Erik Gonzalez had surgery Wednesday to repair his broken left foot.
Gonzalez fouled a ball off his foot on Nov. 8 while playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic, and the impact fractured his first ray, the area where the long bone and the toe meet. The surgery, which took place in Pittsburgh, fixated and stabilized the fracture.
The Pirates anticipate Gonzalez will return to full baseball activities in 10-12 weeks. That would be shortly before players report for spring training in mid-February.
Former general manager Neal Huntington and former manager Clint Hurdle wanted Gonzalez to play in the winter league to make up for lost playing time during the 2019 season. Gonzalez collided with outfielder Starling Marte while chasing down a fly ball on Apr. 19 last year and fractured his left collarbone, which sidelined him until early August. He was used mostly as a bench player upon his return.
Gonzalez batted .250 with a .751 OPS in 46 plate appearances for his winter ball team, the Leones del Escogido. He started playing for the Leones on Oct. 25.
Gonzalez was acquired from the Indians last November and was named the starting shortstop out of spring training. It was the first time in his career where he got a look as an everyday player. He batted .254 with one home run, 6 RBIs and a .618 OPS over 156 PAs. He regularly found himself in the lineup during the final weeks of the season, where he hit safely in 17 of his final 18 starts. He mostly played shortstop, but showed defensive versatility by also taking reps in the outfield and third base.
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