Pittsburgh Pirates: One Underrated Prospect At Each Position

Center Field - Tres Gonzalez

Tres Gonzalez may be the most underrated player the Pirates took in the 2022 draft. An outfielder from Georgia Tech, Gonzalez had a strong first full minor league season. Given that he spent most of the season at Greensboro, he'll likely get his 2024 campaign kicked off at Double-A Altoona.

Gonzalez stepped to the plate 531 times, batting .289/.405/.406 with a .381 wOBA, and 129 wRC+. The outfielder struck out well below 20% of the time with a 17.9% strikeout rate, but walked nearly as often with a 15.1% walk rate. He had the 33rd highest walk rate among the 221 minor leaguers with at least 500 plate appearances. His 0.84 BB:K ratio ranked top 30, and sat just behind one of the best prospects in baseball, Jackson Holliday.

While Gonzalez hit for a great batting average and drew walks at an elite rate, leading to an OBP over .400, he did not hit for much power. He had 22 doubles, but just nine home runs and an isolated slugging percentage clocking in at a poor .113. That was the 32nd lowest rate among batters with 500+ PAs last season throughout the minor leagues..

Gonzalez is a plus runner who started his 2023 season off with 17 straight stolen bases without getting caught once. In total, he took 28 bags with eight caught stealing. But that speed helps translate to a rangy outfielder. He definitely has the potential to stick in center field, but he also played a handful of games in left and right field.

Gonzalez's lack of power keeps his ceiling relatively low, but he definitely could develop into an Adam Frazier-type hitter, just with a few more strikeouts, but also an average to above average walk rate. Though his defense gives him the floor of a 4th outfield type, at the very least.