Pedro Gonzales - The Long Haul

[Lane]

We at The Tucson Sun recently had a chance to sit down with rookie Cactus pitcher and Rule 5 draftee Pedro Gonzales. We were looking for a story about one game in particular, but walked away with a much deeper picture of the twenty seven year old man.

It was April 26, on a cool, cold even, California evening. Tucson enjoying a break from the harsh Arizona sun on their road trip to Valencia California to face the Stars. It was the opening game of the three game set and it started out no differently than any other game. Gonzales was up against Carlos Villalobas of Valencia and they swapped zeros until the fifth when Tucson pushed a run across. Valencia got one back in the sixth, and each team scored one in the seventh. At that point, Villalobos was removed after 7 innings, 2 runs and 111 pitches.

Pedro Gonzales? He kept going, 8, 9 innings. A hit here, a hit there, but zero walks. At this point, you'd expect a reliever, hell, no one would fault Gonzales for asking for some relief. The MBBA has never had the same attitude of the other league, but still, pitching more than nine innings is not all that common.

"I'm a pitcher. It's what I do, it's who I am" said Gozales, who hails from Puxico, Missouri. "For as long as I can remember, I've pitched. So for me, I don't put a pitch count on myself. And I'm lucky that [manager Chris] Crolly doesn't really hold me back."

So it went then, 10, 11 innings in the books. He'd been amazingly efficient so far, 118 pitches after 11 innings, 8 strikeouts and only 1 earned run. No one would have had a second thought if Chris Croll had removed Gonzales from the game at that point. Even though his pitch count was low, the entire Valencia lineup had seen him 4 times already.

"Sure, he asked. But I said I was good. And I was, you know? They just got a little lucky, and took advantage of a mistake that I made."

That mistake came on a 1-0 changeup that was left up and over the plate for Felipe Gonzalez to hit out of the park for the walk-off shot. It came after an infield single, a stolen base and a line drive single, one of very few pitches that Valencia squared up that night.

"How'd it feel? It sucked, man. To let your team down like that."

The game lasted only three hours and nine minutes. Practically a blink of the eye in a career that had seen him start 174 games before even being on a major league 40 man roster. Mostly a starter, he had also succeeded as a reliever in AAA in 2025. Despite being almost old enough for the "career minor leaguer" label, he's fairly popular, likely due to his legendary control. Only 35 walks over 216 innings last year in the notoriously hitter-friendly Rupert Horn Memorial League. He's only allowed 8 over 94 innings in the Brewster this year.

"I always tried to stay positive. Be a leader, a positive role model wherever I went. Sure, I worried sometimes, 'Am I ever going to make it to the show?' But I knew if I just trusted my arm I would get a chance eventually."

His chance is here indeed, though, maybe not with the ideal team. He was drafted first overall in the Rule 5 draft by Tucson with the idea that he could eat innings and provide some leadership on the young team.

"Of course I'm grateful to Tucson for giving me this opportunity. No one likes losing, but just like on all those bus rides, I have to try and stay positive. There's a lot of good kids ready to come up soon. All I can do is pitch as well as I can and show that I deserve to be on the next great Cactus team."

Originally drafted in the first round of the 2017 draft, he didn't sign with Atlantic City. He wouldn't comment on that, but he did say he was thrilled to become a first round draftee again in 2021, this time with Buffalo.

"Absolutely it felt great. And I went right to AA. Sure I struggled that first year, but after that I was on a roll. I thought for sure I would be in the Brewster within a year, two tops."

And, well we know how that went. Four long years in AAA. Starting, relieving, but always showing that great control. Always doing his best to keep that positive attitude and lead by example.

Pedro Gonzales. Not a star, but a stud. A rock, an example. A no-pitch-limit-don't-even-think-about-taking-me-out-of-the-game-coach pitcher's pitcher.

[RonCo]

Cool. Hope his arm doesn't fall off.

[Lane]

Cool. Hope his arm doesn't fall off.

I'm on a mission to find out what it takes for that to happen. Currently at 145 pitch limit. We'll see... That 10 stamina should mean something right?


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[RonCo]

Holy cows...5 CG...abut 130 pitches a game. Very cool.

[bschr682]

If nothing else, that guy can single handedly keep your pen rested...

[Lane]

If nothing else, that guy can single handedly keep your pen rested...

Absolutely


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