Pirates 2B Nick Gonzales ready to get back to playing baseball on rehabilitation assignment

After being sidelined since Opening Day with a non-displaced fracture of his left ankle, Nick Gonzales was readying himself to round the bases one more time at PNC Park.

Proving he could make cuts and handle turns was the final step for the Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman to be cleared to return to playing baseball on a rehabilitation assignment for Triple-A Indianapolis.

Before he could run, Gonzales had to walk.

Asked what he missed most about baseball during his downtime, Gonzales didn’t hesitate to offer a laugh and a ready response.

“It’s funny you ask because just being in the scooter and on crutches, I just missed walking. I missed walking normally,” Gonzales told TribLive on Saturday. “Then you get back to walking and you’re like, ‘I miss hitting so much. I just want to hit.’ As trainers can attest, I wanted to hit super early – before I was ready to – so just to be back on the field and hit the baseball after four or five weeks, it’s been great. I’m excited.”

Gonzales graduated from fielding ground balls to taking batting practice and would love to pick up where he left off. That’s especially true, considering his last hit was a home run against the Miami Marlins in the season opener. It was during his celebratory trot that a hobbled Gonzales realized he could no longer tolerate the pain he was playing through after fouling a pitch off his left ankle.

“That’s the plan,” said Gonzales, who turns 26 on May 27. “It’s real tough, (after) the first game of the year, to be out. To miss a significant amount of time was no fun. I’m ready to get back to play some ball.”

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington warned that Gonzales had to overcome the most challenging part of returning from a serious injury, which is learning to trust that his body has healed.

“It’s psychological as much as anything,” Cherington said on his weekly radio show Sunday on 93.7 The Fan, “just having confidence that that part of your body is healed and you can stress it fully.”

First, Gonzales had to get out of the protective boot and off the scooter after a month. He walked slowly on the treadmill while wearing the boot. Once it was off, he progressed to using an anti-gravity machine, which lifted him up by the waist to keep his body weight off the ankle. The percentage of weight bearing increased by 10% daily until he was ready to start running.

“Every day has been progress, which is good,” Gonzales said. “Just being in a boot and not a scooter, which is my left leg or ankle for four or five weeks, I didn’t think I would have any problems getting out of it. But I’d never been in that situation before. The first few days of walking around and running especially just felt like my left leg wasn’t moving as fast and I didn’t have as much rebound. Every day has been better.”

Gonzales said the plan is for him to build up from five innings to seven innings before playing a full game at Indianapolis, but he doesn’t expect to have to spend a lot of time in the minors.

Neither does Cherington, given that Gonzales had a full spring training.

“He was in a good spot,” Cherington said. “Wouldn’t anticipate that we’d need the full rehab assignment with that one.”

To miss so much of the season has been disappointing for Gonzales, who batted .319/.377/.536 with four doubles, three home runs and 16 RBIs last May after being recalled. He finished the season batting .270 with 19 doubles, seven homers and 49 RBIs in 94 games.

Gonzales studied pitchers from the home dugout during his recovery but is ready to experience playing at PNC Park again.

“I’m excited to see the fans, interact with the fans, have people cheer,” Gonzales said. “I love it. I love the people here. I do what I can to provide and have them root me on.”