3:39pm: The Pirates also plan to add shortstop prospect Liover Peguero to their player pool, general manager Ben Cherington told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other reporters. The 19-year-old Peguero was part of Pittsburgh’s return from Arizona for outfielder Starling Marte in the teams’ offseason trade.
12:01pm: The Pirates are bringing recent top draft pick Nick Gonzales to the club’s auxiliary Summer Camp at Altoona, Adam Young of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. He’ll be formally added to the 60-man player pool once he clears coronavirus testing.
Gonzales just signed on with the Bucs after being taken with the seventh overall pick of the recent amateur draft. The New Mexico State second baseman is a highly polished collegiate hitter.
The 21-year-old’s overall track record is impressive as it is, but Gonzales’s shortened 2020 season was flat out ridiculous. In 82 plate appearances, he launched a dozen home runs and drew 21 walks, producing an outlandish .448/.610/1.155 slash line.
There’s every reason to think that Gonzales will be a rather quick mover up the ladder of the Pirates farm system … once he gets a place to start, at least. By gaining exposure now to MLB and near-MLB pitching, he’ll have a chance to earn a rather lofty affiliate placement next spring.
