Miami – While Nick Gonzales carefully directed the bases after his sixth round home run on the opening day on Thursday, it was clear that he did not feel 100%. Now, the hackers will be without their second base player for at least in the short term, because he was placed on the list of wounded 10 days before the victory of Friday 4-3 against the Marlins with a fracture of the left ankle not moved, by Manager Derek Shelton.
The club returns Gonzales to Pittsburgh to see a feet specialist, so there is not a good estimate for the duration of the shelf. An unpleasant fracture is a type of injury different from what Oneil Cruz underwent in 2023 when he fractured the left ankle, for the comparison.
Gonzales hung several throws from his ankle during a spring training match on March 19 in Port Charlotte, Florida, but he was able to go through training and finish spring without problem. Shelton mentioned Thursday after the match that the pirates began to notice that Gonzales looked a little hampered when setting up a contextual window at the bottom of the fifth, but he was still in a place good enough to swing a bat over half. And it is difficult to challenge the result – a shot of two points on the left field – but it was lifted for Adam Frazier after a slower than normal trot around the bases.
“The just watching the databases running, just didn’t like what we saw,” Shelton said after the match on Thursday.
The pirates counted that Gonzales was a racing producer this year after a solid campaign of 2024 during which he reduced .270 / .311 / .398 with seven circuits and 49 points produced on 94 games. A choice of first round in 2020, it seemed that he had claimed the position of his after a year of internal competition.
The injury comes at an inappropriate time, because the hackers are already at the bottom of a player on the right side of their inner field – the first basic player Spencer Horwitz (right wrist surgery). Endy Rodríguez started at the first goal of the first two games of the season, but he will also have to take representatives behind marble to relieve Joey Bart. The other options on the list are public service indexes Jared Triolo and Adam Frazier, who will also have to play the second goal.
Valdez also adds depth to the inner field, although he barely played the first goal (72 1/3 heats in a career in career, including 23 last season). He mainly played the second and third goal, and was acquired this off -season of the Red Sox to add depth to the inner field. Valdez reduced .214 / .270 / .363 with six circuits and 28 points produced on 223 plaques appearances in the majors, and he had a .776 OPS in 50 games at Triple-A Worcester.
While Valdez’s major leagues statistics lacked last season, its peripherals were encouraging. According to the baseball scientist, he recorded clips better than the average for the average output speed (89.4 MPH), the barrel rate (9.2%), the percentage for sure (41.8%) and the assistance rate (22.1%).
“Polyvylity, a left -handed ability to strike,” said Shelton on Friday about what is attractive about Valdez. “We knew that he could strike when we acquired him. Valdy has shown the ability to strike. The fact that he can play everywhere in the diamond is something that we appreciate a little. ”
Valdez was not the only option of pirates to the second goal. Nick Yorke, the team n ° 5 of the team according to the MLB pipeline, was one of the last cuts of the team this formation in the spring, and although its statistics from the Pamplemousse League were not great (.206 average in the stick, 0.575 ops in 42 plaques appearances), it struck the durge ball (a better 95.4 MPH output speed). Yorke also took some representatives at the first base this spring, and he can play around diamonds. However, the pirates did not seem to want to deviate from the plan they have in place for him.
“I think that with Nick, we wanted to put it on the ground and move our feet a little,” said Shelton. “Valdy played in the big leagues. He played in this role, although Nick Yorke has too. But I think at the moment, we have seen a better adjustment right now.”
