Q&A with Pirates prospects Gonzales and Peguero

ALTOONA, Pa. – When everyone is heathy, the Altoona Curve, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, has the most stocked roster in all of Minor League Baseball. We believed that to be true at the start of the 2022 season, and the promotion of 2021 No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis only cemented it in place.

This Curve team boasts four Top 100 prospects and 13 of the current Pirates’ Top 30. It's an exciting bonus in player development when players can move and learn together. Nowhere is that more evident than up the middle, where Nick Gonzales at second base and Liover Peguero at shortstop have formed a strong bond as the potential future double-play combination in Pittsburgh.

Before MLB Pipeline's Game of the Month between Altoona and Orioles affiliate Bowie on Sunday, Pipeline checked in with this dynamic duo and discussed their friendship, their proximity to the big leagues and being part of an organization that clearly promotes from within.

Mayo: Double-A, everyone talks about that being the big leap. How's that been so far for you?

Peguero: It's been pretty good, you know? Just trying to stick with some stuff, trying to get better.

Gonzales: Yeah, it's been good, making our adjustments, having fun with Pegowski over here. We're learning a lot and I think it's cool to see guys go to the big leagues. Guys who were on our team a few weeks ago are up in the big leagues, so we're all really excited and we’re looking forward to it.

Mayo: Does that give you even more motivation? Jack Suwinski recently hit a game-winning homer in the big leagues. He was just here a few weeks ago. How do you not get too ahead of yourself when something like that happens?

Peguero: I don’t know why, but for some reason, when I saw that, I felt like I was there. I felt like I was in that moment. We are pretty close friends and I was so excited. It was amazing to watch. Right now, I feel like I’m at the point where I can’t wait. It was so special, so great to see that.

Mayo: I want to talk about the two of you. It's great for player development if two players can come up together, but when they're a double-play combination, I think it's even more special. Can you talk about how you guys have clicked, because I know you're not necessarily the same personality-wise?

Gonzales: Yeah, we’re a little ying and yang. Peggy is more “on” than me; he’s a little louder than I am. But we really connect together. The first time we were here in Altoona in 2020 for the alternate site, we really meshed together well. His defense complements mine and we help each other. We're just working together and working hard to get to the big leagues together and do what we can to be the best players we can be out here. He's just a great, funny guy to be around and he cares so much so I can't ask for anything more.

Peguero: One of the things right now I think is great for us, we're always trying to be on the same page, always try to stay together and stick on the same thing all the time. Even though sometimes it's kind of hard to understand each other because we’re in different positions, but we're always trying to have a solution for everything. I feel if we stay with it, keep growing up with it, we can be the greatest duo.

Mayo: Ever?

Peguero: Oh, there’s no doubt. We’ve got confidence.

Mayo: Nick, you've played a good amount of shortstop, both college and maybe not as much as a pro. Does it help you even if you're different kinds of players?

Gonzales: Yeah, I think so. When you're short for certain double plays, you run a certain way. So when I'm at second that helps me because I see the ball hit and I know how he's going to attack it. I have to work myself around the base a certain way back, backing up throws and everything like that. So it's good experience that I played short.

Mayo: I think one of the things is sort of interesting about your friendship is you come from different backgrounds. Nick, you came from the Draft. Liover, you came via trade and originally from the international market. Do you ever stop and think about how all these guys cross paths and you never know who you're going to click with?

Gonzales: I don't know any Spanish. Then when I first met him, his English is so good and I was a little caught off-guard by that. Peggy was the first Latin player I met in pro ball, and he speaks fluent English. We clicked so well there too. And that's another compliment to Peggy, he works hard at his English and he's got it down. That’s another plus thing from him.

Mayo: Liover, I think I saw you do interviews in English as far back as Rookie ball. Where does that drive come from, where you knew that was going to be something important for you here?

Peguero: I feel like I started realizing it when I was 12 years old because I came here to play a tournament. And I loved the language as soon as I got here, and for some reason, I knew that I would need it for the future. It's a passion that I have for the language and the culture, you know what I mean? And then when I turned 16 and got signed, I was like, “Oh, look at my English. I'm good. I'm in a good spot right now.”

Mayo: Conversely, Nick, I would imagine you play baseball. Your name is Nick Gonzales. Do people just come up to you speaking Spanish?

Gonzales: All the time. They ask, ‘Your last name is Gonzales. Your family's from Mexico, right?’ I’m like, “No, Arizona. We're all from Arizona.” They might say, “Someone's got to be from Mexico.” I’m sure someway, somewhere way down the road, but we all speak English.

Mayo: We talked a lot about you as a double-play combination. I want to talk about you offensively. Nick, I know you got off to a little bit of a slow start. How much do you guys fuel each other? And know you have each other's backs?

Gonzales: We help each other a ton in pre-game, BP, everything, hitting together. It’s always fun watching this guy hit. I enjoy watching him go about it every day, so I’m always learning from him; we’re always learning from everyone here on the team. I think it’s great stuff.

Peguero: One of the things I've always loved is that we're always trying to look for those little details and trying to get better every day. So I feel like that's one of the things that will help us to move forward all the time. More when we are hitting on the early hitting stuff or in the infield, I feel like we're always trying to talk about some little things and trying to get better. He's always trying to pick me back up whenever I’m struggling and I'm doing the same thing back to him. I feel if we’re still doing that, we’re going to have a long way in baseball.