Former 1st-rounder Nick Gonzales among 7 Pirates prospects to play in Arizona Fall League
Seven Pittsburgh Pirates prospects, including 2020 first-round pick Nick Gonzales, will play for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League.
Gonzales is one of 17 top-100 prospects who will play in the AFL. He will be joined by middle infielder Ji-hwan Bae, outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba and right-handed pitchers Bear Bellomy, Michael Burrows, Roansy Contreras and Carmen Mlodzinski. Greensboro Grasshoppers manager Kieran Mattison also will coach with Peoria.
“We’re excited about a bunch of those guys getting a chance to play more,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Sunday on his weekly radio show on 93.7 The Fan. “They all missed some time this year so it’s an opportunity to make up for some of that.”
Gonzales, 22, is ranked the Pirates’ No. 4 prospect and was named their top hitting prospect by MLB Pipeline. The 22-year-old second baseman slashed .302/.385/.565 with 18 home runs and 54 RBIs in 80 games for High-A Greensboro despite missing more than a month with a fractured pinky finger.
Bae, 22, batted .281/.360/.422 with eight home runs and 33 RBIs in 85 games at Double-A Altoona, missing time with a knee injury after a collision.
Smith-Njigba, 22, one of four prospects acquired from the New York Yankees in the Jameson Taillon trade, batted .274/.398/.406 with six homers and 40 RBIs in 66 games at Altoona despite a thigh injury. He was promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis for the final seven games.
Bellomy, 24, was 9-2 with a 4.57 ERA and two saves over 67 innings in 34 relief appearances for Greensboro. Burrows, 21, was 2-2 with a 2.20 ERA and 0.90 WHIP in 13 starts for High-A Greensboro, despite missing time with an oblique injury.
Contreras, 21, was 3-2 with a 2.65 ERA and 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings for Altoona, despite missing two months with right forearm soreness. He was promoted to Indianapolis before making his major league debut with the Pirates, pitching three scoreless innings in a 3-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 29.
Mlodzinski, 22, was 2-4 with a 3.96 ERA and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings in 14 starts for Greensboro before being promoted to Indy. He dealt with right shoulder soreness.
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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