Nicholas Joseph Gonzales...Played on the varsity team at Cienaga High School in Vail, Ariz., where he hit .543 with nine doubles, three triples and four home runs as a senior...Was high school teammates with former Pirates RHP Andre Jackson...Is an avid fan of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys...Attends games regularly during the offseason...His favorite player growing up was Derek Jeter...Loves classic cars...His favorite is the 1986 Chevy square body Silverado...His older brother, Daniel, played football at the U.S. Naval Academy and is now a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marines...Signed by Pirates scout Derrick Van Dusen.
2023
Made his Major League debut as the starting second baseman on 6/23 at Miami and went hitless in three at-bats...Made 29 appearances (27 starts) at second base and nine appearances (seven starts) at shortstop while playing with the Pirates...Snapped an 0-for-8 start to his big league career with a triple and home run on 6/27 vs. San Diego; his first hit was an RBI triple off Reiss Knehr...Connected off Adrian Morejon for first home run; a 442-foot blast to center...Became one of only four players in team history whose first two MLB hits were a triple and home run (in either order) - also Mack Hillis (Aug. 15-16, 1928), Claude Hendrix (July 4 and Sept. 2, 1911) and Ed Poole (Oct. 12, 1900)...His first four career hits were a single, double, triple and homer, making him the second Pirates player in the Expansion Era (since 1961) to “hit for the cycle” with his first four career hits (also Ke’Bryan Hayes, who did so from Sept. 1-4, 2020)…Had a two-run double on 7/6 at Los Angeles (NL), giving him 11 RBI in his first 13 Major League games...Optioned back to Indianapolis on 8/3...Was recalled on 9/26 and played in four games with the Pirates to close out the season...2023 MINORS: Spent majority of season with Indianapolis...Led all Pittsburgh’s Minor League players in extra-base hits (49)...Finished tied for the International League lead with eight triples...Made 56 starts at second base, 22 at shortstop and 12 at third base...Also made five starts as the designated hitter...Hit his first Triple-A home run on 4/2 vs. Omaha...Was placed on the 7-day injured list on 4/26 (retro to 4/25) with a left shoulder strain...Was reinstated on 5/5 and had three hits as the leadoff batter that night at Toledo...Hit safely in eight straight games from 5/5-16 (13-for-37, .351)...Hit a grand slam on 5/31 vs. Toledo...Had a .440 on-base percentage and .270 batting average in his first 18 Triple-A games in June when he was selected to the big league roster on 6/23...Hit for the cycle and had five RBI on 9/19 vs. Rochester...Batted .314 (50-for-159) with 13 doubles, three triples, eight home runs, 22 RBI, a .392 on-base percentage and a .977 OPS in 42 games with Indianapolis after being optioned there on 8/3.
2022
Hit .264 with 21 doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 37 RBI in 74 games between Altoona, Bradenton and the Florida Complex League Pirates... Entered the season ranked as Pittsburgh’s No. 3 prospect according to Baseball America (No. 49 among the top 100 prospects in the game according to the same publication)… Was also ranked by Baseball America as the second-best prospect among second basemen behind Boston’s Nick Yorke…Began season with Altoona and reached base safely in 11 of his first 12 games through 4/23...Homered in his second game on 4/9 vs. Harrisburg...Hit a leadoff home run on the game’s first pitch on 4/29 at Akron...Hit .180 (16- for-89) in his first 26 games through 5/10; produced a .338 average in his next 17 games through 5/31, going 22-for-65 with four doubles, two homers, nine RBI and a .915 OPS...Hit .467 (14-for-30) during an eight-game hitting streak from 5/11-20...Went 3-for-5 with an RBI on his 23rd birthday on 5/27 at Harrisburg...Was placed on the seven-day injured list on 6/2 (retro to 6/1) with a heel injury...Was transferred to the 60-day injured list on 6/21 due to plantar fasciitis in his right heel...Began rehab assignment with Bradenton on 8/6 and went 0-for-3 with a walk and an RBI...Had rehab transferred to FCL on 8/8 and went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI that afternoon...Went 4-for-5 with three doubles, including a walk-off two-bagger, in a 3-2 win on 8/17 vs. Harrisburg...Went 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBI on 8/30 vs. Akron...Had three hits again on 9/1 vs. Akron... Had at least one extra-base hit in four+ straight games from 9/1-4...Reached base safely in 26 of his 28 games after returning from the injured list, batting .286 (30-for-105) with 12 doubles, three homers, 18 RBI and 18 walks... Made 57 appearances (57 starts) at second base between Altoona, Bradenton and the Florida Complex League and 14 appearances (12 starts) at shortstop with Altoona…Hit .279 (19-for-68) with four doubles, one triple, three home runs, 14 RBI and a .946 OPS in 18 games while playing with the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League.
2021
Was recognized by MLB Pipeline as the second-best prospect among second basemen in the game entering the season... Entered season ranked by Baseball America as the No. 1 prospect in the Pirates system...Also ranked by the same publication as the No. 51 prospect in Major League Baseball...Was rated by Baseball America as the “Best Hitter for Average” in Pittsburgh’s minor league system entering 2021...Spent entire season with Greensboro, where he ranked second in the High-A East League in on-base percentage, slugging and OPS, third in batting, seventh in doubles, ninth in total bases (183) and tied for ninth in hits...Was named to the High-A East League’s post-season All-Star team as a second baseman... Ranked fifth among Pirates minor leaguers in home runs and fourth in batting among Bucco farmhands with at least 300 plate appearances...His 16 home runs were tied for the most in all of Minor League Baseball at that position...Doubled in his professional debut while starting at second base on 5/4 vs. Hickory...Hit safely in each of his first four games (7-for-15) and in eight of his first nine (13-for-34, .382)...Connected for his first career home run in his second game on 5/5 vs. Hickory...Was placed on the seven-day injured list on 5/21 with a fracture to the volar plate on his right pinky finger...Homered in his first game back after being reinstated from the injured list on 6/26... Recorded first career four-hit game on 7/18 at Rome... Drove in eight runs on 8/29 at Asheville (tied for the most in a game by a High-A East League player for the season)... Was named the High-A East League Player-of-the-Month for August after hitting .364 (39-for-107) with 10 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, 28 RBI, a .419 OBP, .757 slugging percentage and 1.176 OPS in 24 games; led the High-A East League in hits, runs (24), total bases (81), doubles, home runs and slugging while finishing second in RBI...Took home High-A East League Player-of-the-Week honors for the week of 8/30 to 9/5 after going 8-for-22 with two doubles, a triple, three homers and 11 RBI in six games... Connected for a home run in Game Three of the High-A East League Championship series on 9/26 at Bowling Green...Made 73 appearances (72 starts) at second base and one appearance (one start) at shortstop...Hit .380 (27- for-71) with four doubles, one triple, two home runs, 13 RBI, a .483 OBP, .549 slugging percentage and 1.032 OPS in 19 games while playing for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League (ranked third in the league in batting, second in OBP, seventh in OPS and tied for seventh in hits)...Was named to Arizona Fall League’s Fall Stars Game, where he went 1-for-3 with a run scored...Ended the season rated as Pittsburgh’s fourth-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
2020
Was a member of the taxi squad at the alternate training site in Altoona...Was listed by MLB Pipeline as the “Best Hitter” in the Pirates minor league system following the season.
