Waiting the hard part for top pick Gonzales
Considering most of the activity happens at night, whether it’s practice or simulated games, Nick Gonzales has found waiting to be one of the most difficult parts of professional baseball.
One of the only ones, it seems. Gonzales, the Pirates’ firstround pick ( No. 7 overall) in the
June draft, has passed the time at the alternate training site in Altoona by playing video games and reading books, careful not to venture out into public, but he said his favorite days are when they get started early at PNG Field.
“That’s what I really like,” Gonzales said. “You wake up, and you’re playing baseball. You don’t have to sit around and find something to do.”
The adjustment to professional baseball has been about as seamless as possible for Gonzales, a
21- year- old Vail, Ariz., native who’s exceedingly polite and extremely mature for his age.
Although the infielder came out of New Mexico State a year early, nobody questioned the move. He was ready, both in tools and temperament, and already Gonzales has become the Pirates’ No. 1 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. ( Gonzales ranks 37th across MLB.)
It’s been a quick succession of events — the MLB draft was less than three months ago — but it’s hardly been too much too fast for Gonzales, who actually started his college baseball career as a walk- on.
“I don’t really think too much about it,” Gonzales said. “I kind of just go out there and know that I need to improve and know there are areas that I really need to work harder at.
“I’ve never really paid much attention to the rankings, especially when I was younger because they weren’t ever good for me. Now, I’m on the other side, but I still know what I need to do to take care of business.”
That work has come at second base, Gonzales told the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette on Sunday night. That represents a position switch, as Gonzales was drafted as a shortstop. But moving back to where he played his first two years of college has been no issue.
The only thing that has requirement an adjustment? The shifts.
“We shift a lot,” Gonzales said. “It was tough at first because I’m just trying to go out there and field my position. But then you get thrown into positions that you’re not used to playing, whether it’s shallow right field or up the middle, whatever it may be. Once I did that, it smoothed out for me.”
Switching positions has been a non- issue for the easygoing Gonzales. He simply wants to play — and hit. That second part is understandable given what Gonzales did in college.
In 16 games before the 2020 season was stopped, Gonzales led the nation in home runs ( 12), runs scored ( 28), RBIs ( 36) and total bases ( 67), having reached base in 82 consecutive games. Gonzales was also an All- American the year before when he had the country’s best batting average (. 432).
Hitting at the professional level has definitely been different, Gonzales said, the result of increased velocity and also the polish pitchers possess, but it hasn’t been impossible.
“These pitchers aren’t just up there throwing,” Gonzales said. “They’re pitching. Their ability to throw certain pitches in certain counts to keep hitters off- balance is really good.”
And necessary, apparently.
“I needed to see highercaliber pitching,” Gonzales said. “I needed to go out there and play, have fun and do what I do against that type of pitching and see what happens. I think that’s kind of what happened the first few weeks. I think even now I’m still making adjustments every day to kind of get used to the better velocity, better stuff, everything like that.”
Those tweaks mostly involve being on time, Gonzales said. In college, he could occasionally cheat and still connect on a fastball or wait on a breaking ball. Now, if he’s not prepared, it’s much more difficult.
But that’s the fun part,
Gonzales said, playing baseball for a living and gearing his day toward that, though Gonzales said he occasionally forgets that he’s done with homework and exams.
“It’s been so much fun,” Gonzales said. “It’s a little different because at this time of the year, I’m usually doing school. I’m usually taking classes. A couple times I’ve thought, ‘ Do I have homework? Oh, no. I don’t have anything.’ This is what I do. This is my life. This is my job.
“It’s crazy because I’ve been doing this for free for the past 15 years of my life, every single day. So it’s not anything different. Now that it’s your job or whatever, it’s crazy to get paid to do something that I love every single day. It’s amazing.”
The bad part, again, is the waiting around. To pass the time, Gonzales said he and other Altoona players have been playing a lot of “Call of Duty.”
Gonzales also started reading “American Sniper,” the story of U. S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, which Gonzales said has been on his reading list for years.
At the field, Gonzales said Will Craig has been a huge help for him with defensive positioning and the logistics of how everything works. Jared Oliva, too.
Gonzales said he actually gave Oliva a little bit of the fanboy treatment, saying he used to watch the outfield prospect when Oliva played at the University of Arizona’s Hi Corbett Field.
“Everyone here has been awesome — coaches, staff and players,” Gonzales said. It could change, too. General manager Ben Cherington said Sunday on his 93.7 The Fan radio show that on or around Sept. 18, he expects the Altoona group to disband.
Some players will come to Pittsburgh, while others will go home or report to Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., for more instructional work. Although he’s brand new, it will be interesting to see if the Pirates bring Gonzales — technically their top prospect — to PNC Park.
No matter what happens, Gonzales will be thrilled to play a little more baseball after his college season was cut short.
“[ Coming to Pittsburgh] would be great,” Gonzales said. “I’m working to be a big leaguer every single day. If that’s tomorrow, next week, a year, whenever, I’ll be ready. I’ll be making sure I’m doing everything I can to get there.
“If they send me to Florida, if they send me anywhere, I just want to play baseball. I missed out on quite a few games this year in college. I’m definitely looking to get all of them back.”