Marco Elias Gonzales (born February 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Texas Rangers.
Gonzales played college baseball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs as a pitcher and first baseman. He won the West Coast Conference Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, and Freshman of the Year awards. He was chosen twice as a third-team All-American and won the John Olerud Award in 2013.
The Cardinals selected Gonzales with the 19th overall pick in the first round of the 2013 MLB draft. In the minors in 2014, he was a Texas League midseason All-Star and Pitcher of the Week selection and the Cardinals' Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He made his MLB debut that year, then underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016. The Cardinals traded him to the Mariners in 2017. He started three consecutive Opening Days for the Mariners. He was traded twice after the 2023 season, ending up with Pittsburgh.
Amateur career Gonzales attended Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, Colorado. He lettered in baseball in all four years. In his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons, he was named All-Colorado and All-Front Range. As a senior, he was named the Colorado High School Baseball Player of the Year after compiling an 11–0 win–loss record with a 2.20 earned run average (ERA) and 87 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched (IP). He also batted .486 with seven home runs and 36 runs batted in (RBI). He started the Class 5A state championship game for Rocky Mountain in all four years of his high school career, winning all four.
The Colorado Rockies selected Gonzales in the 29th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. However, the Rockies did not make a "stunning" offer and understood he planned to attend college. Gonzales enrolled at Gonzaga University to play college baseball for the Bulldogs. That summer, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets of the Western Canadian Baseball League, and the Wenatchee AppleSox of the West Coast League after the WMBL season was over.
As a freshman at Gonzaga, Gonzales finished with an 11–2 record and 2.57 ERA, and shared West Coast Conference (WCC) co-Player of the Year and co-Freshman of the Year honors with Kris Bryant. As a sophomore, Gonzales was 8–2 with a 1.55 ERA and was named WCC Pitcher of the Year and a third-team All-American. That summer, he briefly played collegiate summer baseball with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and played for the United States national collegiate baseball team in tournaments in Cuba and the Netherlands, being named the best pitcher of the Dutch Haarlem Baseball Week tournament.
In 2013, his junior year, he had a 7–3 record with a 2.80 ERA and led the team in hitting with a .311 batting average, two home runs, and 26 RBI, earning him co-WCC Player of the Year honors. Gonzales was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award. He won the John Olerud Award, awarded annually by the College Baseball Foundation to the best two-way player of the season.
Professional career St. Louis Cardinals Draft and minor leagues Gonzales was widely considered to be a first-round pick before the 2013 MLB draft. The St. Louis Cardinals selected him 19th overall. He signed on June 19 for $1.85 million.
The Cardinals assigned him to the Gulf Coast League Cardinals in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League, then promoted him to the Palm Beach Cardinals of the High-A Florida State League. He pitched innings with a 2.70 ERA between the two teams. He allowed 18 hits and eight walks while striking out 23.
2014: MLB debut Gonzales began the 2014 season with Palm Beach and received a promotion to the Springfield Cardinals of the Double-A Texas League in May. After seven starts at Springfield, he had a 3–2 and 2.33 ERA in innings pitched. He allowed 33 hits, two home runs, and 10 walks while striking out 46. He was rated the #4 prospect in the Cardinals' organization. The Cardinals called him up to the major leagues, and, the day before he made his MLB debut, he was named to the 2014 All-Star Futures Game at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Filling in for the injured Jaime García, Gonzales made his major league debut as the starter against the Colorado Rockies on June 25. Due to his promotion to the major leagues, he was removed from the Futures Game roster. He doubled in his first major league at-bat. Left fielder and former Rockie Matt Holliday singled him home to score his first run. On the mound, he gave up five earned runs and seven hits, with one home run in five innings, walking two, striking out three, facing 24 batters, and received a no-decision. Gonzales began with three scoreless innings, but got into trouble in the fourth by giving up a lead-off home run to Drew Stubbs, two doubles and two singles. The Cardinals eventually won, 9–6. Gonzales became the first Cardinals' starter to make his debut without playing at the Triple A level since Cliff Politte in April 1998.
Gonzales' second MLB start came against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. The outing went similar to his first MLB appearance, he started with three scoreless innings but yielded multiple runs in the fourth. In innings, he allowed five earned runs, seven hits, four walks and two strikeouts. The Giants won 5–0, giving him his first MLB loss. After posting a 7.07 ERA in first three MLB starts, the Cardinals optioned him to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds on July 7, where he appeared for the first time.
On August 30, the Cardinals recalled Gonzales, and he gained his first MLB win in a 13–2 romp over the Chicago Cubs. He completed six innings, allowed one run on three hits, two walks, and struck out five. Gonzales' third win of the season came against the Rockies by a score of 4–1 on September 14 as he struck out nine in innings pitched. The nine strikeouts were the most by a Cardinals left-handed rookie since Rick Ankiel on September 13, 2000. He made 10 total MLB appearances, five as a starter, completing innings pitched, allowing 32 H, 21 BB, 16 ER and a 4.15 ERA with a 4–2 record. In 31 total games – including 26 starts – between three minor league levels and the major leagues, Gonzales allowed a 2.81 ERA with a 13–7 record and 148 strikeouts in innings.
Gonzales made his MLB postseason debut, pitching in relief. He recorded three total scoreless innings in the National League Division Series (NLDS) against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He picked up two of the club's three wins, including the series clincher. He pitched another three innings against the Giants in the National League Championship Series (NLCS), giving up three earned runs as the Cardinals were eliminated from the postseason. In December, the Cardinals named him their Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
2015 Having struggled with a shoulder injury for much of the 2015 season, Gonzales totaled 13 starts and 64 innings with Memphis, allowing a 5.20 ERA with 81 hits and a .315 batting average against. His record was 1–4. The Cardinals activated him with the roster expansion on September 1. He made his first major league appearance and start of the season against the Washington Nationals that day, allowing four runs in less than three innings. Prior to the 2016 season, Baseball America ranked him as the fifth-best prospect in the Cardinals' system.
2016–2017 Gonzales was sidelined on April 13, 2016, after a diagnosis on a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. The injury required Tommy John surgery later that month, putting Gonzales out for the entire season. He was ranked the seventh-best prospect in the Cardinals' organization.
Gonzales was recalled on June 13, 2017, to start Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers. It was his first start in the majors since September 1, 2015.
Seattle Mariners
2017–2018 On July 21, 2017, the Cardinals traded Gonzales to the Seattle Mariners for outfielder Tyler O'Neill. Gonzales made his Mariners debut on August 6, 2017 against the Kansas City Royals, pitching 4 innings and allowing 5 earned runs on 7 hits, a walk, and 5 strikeouts. With the Mariners, he made 7 starts (10 appearances total), going 1–1 with a 5.40 ERA (22 earned runs) and 4.28 FIP with 30 strikeouts and 11 walks.
After pitching to a 1–1 record and 2.08 ERA in seven spring training starts, Gonzales was rewarded a spot on the Mariners' 2018 Opening Day roster and was slotted 4th in their starting rotation. On June 29, he threw his first career complete game against Kansas City, limiting them to just 1 run on 6 hits, 7 strikeouts, and no walks. Gonzales finished the first half of the season with a 10–5 record and 3.41 ERA in 19 starts (113 innings). However, he faltered down the stretch, posting a 3–4 record with 5.23 ERA in 10 starts (53 innings). Nonetheless, Gonzales managed to stay healthy in his first full season in Seattle, starting a career-high 29 games, leading the team in wins with 13 while striking out 145 batters and compiling a 4.00 ERA and 3.43 FIP over 166 innings pitched.
2019–2021: Opening Day starter On March 9, 2019, Gonzales was named the Mariners' Opening Day starter for their opening series in Japan. It also marked the first year that Félix Hernández would not be the Mariners' Opening Day starter in 10 years. In his first Opening Day start against the Oakland Athletics on March 20 in Tokyo, Japan, Gonzales earned his first win of the season by throwing 6 innings and allowing 4 runs (3 of which were earned) on 7 hits, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts. Gonzales was the only consistent Seattle starter in 2019, as he was 16–13 with a 3.99 ERA in 34 starts. In 203 innings, he struck out 147 batters and walked 56.
Prior to the 2020 season, Gonzales and the Mariners signed a four-year contract extension guaranteeing him $30 million, with a club option for 2025. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Gonzales was named the Mariners' Opening Day starter for the second season in a row. On July 23, Gonzales started his first game of the season pitching 4 innings and giving up 3 earned runs on 73 pitches against the defending AL pennant winners, the Houston Astros. Gonzales's first start would be the shortest outing of his season as he would go on to pitch at least 5 innings per start for the remainder of the season. The 2020 season also included Gonzales's second-ever complete game when he pitched 9 innings, giving up 1 run and striking out 8 batters while throwing 102 pitches against the Los Angeles Angels on August 31.
Gonzales finished the season with a record of 7–2 and a 3.10 ERA in 11 starts. In the 60-game season, Gonzales finished in the top 5 for wins and walks plus hits per inning pitched, and in the top 20 for ERA and opponent batting average in all MLB for the first time in his career. He led the AL in walks per nine innings (0.904) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.143).
For the 2021 season, Gonzales was named the club's Opening Day starter for the third consecutive season. He started 25 games for the year, going 10–6 with a 3.96 ERA and 108 strikeouts over innings.
2022–2023 In 2022, Gonzalez was 10–15 with a 4.15 ERA in 183 innings, in which he struck out 103 batters, as he led the league in losses and was third in home runs allowed (30). His strikeout percentage of 13.2% was the lowest among qualified pitchers in the majors.