(Press Release)
The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have purchased the contract of left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales from Double-A Springfield. Gonzales is scheduled to start for St. Louis today against the Colorado Rockies in Denver, Colo., in the 2:10 CDT tilt. To make room for Gonzales on the 40-man roster, the team transferred right-handed pitcher Joe Kelly (left hamstring strain) to the 60-day disabled list and designated shortstop Pete Kozma for assignment.
Gonzales, 22, was drafted in the 1st round, 19th pick overall, of the June 2013 first-year player draft by St. Louis. He joins Michael Wacha (2013) and Cris Carpenter (1988) as the most recent Cardinals pitchers to graduate to the Majors in the year immediately following their draft selection. He becomes the first Cardinals pitcher to make his debut as a starter and bypass a Triple-A club since right-handed pitcher Cliff Politte did so in front of his hometown Busch Stadium crowd (Vianney High School) on April 2, 1998, vs. Los Angeles Dodgers. The last Cardinals lefty to make his starting debut straight from Double-A was Donovan Osborne on April 9, 1992, vs. New York Mets.
At 6-1, 195 lb., Gonzales started 2014 at Palm Beach and made six starts before a promotion to Springfield. At Double-A he posted a 3-2 record with a 2.33 ERA in seven starts, striking out 46 in his 38.2 IP. Between Springfield and Palm Beach he was 5-4 with a 1.89 ERA over 13 starts, spanning 76.1 innings with 78 strikeouts. Gonzales was named to the North squad for the Texas League (AA) All-Star game and was also named to the U.S. roster for the MLB Futures All-Star Game yesterday by Major League Baseball.
Gonzales, a Fort Collins native, led his Rocky Mountain High School baseball team to four Colorado 5A state Championships and is the only Colorado high school pitcher to be the winning pitcher in four state Championship games (2007-10). He was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Colorado following his senior season and was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 29th round of the 2010 draft, but did not sign. Gonzales’ father, Frank, is the Colorado Rockies New York-Penn League pitching coach at Tri-City.
Marco Gonzales will wear uniform no. 56.
