Well, it’s going to be very interesting at the end of this season when we have to evaluate this Pittsburgh Pirates roster.

But one player we already can take a final look at is Marco Gonzales. Ahead of the team’s eighth straight loss, this time in heartbreaking fashion to the Padres in San Diego, the team made a pair of roster moves.

It was reported before the game that Ryder Ryan had a locker with the Pirates, meaning a corresponding move had to be made. Ryan was designated for assignment back on July 30th, shortly after the trade deadline.

He has been routinely shuttled back and forth between the major leagues and Triple-A Indianapolis. In 17.0 innings at the major league level, Ryan has a 5.29 ERA, 1.412 WHIP, 16 strikeouts, and 8 walks.

The roster spot to select Ryan’s contract came in the form of Gonzales, who was placed on the 60-Day Injured List. His season is over.

Gonzales went down with a forearm strain, the second time he has suffered that type of injury in his pitching arm. The lefty also went down in April and was eventually transferred to the 60-Day Injured List.

He missed three months due to injury from April to July before his return was also cut short. Gonzales finished the year with a 1-1 record, 4.54 ERA, 1.604 WHIP, and 2.09 K/BB ratio in 33.2 innings (7 starts).

His first handful of starts to the season were wildly different than his second:

• April 1 to April 13: 17.0 innings (3 starts), 2.65 ERA, .234 opposing batting average, 1.176 WHIP
• July 12 to August 7: 16.2 innings (4 starts), 6.48 ERA, .378 opposing batting average, 2.098 WHIP

His final start with the club saw him pitch 4.2 innings, surrendering 8 hits, 5 earned runs, and a pair of homers.

The Pirates first acquired him back in early December. Gonzales had been traded from the Seattle Mariners to the Atlanta Braves, but the Braves weren’t interested in keeping Gonzales and wanted to move on. So, Atlanta sent him to Pittsburgh along with some cash.

He was an underwhelming first addition to the Pirates’ rotation that, in December, only had Mitch Keller as a lock to be in the lineup. It wasn’t a flashy trade, but it was a calculated risk that the Pirates were taking.

Pittsburgh was hoping that Gonzales could fill a backend role in their rotation, becoming a steady fourth of fifth starter. If they got really lucky, perhaps he could have found some of that magic that he had in 2020, when he led Major League Baseball in K/BB ratio and BB/9.

Career wise, the Colorado native had a 4.14 ERA and 1.289 WHIP over 10 years and 893.0 innings pitched. His 2020 season was a mirage in a career that was much more to the average side, but assuming he could stay healthy, he would be serviceable as a fourth or fifth starter for the team.

However, arm health was a huge concern surrounding Gonzales coming into this season. It’s part of the reason why Atlanta (and Seattle) had no problem moving on from him, and why his trade value was so low.

He had been limited due to injuries the previous year, having pitched only 50.0 innings through 10 starts with a 5.22 ERA and 1.460 WHIP. He landed on the Injured List at the end of May, and was shut down officially in August when he had season-ending “cleanout” surgery. Ironically, his last start of 2023 came against the Pirates.

To get all medical, Gonzales underwent a surgery last year “to decompress the anterior interosseous nerve, which controls motor function for pronating the wrist and index finger.”

But sadly, Gonzales wasn’t able to stay healthy long-term; he ended up pitching fewer innings this year than last. The trade could have been looked at as a low-risk, high-reward type deal for the Pirates, but the reward part of that trade never came.

In terms of asset risk, the Pirates didn’t lose much. The biggest cost was the $3 million price that the Pirates paid, but that was a lot of money to hand out for extremely limited and inconsistent results on the field.

It’s hard to tell what, if anything, the Pirates realistically would have done differently with that money, and given how a lot of their free agent signings of worked out, the answer is likely not good. However, $3 million could have at least fetched them somebody who would more consistently be an option for them.

Instead, Pittsburgh has been and will once again be on the hook to fill his spot in the rotation once again. That role has been taken on by several arms, the latest of which is Jake Woodford.

Woodford, who was signed to a minor league contract midway through the year and promoted to the majors a few weeks ago, just put together the best start of his big league career, going 6.0 innings and only allowing 3 hits and 1 earned run (which came after he exited the game). Had he not been left in to start the seventh inning, his stat line would look even better.

As for Marco, this will assuredly be the end of his time in Pittsburgh. His contract carries a club option for 2025 worth $15 million, something that just isn’t going to happen. Once the team declines their option in the offseason, Gonzales will be a free agent.

It will be interesting to see where Gonzales ends up next season. Now with two major arm injuries in the same season, and back to back shortened years, does anyone take a flyer on the 33-year old?

(Featured photo by Kim Klement Neitzel/USA Today Sports)