Marco Gonzales Stats & Scouting Report

IP	33.2
ERA	4.54
WHIP	1.6
BB/9	2.94
SO/9	6.15

Full name Marco Elias Gonzales
Born 02/16/1992 in Fort Collins, CO
Profile Ht.: 6'1" / Wt.: 205 / Bats: L / Throws: L
School Gonzaga
Debut 06/25/2014
Drafted in the 1st round (19th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013 (signed for $1,850,000).

View Draft Report

Gonzales has grown up around the game. His father Frank was a lefthander who played eight years in the minor leagues and is the Rockies' short-season pitching coach this season. Marco was on the mound for four consecutive state championships in high school and will rank near the top of a few career records at Gonzaga after three years. He doesn't have a high ceiling, but at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds he's polished and is a good athlete who has played both ways for the Bulldogs. His fastball sits in the 88-91 mph range. It can get flat at times, but he paints the corners with above-average command. But he's getting drafted for his changeup, the best in this year's class. It's a deceptive offering with fade and scouts have no problem grading it as a 70 pitch on the 20-80 scale. He also mixes in an average curveball and cutter. Scouts love Gonzales' makeup and he could move quickly through the minor leagues. With his frame, stuff and athleticism he has earned comparisons to Jason Vargas.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Between the breakout of Michael Wacha and the advent of Alex Reyes, Gonzales stood out as the team's top prospect. He moved as swiftly to the majors as Wacha and had as prominent a late-season role as Reyes, making six relief appearances in the 2014 playoffs. But before Gonzales cemented himself in the majors, his elbow betrayed him. The lefty missed all of the 2016 season recovering from Tommy John and he'll return to a uncertain place, first as a starter at Triple-A Memphis. A prep star in Colorado who won four consecutive state championships, Gonzales was also a two-way star at Gonzaga. The 19th overall pick in 2013, he made his major league debut at Coors Field less than 12 months later. At his peak, he throws 88-91 mph, and he uses a precision fastball to setup his best pitch, a superior changeup that he once said he knows as well as a handshake. In 2015, the zip on some of his pitches slipped and his changeup became less effective. He pitched through some soreness and eventually surrendered to surgery in the spring. In Gonzales, the Cardinals see a reliable starter but perhaps a more effective, devilish multi-inning reliever. He'll have the first half of this season to prove his health before they determine his role.
A prep star who won four state championship games for Rocky Mountain High in Fort Collins, Colo., Gonzales was a two-way All-American at Gonzaga who reached the majors at the end of his first full season, even going 2-1 during the 2014 postseason. However, two bouts of shoulder soreness/weakness, neither of which required surgery, conspired to sap Gonzales' stuff and limit him to 14 starts at Triple-A Memphis in 2015. Gonzales wasn't at his best in 2015, either in terms of velocity or command, and his lack of margin for error was exposed. Even at his best, he pitches with an average 88-91 mph fastball that he must locate with precision to set up his go-to pitch, a circle changeup that has earned double-plus grades at its best. Gonzales plays it off his sinker at times or complements it with a solid, if a bit slow, low- to mid-70s curveball with good depth. He is a fine athlete who repeats his delivery well when he's at full strength. All his stuff was flatter and less lively for much of 2015, leaving him quite hittable. Strength and conditioning in the offseason will be crucial for Gonzales to reclaim a spot on the Cardinals' depth chart, and he's fallen behind Tim Cooney, with Alex Reyes gaining quickly. He still has a shot to be a No. 4 starter if he regains his past firmness.
Following a familiar formula that led them to Michael Wacha the year before and Luke Weaver the year after, the Cardinals drafted Gonzales 19th overall in 2013 as a polished, athletic pitcher from a strong program who had a plus changeup and a history of winning. He signed quickly for $1.85 million and advanced even quicker. It took the Gonzaga product 21 starts in the minors before he made his big league debut on June 25, starting for the Cardinals at Coors Field. Gonzales grew up a Rockies fan, and thousands of friends and family made the hour drive from his hometown to see him pitch just a few blocks from where he helped his Fort Collins, Colo., high school win four consecutive state championships. His father Frank Gonzales was allowed to leave his job as pitching coach in the Rockies' minor league system to attend. It was Frank who urged his son to learn the changeup'the offspeed equalizer a mile above sea level--but the son didn't commit to pitching full time until turning pro. He led Gonzaga in hitting as a junior and gained recognition as one of the top two-way players. That kind of agility drew the Cardinals to him, and they identified him early as a lefty who could climb quickly. Gonzales once joked that his changeup "is as much a part of me as walking." He can find the circle-change grip in the dark and never doubts his feel for what is a true swing-and-miss pitch. It has a late drop, and he adds to the deception by not varying his delivery speed or arm angle from changeup to fastball. He is willing to throw to hitters on either side of the plate, and in his debut he flummoxed Troy Tulowitzki with a series of changeups for a strikeout. His fastball hums in the 88-91 mph range and averaged 90 in the majors. The changeup runs 12 mph less, and he mixes in a sinker (89.5 mph) and an occasional curve (74.5 mph). His curve has good depth. All of that comes from an easy delivery that he is able to maintain, and that consistency aids his command, but he'll have to improve upon the control to blossom. The Cardinals were so intrigued by Gonzales-- late-season turn as a reliever that they used him in a prominent role in the postseason and intend to find some role for him in the majors in 2015. He'll come to spring training competing with Carlos Martinez for the rotation, and the Cardinals believe his future is as a starter. But an assignment to the bullpen would reduce his innings--which the team intends to do regardless of role--and let him learn while letting it loose. The giddyup they saw on Gonzales' fastball out of the bullpen means the team could fit him for a late-inning role for his first full season in the majors, just as Adam Wainwright did in 2006 before moving into the rotation.
With the 19th pick in the 2013 draft, the Cardinals followed a familiar formula, taking a college pitcher who had a winning pedigree, athleticism and a plus changeup. That profile fit Michael Wacha in 2012 and Gonzales in 2013. The Gonzaga lefty is the son of Rockies short-season pitching coach Frank Gonzales. Marco checked all the boxes--including the character ones--the Cardinals use for evaluation, and he signed quickly for $1.85 million. With Wacha's promotion, Gonzales has the best changeup in the system. The lefty pitches with purpose, starting with a fastball that hums in the 88-91 mph range with late tail. He's improving two breaking pitches to give him something else to play off the command of his fastball, flashing an average curve with depth. Gonzales has an easy, refined, metronome-like delivery that he can repeat, adding to above-average command of his pitches. Gonzales threw and 106 innings for Gonzaga in 2013, so the Cardinals used him sparingly in his pro debut to manage his workload. He'll have a chance to start 2014 in the rotation at Double-A or higher, and the Cardinals expect him to move rapidly and arrive as a mid-rotation starter.

Draft Prospects

Gonzales has grown up around the game. His father Frank was a lefthander who played eight years in the minor leagues and is the Rockies' short-season pitching coach this season. Marco was on the mound for four consecutive state championships in high school and will rank near the top of a few career records at Gonzaga after three years. He doesn't have a high ceiling, but at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds he's polished and is a good athlete who has played both ways for the Bulldogs. His fastball sits in the 88-91 mph range. It can get flat at times, but he paints the corners with above-average command. But he's getting drafted for his changeup, the best in this year's class. It's a deceptive offering with fade and scouts have no problem grading it as a 70 pitch on the 20-80 scale. He also mixes in an average curveball and cutter. Scouts love Gonzales' makeup and he could move quickly through the minor leagues. With his frame, stuff and athleticism he has earned comparisons to Jason Vargas.

Minor League Top Prospects

Gonzales spent spring training competing for a spot on the Cardinals pitching staff, but he opened the season at Memphis and ultimately made only one spot start for St. Louis. His season was derailed by a shoulder impingement that forced him to be shut down twice, which was a bitter disappointment for Gonzales, who pitched in the postseason for the Cardinals in 2014. When Gonzales was healthy, he showed flashes of the tools that made him the Cardinals' No. 1 prospect after last season. At his best, he throws his fastball around 90 mph with plus control. His changeup is at least a plus pitch, as he disguises the offering well and gets good movement on it. He also mixes in a sinker and a curveball. Too often this season, however, Gonzales didn't have the crispness evaluators have become accustomed to seeing from him. If he's able to put his injury behind him, he has the stuff to be a mid-rotation starter.

Top 100 Rankings

Best Tools List

Rated Best Changeup in the St. Louis Cardinals in 2014

Career Transactions

Pittsburgh Pirates placed LHP Marco Gonzales on the 60-day injured list. Left forearm strain.
Pittsburgh Pirates activated LHP Marco Gonzales from the 60-day injured list.
Pittsburgh Pirates sent LHP Marco Gonzales on a rehab assignment to Indianapolis Indians.
Pittsburgh Pirates sent LHP Marco Gonzales on a rehab assignment to Indianapolis Indians.
Pittsburgh Pirates transferred LHP Marco Gonzales from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Left forearm muscle strain.
Pittsburgh Pirates placed LHP Marco Gonzales on the 15-day injured list. Left forearm muscle strain.
Seattle Mariners transferred LHP Marco Gonzales from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Left forearm strain.
Seattle Mariners placed LHP Marco Gonzales on the 15-day injured list. Left forearm strain.
Seattle Mariners activated LHP Marco Gonzales from the paternity list.
Seattle Mariners placed LHP Marco Gonzales on the paternity list.