Marco

Gonzales

Gonzales will function as emergency organizational depth for the Rangers at Triple-A Round Rock. The 34-year-old southpaw was cut loosed by the Padres last week after posting a 7.99 ERA over 47 1/3 innings in their system. He hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since making seven starts for the Pirates during the 2024 campaign.

Gonzales was cut loose by San Diego after struggling to a bloated 7.99 ERA across 47 1/3 innings for Triple-A El Paso this season. The 34-year-old was in Padres camp as a non-roster invitee this spring. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since the 2024 campaign.

There’s nothing unexpected here, but Schnell did make a sneaky run at the bench spot that’s probably going to Bryce Johnson. McKenzie was a mess in camp, but he was a mess throwing about three mph harder than he did in his one really good year with Cleveland. If he finds some command in the minors, he might prove helpful at some point.

Gonzales walked six. Despite missing much of 2023 and ’24 and all of 2025 with arm woes, Gonzales is throwing about as hard as ever this spring, even if that just puts him around 90 mph on average. Still, it’s hard to imagine him being anything close to a league-average starter at this point. Without T-Mobile Park backing him in Seattle, he might never have been one in the first place.

The 33-year-old southpaw will earn $1.5 million if he makes the Padres’ roster and can earn up to an additional $1 million in incentives. Gonzales didn’t pitch at all during the 2025 season while recovering from flexor tendon surgery. He’s now fully recovered and should be a full go for the start of spring training. If healthy, he makes for a nice depth signing for the Padres.

Let’s just say we saw this one coming. Gonzales is expected to miss a significant portion of next season after undergoing flexor tendon surgery on his left elbow back in late August. The 32-year-old southpaw will head to free agency after making just seven starts in his lone season with the Pirates.

It’s a brutal blow for the veteran who was injured in early August. He has battled forearm/elbow injuries over the last few years and will face an extended recovery as he tries to make his way back in 2025 in what will be his age-33 season.

This is part of a constant string of forearm issues for Gonzales the last two years, and he’ll miss the rest of the regular season. Jake Woodford is in the rotation for now, and the Pirates may also want to take a look at Domingo Germán there. Trading away Martín Pérez, Quinn Priester and JT Brubaker has taken a toll on their pitching depth.

The 32-year-old southpaw walked two batters and struck out three on the night. Nearly all of the damage done against him came via the long ball, with Jackson Merrill launching a solo shot in the second and Kyle Higashioka adding a three-run blast in the fourth. Gonzales got just seven swings and misses on 91 pitches on the night, posting an underwhelming CSW of 23 percent. He’ll try to improve upon his 4.54 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and 23/11 K/BB ratio (33 2/3 innings) when he squares off against these same Padres in San Diego on Monday.

Gonzales also walked three while picking up a single strikeout. He gave up a run in the first and allowed a pair of homers in the second — a solo and a two-run shot — and labored in the third before being pulled. The left-hander was solid in his start against the lowly White Sox in his return to the mound on July 12, but his last two starts have been mediocre or worse. Assuming no changes to the rotation order, he’ll face the Diamondbacks again next weekend.