Nick

Gonzales

Apart from Gonzales, the Pirates’ offense was absent against Bryan Woo in this one. He had three of their five total hits and their only one that went for extra bases in a shutout loss. Quietly, Gonzales has been a highly productive hitter since returning from his fractured ankle with a .308 batting average and .835 OPS over more than 100 at-bats. He’s also regularly hit fourth in the Pirates’ order over the past two weeks.

Gonzalez gets a breather after making 14 consecutive starts at the keystone since June 13. It’ll be veteran utility specialist Adam Frazier taking over at second base. The 26-year-old infielder has been excellent of late, hitting .333 (20-for-60) with two homers and seven RBI over his last 15 games. There’s some appeal here for fantasy managers in extremely deep mixed leagues.

Gonzales finally got the Pirates on the board in the sixth inning, victimizing right-hander Freddy Peralta for a 395-foot (100.7 mph EV) three-run blast. That would wind up being the extent of their scoring in the contest. The 26-year-old infielder also struck out twice in the ballgame. On the season, he’s slashing a terrific .316/.345/.519 with three homers and 10 RBI in his first 84 plate appearances.

Gonzales hadn’t even had a four-hit game as a major leaguer prior to tonight. All five balls were hard hit, with exit velocities ranging from 96 to 107 mph. Playing in just his 19th game after missing time with an ankle fracture, he was able to raise his average from .271 all of the way up to .320 with the performance tonight.

The game-ending sac fly to left with the bases loaded in the ninth wasn’t especially close to being a walkoff grand slam in PNC Park, but it would have been a homer in 12 stadiums, according to Statcast. Gonzales has hit sixth, fourth and now second in three games since coming off the injured list. It’s quite a show of faith for a guy with a career .687 OPS who just hit .194/.211/.250 during a nine-game rehab assignment, but it’s not like he’s displacing Willie Stargell.

Gonzales’ rehab stint started off in difficult fashion, as he wasn’t quite ready to play regularly as he attempted to overcome an ankle fracture. Things had gotten better recently, though, and he wound up going 7-for-22 in his last five games for Triple-A Indianapolis. He should reclaim his role as the Pirates’ primary second baseman. Adam Frazier, who has been unusually productive of late, will probably start seeing time in the outfield against righties, which will probably result in fewer at-bats for Alexander Canario.

It’s merely a procedural move to free up a spot on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster. Gonzales has been out since Opening Day when he suffered a fractured left ankle.

Gonzales is 0-for-7 so far as he works to return from an ankle fracture. He figures to remain in Triple-A for several more days before being activated, at which point the Pirates will probably DFA someone from the group of Nick Solak, Tommy Pham and (less likely) Adam Frazier.

Ouch. Gonzales suffered the injury on Opening Day after he had homered against the Marlins. No word yet on how much time he’s expected to miss. Enmanuel Valdez was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis to take his place on the Pirates’ active roster.

Gonzales smacked a go-ahead two-run single off of Brendan White as part of the Pirates’ six-run rally in the fifth inning. He also singled in the fourth inning and drew a walk in the contest, reaching base safely in each of his three plate appearances. On the spring, the 25-year-old infielder is now hitting .296 (8-for-27) with zero homers, six RBI and a pair of stolen bases.