appearances. This comes to a .364 wOBA, and 124 wRC+. Gonzales is hitting for plenty of power, putting himself on pace for about 21 home runs in 600 plate appearances while having a .202 isolated slugging percentage. Though he’s striking out more than you’d like to see with a 29.5% strikeout rate, he still has a solid 8.7% walk rate.

He’s gotten even better as the season has gone on. Since about mid-July, Gonzales’ last 120 PA’s have seen him put up a .351/.424/.550 line, .422 wOBA, and 161 wRC+. He’s still hitting for some solid pop with a .198 ISO but has increased his walk rate slightly to 8.8%. However, he’s also cut down on his strikeouts by a decent amount with a 24.8% rate.

Gonzales was seen as one of the best pure hitters coming out of the draft. He has a 60-grade hit tool, 50-future grade game power, and 55-future raw power. While he’s not the fastest base runner ever, once he gets going, he can get around pretty well. He stole 13 bases in 17 attempts while in college and is 4/6 in attempts at the professional level so far.

As a defender, he’s a below-average shortstop, the position he mainly played in his final season at college. But he can field second base to an average level at the very least. His arm is on the weaker side, so second base will be his long-term home. This past offseason Gonzales worked with former Pittsburgh Pirate and one of the best and most underrated shortstop defenders to ever play the game, Jack Wilson to improve his glove work up the middle.

Gonzales has one of the highest ceilings not just in the Pirate system, but in all of baseball. He was a consensus top 50 guy going into the year and he’s only improved from there. The 22-year-old should move up the organization at a steady pace given his advanced approach to the plate, strong contact hitting with above-average power.