Baseball Prospectus

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Statistics For All Levels

Plate Discipline

Preseason Long-Term Forecast (Beyond the 2019 Projections)

Comparable Players (Similarity Index 86)

Rank	Score	Name	Year	DRC+	Trend
1	95	Hal McRae	1976	150
2	94	Del Ennis	1955	118
3	93	Pat Duncan	1924	83
4	92	Don Padgett	1942	0	DNP
5	92	Bernard Gilkey	1997	107
6	92	Bobby Higginson	2001	112
7	91	Irv Noren	1955	92
8	91	Daryl Boston	1993	106
9	91	Carl Crawford	2012	85
10	90	Tito Francona	1964	105
11	90	Hoot Evers	1951	94
12	90	Dusty Baker	1979	114
13	90	Carlos Lee	2006	130
14	89	Juan Rivera	2009	118
15	89	Bibb Falk	1929	111
16	89	Kevin McReynolds	1990	133
17	88	Rico Carty	1970	161
18	87	Bob Skinner	1962	124
19	87	Wally Moon	1960	113
20	87	Pete Ward	1968	123
21	87	Bob Nieman	1957	114
22	87	Troy O'Leary	2000	88
23	87	Jo-Jo Moore	1939	90
24	87	Rusty Greer	1999	125
25	87	Kevin Mench	2008	82
26	87	David DeJesus	2010	110
27	86	Irish Meusel	1923	106
28	86	Thad Bosley	1987	72
29	86	Ivan Calderon	1992	94
30	86	Chili Davis	1990	102
31	86	Morrie Arnovich	1941	95
32	86	Desmond Jennings	2017	0	DNP
33	86	Chris Heisey	2015	113
34	85	Melky Cabrera	2015	95
35	85	Al Martin	1998	79
36	85	George Alusik	1965	0	DNP
37	85	Benny Agbayani	2002	80
38	85	Frank Catalanotto	2004	86
39	85	David Murphy	2012	132
40	85	George Case	1946	82
41	85	Ruppert Jones	1985	112
42	85	Moises Alou	1997	123
43	85	Shane Spencer	2002	87
44	84	Milton Bradley	2008	150
45	84	Jeff Conine	1996	117
46	84	Rondell White	2002	87
47	84	Chuck Hinton	1964	113
48	84	Bobby Kielty	2007	76
49	84	Glenn Braggs	1993	0	DNP
50	84	Riggs Stephenson	1928	130
51	84	Nate Schierholtz	2014	66
52	84	Leon Wagner	1964	98
53	84	Jerry Lynch	1961	150
54	84	Lou Piniella	1974	113
55	84	Steve Kemp	1985	70
56	84	Johnny Grubb	1979	108
57	84	Rip Repulski	1959	97
58	84	Johnny Briggs	1974	112
59	84	Gary Roenicke	1985	131
60	84	Candy Maldonado	1991	108
61	84	Barry Bonnell	1984	93
62	84	Tony Gonzalez	1967	133
63	84	Hal Lee	1935	87
64	84	Charlie Jamieson	1923	125
65	84	Lonnie Smith	1986	110
66	84	George Bell	1990	106
67	84	Cleon Jones	1973	101
68	83	Alex Rios	2011	78
69	83	Bubba Trammell	2002	109
70	83	Tommy Davis	1969	88
71	83	Danny Litwhiler	1947	104
72	83	Hideki Matsui	2004	136
73	83	Seth Smith	2013	97
74	83	Gary Ward	1984	120
75	83	Johnny Frederick	1932	104
76	83	John Kruk	1991	128
77	83	John Milner	1980	118
78	83	Jerry White	1983	89
79	82	Keith Moreland	1984	102
80	82	Jose Cruz	1978	121
81	82	Shannon Stewart	2004	118
82	82	John Wockenfuss	1979	116
83	82	Clyde Barnhart	1926	73
84	82	Kevin Millar	2002	123
85	82	Joe Vosmik	1940	84
86	82	Wes Covington	1962	96
87	82	Gene Woodling	1953	125
88	82	Josh Reddick	2017	119
89	82	Roy Sievers	1957	156
90	82	Ben Oglivie	1979	126
91	82	Lee Walls	1963	86
92	82	Eric Anthony	1998	0	DNP
93	82	Juan Encarnacion	2006	92
94	82	Ryan Zimmerman	2015	109
95	82	Gary Redus	1987	94
96	82	Torii Hunter	2006	114
97	82	Michael Cuddyer	2009	121
98	82	Bobby Thomson	1954	79
99	82	Dave May	1974	66
100	82	Jim Delsing	1956	58

BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2019		Due to publishing agreements, the 2019 player comments and team essays are only available in the Baseball Prospectus 2019 book (available in hardcopy, and soon e-book and Kindle).
2018		Call it slow-playing, but no major-league regular took more time between pitches in 2017 than Gonzalez. As Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs pointed out this offseason, the most unexpected breakout of the Astros' season came slowly on both micro and macro levels, with Gonzalez rearranging the dirt and adjusting his gear before rearranging baseballs and adjusting everyone's image of what kind of player he could be. For years, he was a do-it-all utility man without standout contact or power tools, and his walk rate made it appear that he was bereft of patience. But after a season in which he obliterated right-handed pitching and spit on more pitches than ever before, it's become clear that patience is both a virtue that he's developed and virtue from which the Astros have benefited. Good things come to those who wait.
2017		Gonzalez's weaknesses at the plate—poor discipline combined with a major contact issue—showed in 2016, but he was able to remain valuable to the Astros thanks to his versatility. Even as the Astros have promoted talented infielder after talented infielder in recent seasons, Gonzalez has found ways to keep himself in the lineup, even donning an outfielder's glove and playing a career-high 111 innings in the outfield in 2016. Gonzalez may not have starter-quality numbers, but he is evolving into the ideal super-utility player to keep a team fresh over the grind of a 162-game season.
2016		Gonzalez might still be best known as that dude who broke up Yu Darvish's no-hitter with two outs in the ninth back in 2013, but he's quietly turned himself into a pretty useful player. He played short after Jed Lowrie went down and before Carlos Correa came up, then moved to third for a spell while also relieving Jose Altuve at second every now and then. And while playing him at either first or in left field would seem like the moves of a manager either in an extra-innings affair or high on PCP, he actually started 32 games at one of those two positions. For a team stricken with injury and occasional ineffectiveness, Gonzalez served the superutility role nicely. Though still sporting a laughable K/BB ratio, he had the most power-heavy season of his career. He belted a dozen dingers while adding almost 50 points of slug. He's not a late-blooming Albert Pujols or anything, but he's taken to his utility role well and could serve in that function for some time.
2015		Time was a-ticking, and Gonzalez's numbers weren't getting any better. His career options included: law school, Japan, or becoming a superutilityman. Gonzalez chose Door No. 3, as the middle infielder saw his first pro playing time in the corner outfield and even sampled an inning at first base. As an added bonus Gonzalez began squaring the ball up better, and a higher line-drive percentage led to an above-average OPS. As a switch-hitter and owner of several gloves, Gonzalez can fit as a team's 25th man. Law school will always be there if he wants it, and Japan will always need attorneys.
2014		The 2013 season was Gonzalez’s eighth pro campaign, but he’s still just 24, and it shows. He can show flashes of the elite defender and baserunner he may someday be, but other times, well, he can look like a kid who’s played less than a season’s worth of big-league games. He showed substantial improvement against lefties and made strides with the glove and on the basepaths, but with Carlos Correa knocking on the door, Gonzalez may soon be a man without a position. In the meantime, though, there are less fun things to do with your life than be Jose Altuve’s double-play partner.
2013		When his ankle is fully healthy, Gonzalez wows some observers with his defense, but posts mediocre metrics and leaves others unimpressed. He's willing to play multiple positions and makes consistent contact, but is still a notch below the offensive requirements for a good utilityman. He only stuck on the roster all last season because he was a Rule 5 draftee. Offering little in the way of power, patience, or speed, his chances of sticking as a regular someday will depend on meaningless batting average and finding a manager who is convinced by his defensive prowess. Alternately, waiting around for Jed Lowrie to get injured is another proven way to get playing time.

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