Georgia Tech Baseball: Matt Gonzalez holding own in Braves farm system
A year ago the Braves took a chance on a Yellow Jacket in in the Major League Baseball Draft, and so far it appears to be paying off.
Georgia Tech standout Matt Gonzalez was taken by Atlanta in the sixth round of the 2016 MLB Draft last spring, and has been rising through the farm system.
Since being chosen in the sixth round (169th overall) last year, Gonzalez has been making his climb through the Braves organization.
Starting at the advanced rookie level with Danville, where he hit .302/.327/.397 in 51 games. He had 60 hits, 23 runs and drove in 19 in 199 plate appearances in his first taste of professional ball.
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Coming out of spring training this season, Gonzalez landed as an infielder with the low-A Rome Braves, again putting up solid stats at the plate. The former Jacket hit .300/.355/.329 at Rome in 19 games (70 at bats) under manager Randy Ingle.
Before the month of May was over, Gonzalez was promoted to the advanced-A Florida Fire Frogs, and the solid hitting trend has continued.
Gonzalez got in eight games with the Fire Frogs prior to the Florida State League’s All-Star break, and his numbers remained consistent and quite predictable at .290/.333/.355 through 31 at bats.
It shouldn’t be any surprise that the Acworth native has felt comfortable at the plate in the minor leagues, especially if they saw his college career on the Flats.
Gonzalez started his four-year career at Georgia Tech in 2013 and was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. He never hit below .285 in his ACC tenure, and capped his career by slashing .378/.419/.577 with 93 hits, 11 homers, and 54 RBI in 59 games as a senior. Gonzalez also earned First Team All-ACC and NCAA Regional All-Tournament honors in 2016.
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If Gonzales were to continue his steady rise, his next steps on the road to Atlanta and SunTrust Park would be double-A Mississippi and possibly triple-A Gwinnett.