Why Gio Gonzalez wanted to join Marlins. Where he ranks on team’s all-time native list
From his childhood running around the bases at Hialeah High, to a distinguished big-league career highlighted by two All-Star Game appearances and a top three Cy Young finish, Gio Gonzalez always had a dream:
Playing for the hometown team.
“I’ve been dreaming about this since being a kid,” Gonzalez told Kyle Sielaff on the Marlins’ podcast this week, hours after signing a non-roster contract with the team Wednesday.
“To represent the Marlins and put on that uniform is pretty cool. It’s a big honor for me. It’s wearing the ultimate jersey.”
If Gonzalez impresses over the coming weeks, he could fit into the back end of the Marlins’ starting rotation at some point early in the season.
“You guys have a bunch of young arms and prospects,” he said. “I’m trying to establish myself as that pitcher who you guys can hopefully rely on. I have to show I’m capable of pitching to their [standards]. I’ve been in that division many years. It’s a win-win for all of us.”
Gonzalez said he recently threw a bullpen session in front of Adrian Lorenzo, the Marlins’ special assistant for baseball operations and scouting. Lorenzo apparently emerged from that session believing there was something left in Gonzalez’s 35-year-old left arm, which has propelled him to 131 wins over 13 seasons.
The Marlins also gave him an MRI on his throwing shoulder and it showed nothing worrisome.
“A lot of stuff I was working on was getting my shoulder strength back to normal,” he said. “They gave me an MRI; everything came out positive. The shoulder is intact. The Marlins would not have ever looked my way if they didn’t feel that way.”
In 12 appearances (including four starts) for the White Sox last season, Gonzalez was 1-2 with a 4.83 ERA, allowing 59 baserunners in 32 1/3 innings, while striking out 34. He missed time with a right groin strain.
Gonzalez was better in 19 games (17 starts) for the Brewers in 2019 (3.50 ERA), limiting hitters to a .234 average.
Gonzalez - whose mother is a Cuban immigrant and whose father is a first-generation Cuban-American from New Jersey — feels a special bond with the South Florida community.
He won two state championships at Hialeah High, then transferred to Pace High in 2004.
The White Sox selected him 38th overall in the 2004 draft.
“I grew up in Hialeah, right behind 49th Street,” he said. “To me, it’s a brotherly elite group. There are plenty of locals that are here in the big leagues. Manny Machado lives a couple blocks from me in Hialeah. Albert Almora lives right behind 49th Street. You know where Taco Bell is. The year I was third year for Cy Young [2012], I was celebrating at Di Piazza [Pizzeria].”
If Gonzalez makes the Marlins, a case could be made that he would be the second most accomplished native of Miami-Dade or Broward counties to play for the Marlins, behind Hall of Famer Andre Dawson.
Gonzalez (131-101, 3.70 ERA) and Miami Beach native Alex Fernandez (107-87, 3.74 ERA in a 10-year career) would be the two in the discussion behind Dawson.
Miami native Lenny Harris, a career .269 hitter, likely would be fourth on that list. He’s the all-time leader in pinch hits with 212.
Gonzalez had a career 30.0 WAR (wins over replacement), Fernandez 28.5 and Harris 1.8.
Former Marlins first baseman and Miami native Gaby Sanchez (3.1 WAR, .254 average, 61 homers in seven seasons) also warrants a spot in the top five.
Former Marlins and South Florida high school standouts Mike Lowell and Charlie Hough aren’t included in this particular discussion because they were not born in South Florida; Lowell was born in Puerto Rico and Hough in Hawaii. Former Marlins and UM catcher Charles Johnson was born in Fort Pierce.
“I just want an opportunity,” Gonzalez said. “If they give it to me, I will do my best to take advantage of it.”
Gonzalez discussed Jose Fernandez and other topics in the podcast with Sielaff, which can be heard here.
SCHEDULE CONFLICTS
Five Marlins home games will conflict with Miami Heat regular season home games this season.
But the Marlins’ 4:10 p.m. opener at home against Tampa Bay on April 1 won’t conflict directly with the Heat’s home game against Golden State at 8 that night.
The direct home game conflicts: April 3 (Marlins-Rays at 6 p.m., Heat-Cavaliers at 8 p.m.); April 6 (Marlins-Cardinals at 6:40 p.m., Heat-Grizzlies at 8 p.m.); April 18 (Marlins-Giants at 1:10, Heat-Nets at 3:30 p.m.); May 4 (Marlins-Diamondbacks at 6:30 p.m., Heat-Mavericks at 8 p.m.) and May 7 (Marlins-Brewers at 7:10 p.m., Heat-Wolves at 8 p.m.).
This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 5:12 PM.
