Pirates accidentally found the third baseman they spent winter chasing

The Pittsburgh Pirates spent the entire offseason searching for a solution at third base. They explored the trade market. They were tied to names like Eugenio Suárez, Isaac Paredes and even international slugger Kazuma Okamoto. They needed more offense, more thump, more certainty at a position that had long been defined by defense-first production.

What they’ve found instead is something far more ironic. They may have had their answer all along.

When Jared Triolo went down and Nick Gonzales slid into third base, it felt temporary — a patch, not a plan. Gonzales wasn’t viewed as a long-term third baseman, and the Pirates had spent months signaling they wanted a more traditional solution there.

But over the last two weeks, Gonzales has done nothing but hit — 12 hits in his last 14 games, to be exact. His batting average is up to .328, and he's putting together competitive at-bats and making consistent contact. He's quietly becoming one of the most reliable hitters in the lineup.

And suddenly, the “stopgap” is forcing a real conversation. Because this isn’t just a hot streak in a vacuum. It’s production that stacks up — and, frankly, outpaces what the Pirates were chasing all winter.

Nick Gonzales exceeding expectations after Pirates failed to add third baseman this offseason

Gonzales (1.1 bWAR) has outperformed Alec Bohm (-0.9), Paredes (0.7), Okamoto (0.7) and Suárez (0.0) this season. It's a meaningful gap that reveals that the upgrade the Pirates were searching for externally is currently being provided internally.

That doesn’t mean Jared Triolo becomes irrelevant. He’s still a Gold Glove defender. He still raises the floor of the infield defense. And on a team built around pitching, that matters — a lot.

But offense matters too. And right now, Gonzales isn’t just giving the Pirates more offense than Triolo; he’s giving them more than most of the league’s third base market.

That’s why general manager Ben Cherington made it clear this won’t be a strict platoon or 50-50 split now that Triolo is back from the IL. This is going to be about feel — and “feel” usually leans toward the hot hand.

In the big picture, if Gonzales holds this level of production — or even something close to it — the Pirates’ roster calculus changes. The urgency to find a long-term third baseman disappears. Resources can be allocated elsewhere. The lineup suddenly has more balance than expected.

And maybe most importantly, it validates a philosophy the Pirates have been trying to lean into: give young players opportunity and let them force your hand. Gonzales is doing exactly that.

The Pirates didn’t land their third baseman this winter. They didn’t win a bidding war. They didn’t pull off a blockbuster. They didn’t import a proven solution. They stumbled into one.

And if Nick Gonzales keeps hitting like this, the Pirates won’t just have filled a hole — they’ll have solved it in the most Pirates way possible: by accident.

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