If the Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t concerned about the poor spring training performance of Marco Gonzales so far, perhaps they should be. The Pirates obtained Gonzales, 32, in a trade with the Atlanta Braves last December, just two days after the Braves picked him up from the Seattle Mariners. He was one of two major offseason pitching acquisitions by the Pirates, along with Martín Pérez. Both are ticketed for slots in the Pirates’ starting rotation in 2024.
Marco Gonzales’ Poor Spring Training
Question Marks
Both acquisitions came with some question marks. In 2023, Gonzales was limited to 10 games due to forearm surgery on his pitching arm. In that limited action, he was 4-1 but with a 5.22 ERA. Lifetime, the left-hander is 65-49 with a 4.14 ERA and 1.289 WHIP over nine seasons. Pérez, soon to be 33, who is also left-handed, pitched for the Texas Rangers last year. He was banished to the bullpen when Texas acquired Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery at the trade deadline. At that time, Pérez was 8-4 but with a 4.98 ERA and 5.30 FIP. He finished 10-4 with a 4.45 ERA.
But whereas Pérez has shone in the spring exhibition games, Gonzales has struggled. At the close of Wednesday’s action, in 12 innings Pérez has a 0.75 ERA, 0.917 WHIP, and 3.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has looked like a steal at $8 million and should fit nicely as a number two starter in the Pirates’ rotation. However, for Gonzales, his poor spring training has resulted in a 9.88 ERA over 13 2/3 innings. His 2.122 WHIP and 15.1 hits per nine suggest a veritable merry-go-round on the bases when he’s been on the mound.
Gonzales in the Recent Past
Even when healthy, Gonzales’s baseball career has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride. In 2022, he led the American League with 15 losses for a Mariners team that won 90 games. In 2021, he was 10-6 with a 3.96 ERA and 1.165 WHIP. However, his 5.28 FIP suggests there may have been some luck involved. Gonzales recorded a 7-2 record in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season to go with a 3.10 ERA, 0.947 WHIP, and MLB-leading 9.14 strikeout-to-walk ratio that likely wasn’t sustainable had it been a full season. One must go back to 2019, when he led the majors with 34 starts, for his last impressive full campaign. That year, he was 16-13 with a 3.99 ERA for a Seattle team that lost 94 games.
Gonzales features a four-seam fastball that sits at around 88-89 mph, which he throws more than a third of the time. His curve and change-up both register at 78-79 mph. There’s also a show-me cutter with a velocity just a tick below the four-seamer. He relies on control and changing his pitching pattern enough to keep the batters guessing.
Reasons for Concern
Spring training games for Gonzales began with a poor performance against the Braves on February 27. On that day, he gave up six hits and three earned runs in 1-2/3 innings before being removed. Against those same Braves on March 8, things were just a little better. He gave up three runs, two earned, over 3-1/3 innings. Gonzales was much better against the Baltimore Orioles on March 14, surrendering only one run in five innings of work while facing a lineup of mostly regulars.
However, Wednesday evening’s outing against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field was an unmitigated disaster. In 3-2/3 innings, Gonzales gave up nine runs on 10 hits, including four home runs, three by Giancarlo Stanton. His ERA for the spring now sits at 9.88. On that night, the Yankees scored four runs in the first inning, during which Stanton went deep. When Stanton hit a one-out grand slam in the second, Gonzales was removed in favor of Ryder Ryan. Gonzales returned to the mound in the bottom of the third under a spring training-only rule that allows pitchers to reenter the game after they’ve been taken out. He managed to strand two runners in that inning before getting touched up by Stanton one more time in the fourth.
Just One Game, But . . .
Yes, it’s understood that it’s only one game. That if it were the regular season, Gonzales wouldn’t have been left in that long. That pitchers use spring training to work on things. But whatever he was working on, the result was another poor performance by Gonzales this spring training. Pitches in the 80s were left over the plate. Exit velocities were high on most of the Yankees’ hits against him. The hitters looked very comfortable in the batter’s box. Not many of the Yankees’ 10 hits against Gonzales were cheap ones. Sometimes you just give credit to the other team. Not this time.
Let’s talk a little Marco Gonzales and Pirates starting rotation on the 2-minute wrap. pic.twitter.com/hb1w6U4z2u
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) March 21, 2024
Reasons to Chill Out
Then again, maybe a poor spring training is the norm for Gonzales. In 2023, his spring stats showed a 5.56 ERA and 1.412 WHIP. Those figures were 4.63 and 1.457, respectively, in the spring of 2022. His 2021 spring statistics were the ugliest of the three previous years. He had a 6.32 ERA to go with a 1.660 WHIP and 12.6 hits per nine. As noted, his 2021 season wasn’t so terrible, and in 2022 and 2023 he improved upon his spring training numbers.
How does one explain that 2021 season and his 1.165 WHIP with an incongruous 5.28 FIP? The answer to that might lie in the fact that five percent of all hitters he faced in 2021 – one of every 20 – touched him up for home runs. Gonzales shouldn’t be hurt by the long ball as often in PNC Park with its cavernous left and center fields.
The Last Word
Gonzales has always profiled as a back-of-the-rotation starter. As one of the few veteran starters on the Pirates’ staff, he might be miscast as a number two or three guy. Perhaps the unexpected emergence of Jared Jones as a stud on the mound will allow Gonzales to be pushed back in the rotation. That might allow him time for one more spring training outing to fix whatever issues are behind his poor performance. The situation isn’t alarming yet, but it’s concerning.
Photo Credit: © Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
