Pittsburgh Pirates Prospect Among Thursday’s Top AFL Performers

Following another big game for the Peoria Javelinas, Pittsburgh Pirates second base prospect Nick Gonzales was named one of the AFL’s top performers from Thursday’s action

The Arizona Fall League season is now in full swing. Among the prospects the Pittsburgh Pirates have playing in the AFL this fall is second baseman Nick Gonzales. The organization’s 2020 first-round pick is off to a hot start in Arizona.

Gonzales’s strong start to the AFL season continued on Thursday night. In fact, the performance of Gonzales on Thursday night earned the Pittsburgh Pirates prospect honors as one of the day’s top performers from MLB Pipeline.

Thursday night Gonzales was 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and a RBI in a 7-6 Javelinas loss. Gonzales is now hitting for a .292/.393/.417 slash line through his first 28 plate appearances of the AFL season. Gonzales has drawn 4 walks, hit 3 doubles and struck out just 6 times.

Another noteworthy tidbit from Thursday is that Gonzales started at shortstop. While Gonzales played shortstop in college at New Mexico State he has always been viewed a second baseman in professional baseball.

This past season Gonzales played exclusively second base for the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers. Albeit, a factor in that was the Grasshoppers also having Liover Peguero on their roster.

While the long-term home of Gonzales remains second base it is still beneficial for him to get work in at shortstop. This will only add to the value of Gonzales as a prospect, as well as giving him the opportunity to fill in at shortstop if necessary when he arrives in the Majors.

Infielder turning utility man Ji-Hwan Bae also had a strong game on Thursday night. Starting in center field, the Pirate prospect was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. He now has a .929 in AFL play.