Nick Gonzales could crash 2026 Silver Slugger race in a surprising spot

Nick Gonzales probably isn't the first Pittsburgh Pirates player who comes to mind when discussing potential Silver Slugger winners.

Brandon Lowe leads the team in home runs, and it's not particularly close. Oneil Cruz has the kind of power that makes the award feel possible every spring. Konnor Griffin may eventually become a perennial candidate.

But with a little more than a month remaining in the 2026 season, Gonzales has quietly put himself in position to crash the race — just perhaps not at the position you'd expect.

This season, Gonzales is hitting .305/.365/.394 with a .759 OPS, 22 doubles and 56 RBI. His .305 batting average ranks second among qualified National League hitters, trailing only Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Luis Arraez.

That's an impressive offensive season for Gonzales, regardless of position. The complication is figuring out exactly which position Silver Slugger voters should consider him at.

Gonzales has spent most of this season at third base, appearing there 100 times compared with 31 games at second and four at shortstop. That makes third base the obvious category at first glance. Unfortunately for Gonzales, that's also where his lack of power becomes much more noticeable.

Max Muncy has been the much more traditional Silver Slugger candidate at third, carrying an OPS comfortably north of .800 with more than 20 home runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gonzales has been better at putting the ball in play and reaching base, but six home runs isn't exactly the profile voters typically associate with an award containing the word "Slugger."

That doesn't mean Gonzales is out of the conversation. It might simply mean utility is where his candidacy gets much more interesting.

Utility may be Nick Gonzales' best path to Silver Slugger candidacy in 2026

MLB awards one Silver Slugger to a utility player in each league, and Gonzales' season fits that category remarkably well. He already appears to satisfy the Silver Slugger utility criteria used last year — at least 100 games overall and 20-plus games at multiple positions.

Gonzales has been one of the toughest outs in the National League, hitting above .300 while keeping his strikeout rate around 17 percent. In an era in which even productive hitters routinely strike out in more than a quarter of their plate appearances, Gonzales' ability to consistently put the ball in play stands out.

And there's still time for the case to become significantly stronger. If Gonzales spends September hovering around .310, finishes near the top of the National League batting race and pushes his OPS closer to .780, voters are going to have a difficult time ignoring him simply because he doesn't hit 25 home runs. That's especially true in the utility category, where there isn't necessarily one offensive prototype a player has to fit.

For the Pirates, it would also represent a pretty remarkable development. Gonzales entered this season without the certainty afforded to Pittsburgh's biggest young stars. Now he's become one of their most consistent hitters while proving capable of moving around the infield without sacrificing his offensive production.

The Pirates don't need him to suddenly turn into a 30-home run hitter. They need exactly what they've gotten: consistent at-bats, contact, on-base ability and enough defensive flexibility to make the lineup easier to construct.

That combination may not make Gonzales the favorite for a Silver Slugger, but it's put him squarely in the conversation — and the position that gives him his best chance to actually win one might not be second or third base at all.

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