Morning Rundown: Nick Gonzales Homers Off Breaking Ball, BoD One Month In
Back with the Indianapolis Indians, former first round pick Nick Gonzales picked up a rare home run against a breaking ball
It was a well known issue with Nick Gonzales as he worked his way through the Pirates system, so when it happened in the majors it shouldn’t have been that big of a surprise.
While with the Pirates, Gonzales hit a collective 5-for-47 (.106) against non-fastballs, and whiffed nearly 50% of his swings facing them as well.
Back in Triple-A with the Indians again, Gonzales will look to improve upon those numbers and find his way back in the majors.
His box score has read really strong since returning to Indianapolis, even picking up four hits on Wednesday. Stats alone isn’t going to get Gonzales back in Pittsburgh, that’ll be him showing progress with hitting breaking/off-speed pitches.
Write him down for at least one positive in the right direction, as his solo home run last night was on a slider. Even if it was a bit of a hanger.
It would be huge for the Pirates if Gonzales can find any sort of consistency making contact, even if he hasn’t exactly been able to do so so far in his minor league career.
Liover Peguero has sparked the offense while playing solid defense in the MIF, and Alika Williams has been advertised with the glove. Jared Triolo has even started to see playing time at second base (with Ji-Hwan Bae also on rehab), so it won’t be an easy road back to the majors for Gonzales.
It was the night of July 16th I decided to publish my first article for Bucs on Deck, as the Pirates were beginning to make some mass promotions - including Liover Peguero and Endy Rodriguez - and I wanted to give some input on what I’ve seen from them in the minors.
A month later here we are, still figuring things out, and exploring what the best way to present you with the loads of information I have going on in my brain as a result of watching hours of minor league games throughout the week.
Really, the only thing I expected was just a place to unload my thoughts on the system in general and what I was seeing. I don’t think I was even actually planning on turning on the paid subscriptions when I got started, I threw out a few updates and before I realized it was still on, a few signed up, and away we went.
The response to this has been amazing, I thought I had build up enough of a reputation that I’d get some attention here and there, but the way things blew up here, I truly feel blessed.
Because of you all, I am going to be able to take a trip to Greensboro at the end of the month to not only watch some baseball, but also get you a first person account of what I’m seeing.
Hopefully I’ll get to do something else I’ve been waiting a long time to do, but understand patience will be necessary on that.
This year has been a frustrating year for me, both personally and ‘professionally’, if you want to call it that. Full honesty, I’m living out a hotel right now while I’m waiting for my house to finish being built and have been here since April. It’s been a mentally tiring experience, but one I’m taking in stride.
Things didn’t really unfold how I expected writing wise, and to an extent I am still bummed out but so excited at what the future may have in store here.
I want to take the next step in my writing, and feel I have so much more to give, even with what I’ve done on here so far. I’ll have to start from the bottom and fight my way back up again, but it’s something I’m willing to do.
Having Nola and WTM here as well to help me out and take some of the pressure off has been incredible as well.
Like development, I know this site’s growth won’t be linear, but every setback is a learning opportunity for me in the long run, so I’m willing to take the lumps here and there for the bigger picture.
Anyways, I know I’m rambling and you are here for baseball, I have some fun stuff planned for the rest of the week, and am having a blast once again doing the ‘10 Observations’ as the week goes on.
You guys are the best, your support is giving me a push to keep upping my game on a daily basis.
Minor League Recap 8/16
Indianapolis Indians - 4 vs St. Paul Saints - 3
Top Hitter - Nick Gonzales: 4-5, R, RBI, HR (7)
Top Pitcher - Jared Jones: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
Altoona Curve - 1 vs Bowie Baysox - 5
Top Hitter - Connor Scott: 2-3, 2B
Top Pitcher - Justin Meis: 4 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 3 vs Bowling Green Hot Rods - 10
Top Hitter - Luke Brown: 2-4, 2 R
Top Pitcher - Jack Carey: 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K
Bradenton Marauders vs Lakeland Flying Tigers - PPD
Doubleheader on Thursday
Hard to believe it's been a month already, but the three of you (and Ethan's payroll article/Ryan's photos) have been doing a great job. Looking forward to what's in store for the future!
Knowing how much time and effort you put into all of this, I'm just glad you're able to finally receive at least SOME financial compensation after all this time.