Nick Gonzales' continued growth is a much-needed Ben Cherington win for Pirates

There has been a lot of criticism thrown the Pittsburgh Pirates’ way this year, much of which is justified. Ben Cherington has been one of the biggest names to blame for the Pirates’ season. While he has been able to build up a solid pitching staff, the Pirates are averaging just about 3.3 runs per game, which is the lowest in baseball. Many of his position player pick-ups have been failures, but one who has been a massive success so far was his very first draft pick, Nick Gonzales.

Gonzales was selected seventh overall out of New Mexico State during the COVID-shortened 2020 draft. After an outstanding 2021 season, Gonzales immediately became one of the Pirates’ best prospects. He went into 2022 ranked as a consensus top-50 prospect, with MLB Pipeline ranking him as high as their 20th-best. 

Gonzales eventually made his MLB debut in 2023, with little success. It was only 35 games and 128 plate appearances, but he had just 24 hits and six walks. While he did have eight doubles and two home runs, there were clear issues with his strikeouts. Gonzales had a 32.4% whiff rate and struck out 36 times, amounting to a strikeout rate of 28.1%.

Gonzales opened 2024 at Triple-A, but eventually got the call to the bigs around the same time as Paul Skenes, and he looked like a much-improved batter. In 387 plate appearances, Gonzales slashed .270/.311/.398 with a .307 wOBA and 94 wRC+. The most significant improvement was his strikeout rate, which dropped to just 19.1%. His whiff percentage also fell dramatically to 24.9%. He only drew a walk 4.7% of the time, but that’s about the only major critique one could make of his game in 2024.

Now, Gonzales is improving in other areas of his game. While he missed most of April and all of May, he is batting .275/.338/.437 in his first 157 trips to the plate. He has continued to post a respectable 23.8% whiff rate, but has cut his chase rate down from 34.1% to 30%. He has nearly doubled his walk rate, now sitting at 8.9%. The infielder has also improved his power output. His isolated slugging percentage now sits at .162, and his xSLG went from just over .400 at .407 to .447, a 40-point increase.

Pirates' Nick Gonzales looks like a much-improved hitter. That's a win for Ben Cherington.

Gonzales' xSLG isn't the only expected number he is above-average in this season. He also has a .347 xwOBA, which is the tenth-best mark among second basemen with at least 150 plate appearances. Gonzales also has the seventh-best xBA at .289 and 11th-best xSLG among his fellow second base peers.

Ben Cherington hasn’t had many, if any, successes when it comes to acquiring position players. He deserves plenty of criticism for how he’s built the depth chart, beyond just the pitching staff. However, Nick Gonzales appears to be one who will last beyond his tenure as general manager. Gonzales has developed into a solid hitter. He’s made considerable strides in his biggest flaw, and it has led to some productive numbers at the dish.