Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Examining How Newcomers Have Performed

First baseman Jacob Gonzalez

Calling Jacob Gonzalez a prospect a few months ago may have been a big stretch. Although he still isn’t ranked, he should appear on some prospect lists if he continues doing what he has done to kick off the 2022 campaign. While that’s not to say he’s going to become a top 100 prospect or anything crazy, his inferno, white-hot start to the season may just put him back on some radars.

Acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft, Gonzalez hit for just a .253/.320/.404 with a .330 wOBA and 90 wRC+ through 281 plate appearances. He only struck out 19.2% of the time, which was a healthy rate, but his 6.8% walk rate was below average. The thing is, this was his best season yet unless you wanted to count his 194 plate appearance sample size at Rookie-Ball in 2017. It’s also not like he did good throughout the entire season. He had a 118 wRC+ at Rookie-Ball in ‘21, and when he got sent to A-Ball, he had just a 46 wRC+.

This year has been a completely different story. He has absolutely obliterated A-Ball and High-A pitching. It’s only been 132 plate appearances, but he’s batting .446/.515/.786 with a .570 wOBA and 258 wRC+. His 8.3% walk rate is a noticeable improvement from 2021, but his 13.6% strikeout rate is a massive improvement.

When Gonzalez was drafted, he was considered the best power-hitting prep prospect. He has 70-grade raw power and has shown that off this year. The question has always been if he’d ever hit enough to make that raw power matter. He’s also a pretty mediocre defender at the hot corner. He’s only played first base and designated hitter this season, and chances are, they’re not going to move him back to third base or left field as a permanent move.

Now it is a small sample size, but you can’t deny that Gonzalez has some improvements. Nobody comes out of the gates, has over 125 plate appearances, and hits for an OPS right around 1.300 when he had a sub-.700 OPS in two of the last three seasons. Maybe Gonzalez is a late-bloomer. Heck, his father, Luis Gonzalez, became a perennial all-star and one of the best players in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ franchise history at age-31. That’s not to say that Jacob will mirror his father’s career, but it would be nice to see him hit .240-.250 while being a 20-25 home run threat in the majors.