Nick Gonzales Comes Through (Again); Is There a ‘Clutch Gene?’

PITTSBURGH — Nick Gonzales is developing a knack for coming through in big situations.

On Friday night in front of a sellout crowd at PNC Park, Gonzales delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to carry the Pirates to an 8-7 comeback win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

It was already the second walk-off hit for Gonzales this season. The Pirates’ second baseman was also the hero on May 21 against the San Francisco Giants in the 10th inning.

Though this one wasn’t a walk-off, Gonzales was responsible for driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of the Pirates’ 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night in Pittsburgh.

“I think my heartbeat is going pretty good in those moments,” Gonzales said following the win. “I try to slow it down, but I think that just kinda gets me a little more locked in. I definitely try to slow it down and not try to do too much.”

Bryan Reynolds led off the eighth inning with a base hit and advanced to second on a wild pitch thrown by John King. After Oneil Cruz struck out, Gonzales bounced one through an open right-side of the infield which allowed Reynolds to score easily.

There wasn’t any waiting around from Gonzales in the at-bat. He swung and missed at a changeup well out of the zone on the first pitch before connecting on a sinker left up and on the outside edge of the plate.

“I’ve always been like that my whole life, if there’s something that I like, something that I think I like, I’m usually going to take an aggressive swing at it early and then just kinda work my way through it.”

Entering his at-bat, the Pirates were 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position. Finally, they were able to cash in on one of their chances.

“I was proud of the way that we grinded through it because we had some opportunities to break this game open and didn’t capitalize on them,” said manager Derek Shelton. “So it’s nice, when you get in a situation and you get that big hit to close it down.”

After his heroics were on display once again, Gonzales is up to a team-leading eight game-winning RBIs so far this season. The already impressive statistic is even more so when considering Gonzales didn’t make his season debut until May 10.

Gonzales’ overall numbers this season might not be the most impressive. After Monday’s game, the 25-year-old is slashing .263/.300/.397. But there’s no denying he has shined bright in the biggest moments.

There has been debate around the sport, and sports in general, as to whether or not the ‘clutch gene’ is a real a trait of a player can possess. While high-leverage statistics can be tracked in baseball, there isn’t a surefire way to quantify a player’s ability to be clutch — or lack thereof.

“If you talk to anybody who is an analyst, they’ll tell you ‘no.’ If you talk to anybody that’s ever put a uniform on, they’ll tell you ‘yes’ because people that have the ability to slow their heartbeats down and hit in those situations, it’s something that can’t be taught, it’s something that you have to do,” Shelton explained. “I think we’ve got a couple guys that have it.”

Gonzales is doing his part to end the debate once and for all.

On a much more extreme level, when thinking of athletes such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or Tom Brady, clutch is absolutely a descriptive word that comes to mind. Though Gonzales isn’t on the level of three current or future Hall of Famers in their respective sports, he shares one trait with all three of them, at least so far this season.

Mitch Keller, who delivered seven-strong innings in the win on Monday, has taken notice.

“I don’t want to say we expect it now, but every time he comes up in a big situation, he’s getting the job done, which is a testament to him and his hard work.”

Whether there is a stat that can truly measure it or not, the ability to come through in clutch situations matters, and some players just have it.

It looks like Nick Gonzales is one of them.