After up-and-down season, Nick Gonzales seeking to become impact player for Pirates

BRADENTON, Fla. — Nick Gonzales takes pride in being the first draft pick for the Pittsburgh Pirates under general manager Ben Cherington, though he’s careful not to dwell on the distinction.

Gonzales would prefer to be known as the Pirates’ starting second baseman. Not just on Opening Day but beyond.

That’s the way Gonzales carries himself, knowing he is competing with Ji Hwan Bae, Liover Peguero and Jared Triolo for the starting job in spring training. Of course, Gonzales had a similar mindset last spring and started the season at Triple-A Indianapolis.

“I think I have the same mentality, honestly,” Gonzales said. “I went in last year with the intention of performing well. Whether it was an option to make the team coming out of camp, it was always in my head to be on the team so I took it as the same. My intention is to be in the big leagues for a long time and to be an impact player so I take every day as that.”

Gonzales, 24, knows his chances to win the starting job could depend on his bat. He was selected No. 7 overall in 2020 out of New Mexico State, where he was regarded as college baseball’s best hitter.

He hasn’t replicated that success with consistency in the minors, but a 17-game stretch with eight extra-base hits and almost as many walks (17) as strikeouts (18) that saw him raise his batting average almost 30 points prompted the Pirates to promote Gonzales on June 23.

But Gonzales struggled with the Pirates and was optioned after slashing .216/.268/.353 with six doubles, a triple, two home runs and 13 RBIs in 31 games.

“With all those guys, we need to see consistency,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “For Nick, it would be consistency of at-bats, the consistency of quality contact that I think we’ve seen in the minor leagues. Which is not fully fair to him because it’s not a large sample in the major leagues, to continue to see that.”

Pirates coach Jonny Tucker had what manager Shelton called a “pretty raw conversation” with Gonzales and outlined what he needed to do to improve at the plate. It started with getting more length through the strike zone, a challenge for Gonzales because of his compact swing.

“It’s a detriment because of the fact that he gets out of the zone a little bit fast,” Shelton said. “It’s just making the adjustment to be able to lengthen through and be able to cut down the swing and miss in the zone. I think that’s the most important thing. It’s never going to be a detriment to have really fast hands. We have to make sure that the yin kinda comes with the yang, in terms of getting in and staying through.

“The big leagues will humble you — not just Nick Gonzales, but a lot of guys. The big-league game will also teach you the adjustments you have to make. I thought we did a good job in terms of how we messaged that.”

And Gonzales did a good job responding to the constructive criticism. He led the International League with six homers, 15 extra-base hits and 57 total bases while batting .338 with a 1.099 OPS in 21 games last September, earning a recall to the majors for the final four games.

Gonzales took pride in working on his approach, as well as his physique this offseason. He’s added 10 pounds to his 5-foot-9 frame, wanting to better tap into the power that accounted for a pair of 400-foot homers to straightaway center at PNC Park last season.

“It kind of left a sour taste in my mouth last year,” Gonzales said. “It’s something I thought about all offseason. Obviously, when you get to the big leagues, you want to stay there and help the team win. Not being able to do that was tough. … Where I’m at now in the box swing-wise is probably the best I’ve ever been.”

Meantime, Gonzales is doing his best to block out any noise. He knows his name was mentioned as a candidate in trade talks with the Miami Marlins — the team he both debuted and played his last major-league game against — but is focused on winning a starting job with the Pirates.

“I go about my work that way,” Gonzales said. “I don’t work to be a backup. I work to be one of the best on the field. I definitely pride myself on that, on and offseason, especially. I’m ready to go.”