Nick Gonzales hitless but Pirates give him an MLB debut to remember

Making his MLB debut against Chicago on June 19, former No. 1 overall draft pick Henry Davis had a memorable individual performance, ripping a double down the third-base line in his first big-league at-bat.

But with regard to his team’s overall performance, the Pittsburgh Pirates left much to be desired, as they were stomped by the Cubs, 8-0.

Friday in Miami, it was Nick Gonzales’ turn to make his professional debut, and while it didn’t end with any hits, the Pirates pulled out a victory that Gonzales is unlikely to forget.

The Pirates’ first-round pick, seventh overall, in the 2020 MLB Draft, Gonzales had earned a promotion from Triple-A Indianapolis, starting Friday night’s game vs. the Marlins at second base and hitting seventh.

His first at-bat, a three-pitch strikeout at the hands of Miami starter Jesus Luzardo, was over in a matter of seconds.

Then, in the fifth, Gonzales went down swinging against Luzardo again.

His third at-bat, against Tanner Scott, came in the eighth inning with the Pirates in desperate need of some offense.

Davis had led off the inning with a walk and stole second base shortly thereafter.

With one out, Davis on second and the Pirates trailing 1-0, Gonzales finally made contact with the baseball, but barely, squeaking a grounder to third base that advanced Davis.

From there, Ji Hwan Bae struck out swinging to end the inning and defuse what had been the Pirates’ most promising offensive opportunity in the game.

But in the ninth inning, the Pirates finally came through at the plate, racking up five hits (they managed two from innings 1-8) and scoring three runs.

Connor Joe, Carlos Santana and Tucupita Marcano collected RBIs charged to Miami’s usually dependable closer A.J. Puk, with Josh Palacios and Andrew McCutchen also getting aboard with singles in the inning.

Just as Gonzales came to the plate for his fourth at-bat, Marcano was caught stealing second base, ending the fun prematurely.

From there, the Pirates turned to David Bednar in the bottom of the ninth, and he retired the Marlins in order to pick up his 15th save of the year.

Defensively, Gonzales didn’t see a ton of action at second base, but he did show off some range in the third inning, backhanding a grounder off the bat of Jorge Soler that threatened to escape the infield.

Nick Gonzales with some solid defense up the middle in his MLB debut pic.twitter.com/VMx5KkHgCb

— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) June 23, 2023

At Triple-A this year, Gonzales had played second base, shortstop and third base through 57 games.

He owned a .257 batting average with six home runs and 27 RBIs in 262 plate appearances with the Indians leading into his call-up.