Gonzalez’s story is fascinating for those of us who love to explore the prospects and unpredictable of baseball.
And it is curious that the Guardians they would have lost Gonzalez in the Rule 5 draftof not having been canceled this season, and to date it has been a bright spot in the performance of the Major League team so far this season.
But more intriguing still, the boy was a free agent of minor leagues. Any team could have signed him. Turns out Gonzalez said didn’t want to leave the Cleveland organization and quickly re-signed with the Guardians. But if another organization had been enthusiastic about him, they could have immediately contacted his agent and struck a deal. Not that it generated much interest.
González was an international player who left the country in 2014. your bonus of $300,000 it was the biggest the team gave to any of the Dominican players that season.
Baseball America when Gonzalez was originally signed wrote. About him: “The biggest bonus went to 17-year-old Dominican outfielder Oscar Gonzalez, who signed for $300,000 on July 2. His coach, Wason Brazoban, is a Dominican singer whose hit song ‘En Un Solo Día’ reached number 47 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart. Gonzalez has a big, strong frame (6-foot-2, 180 pounds) with good power potential from the right side. He has more power than a pure hitter right now, with below-average speed and an above-average arm that should fit in right field. He will be a starter in the Dominican Summer League.”
González was well regarded early in his career, but scouts began to believe that he swung too many pitches out of the strike zoneeven in minors.
While he wasn’t a strikeout machine, scouts thought his undisciplined approach led to weak fly balls out of the strike zone. They projected that major league pitchers would take advantage of that.
Looking ahead to 2021, González was 23 years old. He had been a professional for five years. He had slipped down MLB.com’s list of the top 30 Cleveland prospects. Then, González surprised everyone by hitting 31 HR with 83 RBI between Class AA and AAA in 2021, hitting .293 (.871 OPS).
This was the report from Baseball America at the end of 2021: “Gonzalez has long had more raw power, but this year he’s doing a better job of swinging on pitches he can really connect with. The likelihood of Gonzalez becoming an everyday hitter remains slim. He also has a good arm in the outfield. He is more likely to be a power bat with ups and downs.”
That probably matches what most MLB teams thought. In 504 plate appearances, González had 112 strikeouts compared to 22 walks walks in 2021. Strikeouts weren’t bad, but the walk ratio was concerning.
Ever since he was promoted to Guardians, he still rarely take tickets, twice in 75 plate appearances. But he only has 11 strikeouts. He has shortened his swing, makes hard contact and doesn’t care about home runs, he has none. But he came into this Thursday morning hitting .361 (26-for-72) with nine doubles.
Is it legit?
This could be the case of a maturing player. He never showed more power in the minors until 2021. Let’s see where he goes, but he loves the joy with which he performs on the field. That the song for his at-bats is SpongeBob is great.
