Nick Gonzales is giving the Pirates exactly what they want from a bat in the middle of the order, and Pittsburgh appears ready to keep searching for ways to maximize him as the season winds down.
For the series opener against the San Francisco Giants at PNC Park on Sept. 1, the Pirates put Gonzales at designated hitter and slotted him into the fourth spot in the lineup. It marks his fourth start at DH in the last 10 games, a notable shift for a player who had never started there in his first 343 games with the club.
That move also sends Oneil Cruz back to center field after he handled DH duties in the 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Aug. 30.
Gonzales has made the most of his best offensive season yet. Through 128 games in 2026, he is hitting .307/.368/.396 with an OPS of .764, along with 148 hits, 23 doubles, six home runs and 57 RBI. Those numbers place him fourth in baseball in batting average, 21st in on-base percentage and second in BABIP at .366.
The bat has played. The glove has not.
After moving to third base this season when Brandon Lowe became the starting second baseman, Gonzales has had a rough time settling in. He has posted -14 defensive runs saved and -11 outs above average at third, the worst and second-worst marks at the position in MLB in 2026.
Pittsburgh has already been mixing and matching around that issue. Gonzales has started twice at third base over the past two weeks and has also gotten four starts at second base. In the DH role, though, he’s looked far more comfortable, hitting .429/.500/.500 with an OPS of 1.000 in three starts, with six hits in 14 at-bats, a double and four RBI.
The Pirates have also leaned more heavily on Jared Triolo at third base, with eight starts in the past 16 games, while Nick Yorke has started six games since coming back from Triple-A Indianapolis. That points to a likely split for Gonzales between DH and second base, with third base coming less often.
Against Giants right-hander Logan Webb, Pittsburgh went with a more familiar-looking lineup. Triolo is at third base after Yorke started the previous game, and Jacob Gonzalez is at shortstop as a left-handed hitter. Spencer Horwitz and Lowe, both left-handed bats, are in the first two spots in the order at first base and second base.
The outfield stays in its regular shape, with Bryan Reynolds hitting third in left field, Cruz batting fifth in center and rookie Esmerlyn Valdez sixth in right. Henry Davis is behind the plate and will catch Paul Skenes, who is coming off a strong outing against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Aug. 25.
In Other News...
Pirates Catching Depth Move Could Hint At Something Bigger
The Pirates added another name to their catching mix this week, signing Jose Herrera to a minor league contract and sending him to Triple-A Indianapolis. Herrera had spent time in the Texas Rangers organization and also played in the Mexican League after his release, but his best-known work has come in the majors with the Arizona Diamondbacks. For Pittsburgh, it is the kind of depth move teams make when they want another experienced hand close to the big league picture.
Herrera is expected to help stabilize the catching inventory in the Pirates minor league system, giving the organization some insurance behind the plate. Moves like this do not usually draw much attention on their own, but they can say plenty about how a club wants to protect itself over a long season, especially at a position where bodies can disappear quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Suddenly Have A Tough Decision On A Forgotten Top Pick
Lonnie White Jr. has pushed his way back onto the Pirates radar in a real way this season, and its not just because he was once viewed as one of the organizations more notable young talents. After years of uneven development, the former top prospect has put together a strong 2025 across Hi-A and Double-A, showing the kind of production that can change how a club views a player in a hurry. His combination of power and speed has stood out, and the overall line has made it hard to keep treating him like a forgotten name in the system.
For Pittsburgh, the question now is less about whether White has re-entered the conversation and more about how to handle the next roster crunch. Adding him to the 40-man roster would be a way to keep him out of Rule 5 Draft risk, even if he is not yet ready for a big-league call-up. It is the sort of decision teams prefer to make before the deadline pressures pile up, and it gives the Pirates a small but meaningful test of how much they still believe in a player whose stock looked far more uncertain not long ago. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Suddenly Have A Bullpen Problem At The Worst Time
The Pirates added another layer of uncertainty to a bullpen that has already been asked to do a lot, placing right-handed reliever Kirby Yates on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Aug. 31 because of a right shoulder impingement. Pittsburgh moved quickly to cover the opening, recalling rookie right-hander Khristian Curtis from Triple-A Indianapolis before its series finale against the Giants, a sign the club needed fresh arms available right away.
Wilber Dotel also got the call back up as part of the same round of roster shuffling, while Evan Sisk was optioned to Indianapolis. The timing is less than ideal for a Pirates team trying to keep its late-game options intact, and Yates injury leaves the staff waiting to see how deep the bullpen hole becomes before the next stretch of games really settles in. [Read more 🡒]