Are these two potential breakouts the real deal for the Pittsburgh Pirates?

Nick Gonzales

Nick Gonzales has always been a good hitter in the minor leagues. His wRC+ since arriving in pro baseball, including all minor-league levels, is 136. But there was one weakness in Gonzales’ game that got exposed massively last year when he was promoted to the majors, and that was his ability to hit off-speed and breaking stuff. His whiff rate against non-fastball pitches was 39.5%. Overall, he had just a .616 OPS, .268 wOBA, and 64 wRC+ in the bigs last year.

But in 65 plate appearances this season, Gonzales is batting .286/.359/.482. He already has five walks, compared to six last year, but in 59 fewer plate appearances. He is hitting for a lot more power and has two home runs, the same amount he hit last season. This all comes to a .361 wOBA and 134 wRC+, which is very similar to his wRC+ throughout the minor leagues.

A big thing that Gonzales has worked on is making more contact. His strikeout rate is only 21.5%, but the same pitches that gave him trouble last year aren’t giving him nearly as many problems this season. Gonzales’ whiff rate on offspeed and breaking stuff is down by nearly 10%, clocking in at 30%. That’s about the league average, as the rest of the league swings and misses at the same pitches 30.6% of the time.

Along with making more contact, he’s making significantly harder contact. His exit velocity and barrel rate against off-speed/breaking stuff are 89.6 MPH and 16%, respectively. The league average in both is 87.2 MPH and 6.8%. The results haven’t been great, with a .217 wOBA against these pitches, but given he’s making both a lot more contact, quality contact and has a .305 xwOBA when facing off-speed/breaking, there’s a good chance he improves.

Another massive improvement is how often Gonzales is making contact out of the zone. While he’s swinging outside the zone more, he’s managed to make contact 52.4% of the time. That’s a 10.4% uptick from last year. He’s been able to find a balance of making contact and making quality contact, as his exit velocity and barrel rate are up to 91.2 MPH and 15.9%.

So, is this the real Nick Gonzales? I’d lean toward yes. Gonzales has a .375 xwOBA, which is very close to his .361 wOBA. His xBA of .269 is slightly lower than his current batting average, but his xSLG% is .530, and the improvements he’s made are only going to help. Being able to make more contact vs non-fastballs, along with making good contact against the same pitches, can go a long way, especially considering how good he's performed against heaters. At the very least, I’d expect him to still be a good, solidly above-average hitter when the dust settles.

Joey Bart

When Jason Delay hit the injured list, the Pirates made the move to acquire former first-round pick Joey Bart from the San Francisco Giants. The Giants DFA’d Bart early this season as Patrick Bailey, Tom Murphy, and former Pirates prospect Blake Sabol had all surpassed him on their depth chart. Despite being selected second overall in 2018, Bart certainly did not live up to his potential in San Francisco, as he turned in a poor .219/.288/.335 triple-slash, .279 wOBA, and 78 wRC+ through 503 plate appearances.

But in 69 plate appearances with the Pirates, he is hitting .267/.362/.517 with a .383 wOBA and 150 wRC+. Bart is hitting for power with a .250 isolated slugging percentage. Bart struggled to draw walks with San Francisco, as he drew ball four just 6.4% of the time, but now he’s up to 11.6%. While he’s still striking out at a below-average rate, his 27.5% K% in Pittsburgh is a massive improvement from 35.4% with the Giants.

There are a lot of things Bart is doing better in Pittsburgh compared to his time in San Francisco. He’s hitting the ball a lot harder. His exit velocity on the West Coast was just 87.4 MPH. It’s now up to 89.1 MPH. On top of making more hard contact, he’s making more quality contact, with an improved 9.8% barrel rate compared to 7.4% with the Giants. 

Additionally, Bart is not swinging outside the zone very frequently, sporting a 22.7% chase rate. His chase rate with the Giants was over 30%. While his whiff rate is only slightly better, he is making more in-zone contact. Bart has hit a ball in the zone 77.3% of the time. His career average is 73.4%, and the league average is 82%.

But there are still some things that are slightly concerning. Bart is swinging at breaking/off-speed stuff 35.9% of the time. This is a decent improvement, given he had a 41% rate with SF. His exit velocity is up slightly, but his barrel rate is down against non-fastball stuff.

So where does this leave Bart? I think asking him to keep hitting for a 150 wRC+ is a bit much. If he did put up a 150+ wRC+ and got semi-regular playing time with at least 300 plate appearances, it would only be the sixth time a catcher has achieved this feat since 2010, and that’s a really high bar to set, especially for a player who was viewed as a failure before landing on his feet in Pittsburgh.

But Bart still has some underlying numbers that point to a good road ahead. His .350 xwOBA is still well above average, as is his .469 xSLG%. Even if he settles in as more of a .230 batter with a .430-.450 SLG%, he’ll be more than good enough to provide the Pirates with a decent bat from behind the dish.