Good attitude, strong work ethic define D-Backs’ Gonzalez

TUCSON - Edgar Gonzalez may be less than a month into his 25th year, but he still looks like a throwback. It is not his age that defines him. It is his attitude. Forget the labels that seem to designate every role on a pitching staff these days.

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Just put him on the mound and get out of the way.

“I want the ball,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez opened and closed last season in the Diamondbacks’ starting rotation, and he could begin this season in the same place if Randy Johnson is delayed out of spring training, which appears more and more likely.

His spring résumé would back that up. Gonzalez made his third start of the spring Monday, throwing four innings in the D-Backs’ 8-4 victory over San Diego for a nifty 1.64 ERA.

He can do so much more. He also pitched in short and long relief last season, in close games and not-so-close ones, in the first inning and in the 10th.

“He has a very resilient arm,” manager Bob Melvin said.

Gonzalez’s most valuable work came as an emergency starter after Johnson’s back woes began in May, when the D-Backs often did not know 48 hours in advance if Johnson would be available for his next scheduled start.

The first time Gonzalez stepped in, at Houston on May 25, he gave up one run and two hits in five innings.

On June 16 in Baltimore, he did it again: five innings, two hits, one run.
He won both games, starting against the Orioles three days after he pitched three innings of scoreless relief in Yankee Stadium.

Gonzalez admitted to some surprise when Melvin asked about a possible start at Baltimore, but had a simple answer.

“Give me the ball,” he said.

Some pitchers might balk at the intermittent usage. Not Gonzalez.

“If they need me as starter, in the bullpen, whatever. If they need me to throw more, I’ll throw more. It doesn’t matter to me,” Gonzalez said.

“You know why? Because I don’t like excuses. I’m always working hard for my job. I want to keep my job. I want to be here, so it’s for that I always have to be ready for anything.”

Gonzalez was 4-4 with a 4.67 ERA in 12 starts last season, his ERA skewing high because he gave up eight runs in his final 6 2/3 innings. He was 4-0 with a 5.58 ERA in 20 relief appearances.

“He has shown the stability to handle whatever we throw at him, and I hope he never loses the understanding of how important that is. That has value in its own way,” D-Backs pitching coach Bryan Price said.

“You never know what might happen. In our rotation at some point in time he may be a major contributor. He may end being a guy who is a big winner in the big leagues.

“But he can pitch a long time in the league if, when the manager hands him the ball, he takes it and does the best he can. He obviously played a huge role in our ability to win the division last year.”

Gonzalez throws five pitches – he is working on a cut fastball this spring – and has the ability to throws strikes with all of them.

He did not walk a batter Monday, and walked just 28 in 102 innings last season, an average of 2.5 per nine innings, among the best in the NL.

“I like the fact that he commands the bottom of the strike zone, and he is not afraid to throw strikes,” Price said.

“He competes well. He doesn’t shy away from the bigger hitters in the lineup. I think he has a lot of self-confidence.”