Driven.
Competitive.
Hard-working.
Those are just a few words coaches and teammates use to describe El Diamante High School catcher D.J. Gonzalez.
Gonzalez may only be a sophomore, but the 5-foot-9, 185-pounder is already one of the top baseball players in Visalia.
His play and stats back that up, too.
In 19 games this season, as of April 20, Gonzalez leads El DIamante with a .400 batting average with at least 50 plate appearances. That’s also the top hitting mark among Miners’ starters.
Gonzalez burst onto the scene last season as a freshman, batting .286 with 13 RBIs.
Before his arrival, El Diamante head coach Andrew Riddle heard rumblings about an incoming freshman, a catcher who had the work ethic to match the talent.
Sometimes, that’s not always true with first-year high school student-athletes, but when Gonzalez stepped on campus, it didn’t take very long for Riddle to notice why some people had high praise for him before he even put on an El Diamante uniform.
In fall ball, Gonzalez stood out, not just at catcher, but also as a hitter, and went on to earn a spot on varsity at just 15 years old.
“He’s been pretty awesome,” Riddle said. “He’s a guy that puts in a lot of work off the field, and it shows. When he gets done with practice, he goes and hits more. When he gets done with practice, he’s going and doing defensive catching things. He’s never content with where he’s at. Complacent is not a word I would use to describe him. When you have that kind of talent and that kind of work ethic, that is a very rare combination. I’ve seen a lot of talented athletes come in who don’t have an elite work ethic. I’ve seen guys with elite work ethic who don’t have talent, the natural talent, but they’re willing to improve themselves. And this guy, he puts together both of those things.”
A switch-hitter
Gonzalez first started playing organized baseball when he was 4 years old.
By the time he was in middle school, he was traveling across the country with his club team, NorCal U Baseball, visiting places like Vanderbilt University and Tennessee, touring the Southeastern Conference campuses and some of its athletic facilities.
“That really opened my eyes to know what I have to do,” Gonzalez said. “It’s just not going and playing with travel ball and getting in-game reps. It was more of getting in the weight room, getting stronger, getting more knowledge, more baseball IQ.”
The summer before his freshman year, Gonzalez was training with his club team when his NorCal U coach and general manager Rob Bruno approached him and asked him to stay after practice.
Bruno had an idea. He wanted Gonzalez to become a switch-hitter.
A natural left-hander who learned to bat right, Bruno felt Gonzalez could make the transition effectively as both a right- and left-handed batter.
Originally, Gonzalez was unsure of the move, but his coach reassured his faith in him: “I don’t care how many times you strike out, pop-out or whatever. I just want you to keep with it.”
During a weekend tournament, hitting lefty only for the first time, Gonzalez struck out in his first seven at-bats.
“I didn’t make any contact,” Gonzalez said.
He never wavered, though.
Before the NorCal U’s very next game, with an older age group, Gonzalez asked Bruno if he could get one more plate appearance, and his coach gave him the green light. Only this time it was up against a team of 16-year-olds.
In that at-bat, Gonzalez got his first hit as a lefty, smacking a triple down the line.
“It was one of the best feelings that I’ve ever had,” Gonzalez said. “All day, I’ve just been failing, failing, failing, and I finally got it.”
A breakout season
Today, El Diamante (13-7, 4-4) is reaping the benefits of Gonzalez’s switch-hitting prowess.
The Miners enter the week of April 20 tied for third place in the East Yosemite League standings. Monache (16-5, 3-1) is in first place.
El Diamante defeated three-time EYL champion Redwood 8-6 on April 8 at Valley Strong Ballpark to hand the Rangers only their third EYL loss in program history.
And it was Gonzalez who helped the Miners earn the victory.
In that two-run win, he went a perfect 3-for-3 with a double, RBI, and two runs.
Riddle has supported Gonzalez’s switch-hitting since day one.
“He gave all of his confidence to me, especially during the fall, saying, ‘I don’t care what you do as long as you work hard. You can stick with it. You have my full support to switch-hit,'” Gonzalez said. “That really helped me get my at-bats, really helped me get a feel for my swing. Coach Riddle, I felt that he’s always had confidence in me, and I think that comes from my hard work, and that just exponentially makes me a better player.”
What’s it like to be a switch-hitter?
“It’s pretty fun,” Gonzalez said. “It’s easy to, like, mess up the other team with it. If I come in the first inning and they’re throwing a righty, I always go opposite, opposite. If they’re coming in righty, I’m going lefty. Then the next inning, if they put in a lefty, I go right-handed. Sometimes, they will go, ‘Wait. Weren’t you just hitting left?’ But some days, I don’t always have my swing, and you have to go with what you’ve got, and I have the ability to just switch over to the other side.”
That’s resulted in Gonzalez batting .400 as a sophomore.
During spring break at the SD Lions Tournament in San Diego, El Diamante went 4-0 behind Gonzalez’s strong outings. In four games, all wins with Gonzalez behind the plate, he hit .643 with four RBIs and five runs.
As of April 20, Gonzalez has 22 hits, seven RBIs, three doubles, and 13 runs.
Although he may be a standout hitter, it’s his consistency at catcher that has helped the Miners post their best record since 2023, when Riddle’s squad went 21-9 and advanced to the Central Section Division I quarterfinals.
“I personally think he’s the best catcher in the Valley,” Miners shortstop Aden Robles said. “Having him behind the plate, you really have nothing to worry about. He steals pitches for our pitchers. Frames it really well. Boxes out a lot of the balls. No one really wants to steal on him. No one is advancing on bases. It’s just overall great, and then hitting, he can poke the ball wherever on both sides, so it’s great.”
Coach Riddle agreed.
“Defensively, he’s gotta be one of the best in the section, in terms of catching,” Riddle said. “He’s a wall behind the plate. He blocks everything. He receives well. Great pop time. Good arm, and he’s added to his repertoire as a switch-hitter. He’s been awesome.”
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: El Diamante’s D.J. Gonzalez is a standout switch-hitter
Reporting by Vongni Yang, Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
