{"id":101516,"date":"2025-06-03T18:11:25","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T22:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=101516"},"modified":"2025-06-03T18:19:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T22:19:47","slug":"pirates-activate-nick-gonzales-injured-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/06\/03\/pirates-activate-nick-gonzales-injured-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Activate Nick Gonzales from 60-Day IL, Among Other Moves"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Pirates have reinstated second baseman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gonzani01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Gonzales<\/a> from the 60-day injured list. He had been out since <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/03\/28\/pirates-nick-gonzales-injured-list-ankle\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">injuring his ankle<\/a> after hitting a home run on Opening Day. The Pirates also assigned the contract of outfielder\/first baseman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/solakni01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Solak<\/a> to Triple-A Indianapolis, dropping him from the 26- and 40-man rosters to make room for Gonzales. Additionally, right-handed relief pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nicolky01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Nicolas<\/a> was recalled from Indianapolis. The Pirates bullpen was short a pitcher after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/raineta01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tanner Rainey<\/a> was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/06\/02\/pirates-claim-ronny-simon-dfa-tanner-rainey\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">designated for assignment<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We have ended the rehab assignment of INF Nick Gonzales and reinstated him from the 60-day injured list.<\/p>\n<p>INF\/OF Nick Solak has had his contract assigned outright to Triple-A Indianapolis to make room on the 40- and 26-man rosters.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, RHP Kyle Nicolas has been\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Pirates\/status\/1929962258068557982?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 3, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Pirates Reinstate Nick Gonzales from IL<\/h2>\n<p>Gonzales, the Pirates&#8217; No. 1 draft pick in 2020, first came up to the big club in 2023. In 130 games over parts of three major league seasons, he\u2019s hit .256\/.300\/.392 with 10 HR and 64 RBI. He broke camp as the Pirates&#8217; starting second baseman before his unfortunate injury. He\u2019s also seen action at shortstop, where he played at <a href=\"https:\/\/nmstatesports.com\/sports\/baseball\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Mexico State<\/a>, and third base in the majors.<\/p>\n<p>Rehabbing at Indianapolis, Gonzales was just 7-for-36 in nine games, striking out 11 times. However, he also suffered a setback during his assignment, missing action after being struck on the hand with a pitch. Gonzales arrives in a \u201cNick\u201d of time, joining a Pirates offense that\u2019s been a little better lately, but continues to lag among the bottom feeders in the majors in most important offensive categories. His arrival moves <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/fraziad01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adam Frazier<\/a>, who did an <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/28\/adam-frazier-pirates-hot-streak\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">adequate job in his place<\/a>, to the utility role for which he\u2019s better suited.<\/p>\n<h3>Other Moves<\/h3>\n<p>Since having his contract selected by the Pirates on May 16, Solak was seldom used, going 1-for-11 in four games. He earned the promotion by hitting .393\/.452\/.625 with 6 HR and 19 RBI at Indy. Apparently, the Pirates&#8217; brain trust decided fairly quickly that he wasn\u2019t the answer to their offensive woes. Soon, the right-handed hitter was relegated to duty as the No. 3 left fielder behind two other right-handed hitters, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/canaral01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alexander Canario<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/phamth01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tommy Pham<\/a>, leaving him without much of a role on the club.<\/p>\n<p>Hard-throwing right-hander Nicolas was with the Pirates at the beginning of the season. He gave up nine earned runs in 7 2\/3 innings \u2013 ironically, the same numbers that Rainey put up before receiving his walking papers. At Indianapolis, Nicolas notched two saves and struck out 25 of 69 batters faced, which amounted to an incredible 15.7 strikeouts per nine innings. It was the batters who he didn\u2019t strike out that gave him trouble. He also posted a 4.40 ERA and 1.814 WHIP while walking 6.3 per nine. One wonders whether he\u2019s a mere placeholder for No. 1 prospect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=chandl002roy&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bubba Chandler<\/a>. Chandler should arrive around mid-June after his Super 2 status is no longer in play. Not that this writer would ever accuse a major league team of manipulating a player\u2019s service time for financial advantage.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_101530\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-101530\" style=\"width: 464px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-101530\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25916283_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"464\" height=\"309\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25916283_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25916283_168400885_lowres-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25916283_168400885_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25916283_168400885_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25916283_168400885_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25916283_168400885_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25916283_168400885_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 464px) 100vw, 464px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-101530\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reliever Kyle Nicolas will also rejoin the Pirates roster today. (Photo Credit: \u00a9 Frank Bowen IV\/The Enquirer \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>Gonzales is in the lineup batting sixth for Tuesday evening\u2019s contest between the Pirates and Houston Astros at PNC Park. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/horwisp01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spencer Horwitz<\/a>, recently <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/17\/pirates-activate-spencer-horwitz-injured-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">activated from the IL<\/a> himself, will hit cleanup. It took until June 3, but finally the Pirates have the starting lineup that they\u2019d envisioned before the season.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Pirates have reinstated second baseman Nick Gonzales from the 60-day injured list. He had been out since injuring his ankle after hitting a home run on Opening Day. The Pirates also assigned the contract of outfielder\/first baseman Nick Solak to Triple-A Indianapolis, dropping him from the 26- and 40-man rosters to make room [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":101529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1071,35],"tags":[1103,5062,4906,3720,3605,4197,28345,2300,1087],"class_list":["post-101516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-mlb","category-news","tag-adam-frazier","tag-alexander-canario","tag-bubba-chandler","tag-kyle-nicolas","tag-nick-gonzales","tag-nick-solak","tag-spencer-horwitz","tag-tanner-rainey","tag-tommy-pham"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101516"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101532,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101516\/revisions\/101532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}