MLB News: Pirates' Nick Gonzales Fractures Ankle While Hitting Home Run

Well, folks, we already have the Injury of the Year in major league baseball, and the season is just one day old. On Opening Day, Pittsburgh Pirates starting second baseman Nick Gonzales blasted a two-run homer in the 6th inning, but apparently fractured his ankle during his swing.

Brutal luck for Nick Gonzales pic.twitter.com/2YlQx3MXND https://t.co/kXSsXDvDZ6
— Barstool Baseball (@StoolBaseball) March 28, 2025

Gonzales hobbled around the bases in pain after the blast, and x-rays after the game showed a “non-displaced fracture of the left ankle,” per manager Derek Shelton. Gonzales will now see a foot specialist in Pittsburgh.

The team says that the 25-year-old has had “recurrent left ankle discomfort" during the spring, so this was likely something that was already an issue, but blew up on him when he drove his foot into the ground to launch that ball into orbit.

This is Gonzales's third season in the majors and his first Opening Day start—one which he will most certainly never forget.

He was the seventh overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, as was the team's No. 1 prospect in 2022, even above the likes of Oneil Cruz and Henry Davis. He maintained a Top-5 spot the next year and made his major league debut.

In 2024, Gonzales batted .270 with a .709 OPS and this spring drove in 9 runs in 16 games, and earned himself the starting gig at the keystone. It might be a while now before he's able to resume his season, however.

Veteran Adam Frazier, a former All-Star with the Pirates in 2021, whose performance fell off a cliff last year, will be the starter now at 2B. He was reacquired by Pittsburgh last month, after last appearing for them four years ago.

Frazier hit .202 last season with the KC Royals, with an OPS+ of just 63 (37% worse than the average hitter).