Bucs' latest callup checks off some firsts

This story was excerpted from Justice delos Santos’ Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Miguel Perez, the manager of Triple-A Indianapolis, has a knack for getting creative when he tells players that they’re headed to the big leagues. Just ask Nick Gonzales.

“There was a play where Endy [Rodríguez] had hit a fly ball with two outs and I was at first,” recalled Gonzales. “He called me and said that I didn’t run hard to third base and he was going to bench [me] the next day or something like that. I thought I gave a pretty good effort -- I was safe at third -- but I didn’t say anything. Then, he told me, ‘You’re not playing because you’ll be playing for Pittsburgh.’”

Gonzales went hitless in his first three games -- he drew a walk and scored a run in his second game -- but the 24-year-old checked off a few boxes in the Pirates’ 9-4 win over the Padres on Tuesday.

In the second inning, Gonzales collected his first career hit and RBI with a towering triple that clanged off the Clemente Wall, scoring Rodolfo Castro. In the seventh inning, Gonzales hit one of the most aesthetically impressive home runs of the season, sending a 442-foot blast over the bushes in center field and hitting the batter’s eye.

Added Pirates manager Derek Shelton, "If you watch his lower half, it's really strong. The torque he's able to create I think is one of the reasons … we liked him coming out of the Draft. Once he gets it going, because of how strong he is in his lower half, he can really impact the baseball."

Gonzales becomes the third prospect in as many weeks to make his Major League debut, joining Carmen Mlodzinski (debuted on June 16) and Henry Davis (debuted on June 19).

“It’s really exciting to have these guys up here, guys who I’ve been playing with in the Minor Leagues and everything,” Gonzales said. “It’s exciting for me to see some familiar faces in the locker room and on the field.”

Gonzales’s promotion comes at a time when the Pirates need all the production they can get.

Even with Tuesday’s offense, the Pirates have lost 12 of their last 14 games and fallen from first to fourth place in the NL Central. For as rough as the previous two weeks have been, Pittsburgh is currently just five games out of first place in the division.

“I definitely realized that as soon as I got here,” Gonzales said. “You have to win. We want to win. Everyone wants to win. So, coming in here and helping out as best as I can is my focus.”