90% season-shape match
Why he matters right now
Nick Gonzales is top-10 in the majors in batting average and hits
He is 4th in batting average at .307, 8th in hits at 154 — placements on MLB's own season boards, which rank every QUALIFIED hitter in the sport rather than the few dozen this site tracks. Qualified is MLB's own bar, and it is the reason a part-season player with a big number is not on these boards at all.
This has been his headline for 5 straight days.
The case in 30 seconds
- .307 4th in batting average at .307, 8th in hits at 154 on MLB's season leaderboards MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
- 154 154 hits, past his previous best of 99 in 2025 year-by-year record, 2 prior seasons since 2024 (MLB Stats API, cached)
The honest caveat
It is still a partial season — 553 plate appearances so far. A rate moves fastest against the strongest arms a schedule has left, and the schedule ahead is not the schedule behind.
What to watch next
Next up: vs Los Angeles Angels.
Every claim above, with its source (2)
- 4th in batting average at .307, 8th in hits at 154 on MLB's season leaderboards MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
- 154 hits, past his previous best of 99 in 2025 year-by-year record, 2 prior seasons since 2024 (MLB Stats API, cached)
Other cases this page considered and did not lead with: Nick Gonzales has already passed his career best in hits.
The evidence
What changed last night
1-for-4
L 1-6 vs Los Angeles Angels · 2026-09-05
carries a .307 average into today
What to watch next
vs Los Angeles Angels
PNC Park · 1:35 p.m. ET
Facing Walbert Ureña
Nick Gonzales faces a right-hander in Walbert Ureña. He is hitting .328 with 5 home runs in 344 at-bats against right-handers this season.
Situational splits
| Split | AB | AVG | HR | RBI | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs RHP | 344 | .328 | 5 | 46 | .821 |
| vs LHP | 157 | .261 | 1 | 13 | .646 |
| Home | 233 | .296 | 1 | 25 | .722 |
| Away | 268 | .317 | 5 | 34 | .805 |
| Day | 193 | .311 | 5 | 25 | .835 |
| Night | 308 | .305 | 1 | 34 | .721 |
2026 season, MLB Stats API. A split with no plate appearances is omitted rather than shown as zeroes.
133G
501AB
154H
.307AVG
6HR
59RBI
7SB
242B
13B
.766OPS
Chasing .400
.307Current AVG
78Consecutive hits needed to reach .400
87-for-100Needed over next 100 AB
1.104Rest-of-season AVG to finish .400 (74-for-67)
Status: IMPOSSIBLE
Milestone tracker
| Chase | Target | Current | Pace | Needed from here | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .350 AVG | .350 | .307 | .307 | .672 ROS | EXTREME |
| .380 AVG | .380 | .307 | .307 | .925 ROS | EXTREME |
| .400 AVG | .400 | .307 | .307 | 1.104 ROS | IMPOSSIBLE |
| .406 AVG | .406 | .307 | .307 | 1.149 ROS | IMPOSSIBLE |
| .466 AVG | .466 | .307 | .307 | 1.657 ROS | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 50 HR | 50 | 6 | 7 | 44 in 19 g · 1 per 1.5 AB | EXTREME |
| 60 HR | 60 | 6 | 7 | 54 in 19 g · 1 per 1.2 AB | EXTREME |
| 62 HR | 62 | 6 | 7 | 56 in 19 g · 1 per 1.2 AB | EXTREME |
| 70 HR | 70 | 6 | 7 | 64 in 19 g · 1 per 1.0 AB | EXTREME |
| 73 HR | 73 | 6 | 7 | 67 in 19 g · 1 per 1.0 AB | EXTREME |
| 200 Hits | 200 | 154 | 174 | 46 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 225 Hits | 225 | 154 | 174 | 71 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 250 Hits | 250 | 154 | 174 | 96 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 262 Hits | 262 | 154 | 174 | 108 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 50 SB | 50 | 7 | 8 | 43 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 80 SB | 80 | 7 | 8 | 73 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 100 SB | 100 | 7 | 8 | 93 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 130 SB | 130 | 7 | 8 | 123 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 50 2B | 50 | 24 | 27 | 26 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 60 2B | 60 | 24 | 27 | 36 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 67 2B | 67 | 24 | 27 | 43 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 20 3B | 20 | 1 | 1 | 19 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 25 3B | 25 | 1 | 1 | 24 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 36 3B | 36 | 1 | 1 | 35 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 125 RBI | 125 | 59 | 67 | 66 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 150 RBI | 150 | 59 | 67 | 91 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 175 RBI | 175 | 59 | 67 | 116 in 19 g | EXTREME |
| 191 RBI | 191 | 59 | 67 | 132 in 19 g | EXTREME |
Recent game log
Derived nightly from the snapshot ledger — each row is the difference between consecutive days; multi-day rows are labeled.
| Date | Opp | Result | AB | H | HR | RBI | R | SB | BB | K | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-05 | Los Angeles Angels | L 1-6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .307 |
| 2026-09-04 | Los Angeles Angels | W 1-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .308 |
| 2026-09-02 | San Francisco Giants | L 4-5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .310 |
| 2026-09-01 | San Francisco Giants | W 13-12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .310 |
| 2026-08-31 | — | — | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .310 |
| 2026-08-29 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 6-2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .307 |
| 2026-08-28 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 1-4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .305 |
| 2026-08-26 | San Diego Padres | L 0-3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .305 |
| 2026-08-25 | San Diego Padres | W 1-0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .307 |
| 2026-08-24 | San Diego Padres | W 3-2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .308 |
Recent highlights
Lahman + Retrosheet context