Nick Gonzales has the potential to be a very good hitter in the major leagues. That’s the general expectation for players who get drafted in the top ten.
We saw exactly what Gonzales is capable of Tuesday night.
In the first home game of his career, Gonzales picked up two hits — a triple and home run — in the Pirates big win against the San Diego Padres.
NICK GONZALES' FIRST HOMER TRAVELS 442 FEET
The home run was a moon shot, hit to dead center field that went 106 off the bat and traveled 442 feet.
So, what was the key to him finally unleashing on a baseball? It is actually quite simple. Gonzales has long had issues with breaking pitches in the minors, and it’s already flared up a bit in his very small sample size in the majors.
Four games into his major league career, Gonzales has a whiff rate of 87.5% against breaking pitches.
While that’ll certainly come down the more he plays, as even he isn’t that bad against them, he’s certainly shown what adjustments he still has to make at the next level if he wants to hang around.
The key to success for Gonzales will be to take advantage of fastball counts, which is pretty straight forward.
He followed through with that last night, getting his first MLB hit with a triple. He jumped out to a 3-1 count before getting three straight fastballs (one was a cutter). He sent the final one off the top of the Clemente wall.
When he hit the home run, he was in a 2-2 count, which can be a fastball count depending on how confident the pitcher is in his breaking pitch. Gonzales got back-to-back fastballs, driving the second one deep over the center field wall.
Gonzales had a very good 12.4% walk rate in the minors, so he is fully capable of working the count in his favor. Doing it in the majors may take some time, but he’s usually taken some time to adjust to a new level anyways.
The Pirates offense is in desperate need of help, and while it may be some time before he’s a consistent factor, Gonzales has shown he can do it at the highest level.
Prospect Notes
— It’s been a long time coming, but we are finally seeing why the Pirates went over slot with Lonnie White Jr. to bring him into the organization. He’s dealt with injuries for the most part of his professional career, but now healthy White is starting to catch fire in the Florida Complex League.
After getting just one hit in his first three games, he’s reached safely in nine of his last 11. Tuesday saw him go 5-for-5 with two doubles and a stolen base, bringing his season slash to .327/.413/.455.
Maybe the most important thing, he’s only struck out once in his last five games played, and he has been doing more work than with just the bat – recording four outfield assist this season as well.
He’s a super talented player, and someone who really needed to hit the ground running development wise, which it looks like he’s starting to do.
Read more about White from Wilbur Miller in today’s Prospect Watch.
Daily Video Rundown
Straight ROBBERY pic.twitter.com/5NPfYMAVCR
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 28, 2023
Don’t look now, Josh Palacios has been one of the more exciting players on the roster, coming up with a hit on Tuesday as well as this home run saving catch against Juan Soto.
A look at one of the last full weeks that Tsung-Che Cheng had at the High-A level.
Braxton Ashcraft pitched three very strong innings in his Double-A debut last week against Bowie.
PIRATES PROSPECTS DAILY
By Tim Williams
I was in Miami last weekend, and I’ve got a great article coming to you in the next few days. My focus the last few weeks has been on Pirates Prospects Live and the new Prospect Watch. This coverage allowed me to work on a longform project that I hope to publish on Friday. There is a chance that this project turns into a full article drop next Tuesday.
This is where I’ll note for any hardcore followers that the article drops will be returning soon. Right now, the site is free, supported by ads and donations. I’ve set up the site to allow everyone to make money off their articles from the ads. I’m going to be re-introducing the article drops as a weekly subscription product. This will be how you get my reporting, and it will allow me to create some really cool projects. Thus, it will give you some really cool articles to read, independent of what is happening with anyone’s development or what is happening with the MLB team. I’ll have more information about this on Friday.
Until then, expect a lot of daily content this week. It will almost be an article drop each day. I’ve got two columns to lead off my own writing, plus a few player looks from Altoona.
In my column today, I looked at the Pirates at the MLB level, focusing on some 45-grade players who are getting too much playing time lately. This will change soon, as I will further detail in tomorrow’s column.
**Williams: The Pains of Part-Time Players Getting Too Much Playing Time
David Hague has some outstanding photos of the Pirates new City Connect Jerseys.
**Gallery: Pirates Unveil City Connect Jerseys
Wilbur Miller looks at Lonnie White Jr. after a five hit day in today’s Prospect Watch.
**Prospect Watch: Lonnie White Jr., Kelvin Diaz, Yojeiry Osoria
Follow today’s action in Pirates Prospects Live.
**P2Live: The Pirates Take Their Revived Offense to Blake Snell
Missed yesterday? The Pirates won and Lonnie White Jr. had five hits:
**P2Live: Pirates Score Runs, Pummel Padres; Lonnie White, Jr., Gets Five Hits
SONG OF THE DAY
The Pirates yesterday:
Life of a Don, lights keep glowing
Coming in the club with that fresh shit on
With something crazy on my arm, uh-uh-hum
And here’s another hit, Barry Bonds
