Gio Gonzalez

González was born in Hialeah, Florida, to a Cuban immigrant mother from Havana and a first-generation Cuban-American father from New Jersey. He attended Hialeah High School in Hialeah, for the first three years of his high school career, where they won two state championships and nearly won a third. After his junior year, he transferred over to Monsignor Edward Pace High School in 2004 where he played with former teammate Chris Marrero.

In 2005, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies along with Aaron Rowand and Daniel Haigwood for slugger Jim Thome. While with the Phillies, Baseball America rated González the No. 2 prospect in their farm system behind Cole Hamels in 2006.

In December 2006 he was traded back to the White Sox along with Gavin Floyd for Freddy García. González led the minor leagues with 185 strikeouts in 150 innings in 2007.

On January 3, 2008, the White Sox traded González along with fellow prospects Ryan Sweeney and Fautino de los Santos to the Oakland Athletics for Nick Swisher. He was ranked the No. 1 prospect in the White Sox system at the time of the trade.

González was called up to MLB on August 5, 2008, and made his MLB debut on August 6. Following the 2009 spring training camp, he was returned to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats.

On December 23, 2011, the Athletics traded González and Robert Gilliam to the Washington Nationals for Brad Peacock, Tommy Milone, Derek Norris and A. J. Cole. On January 15, 2012 González signed a five-year extension worth $42 million through 2016 covering his arbitration-eligible years. The deal also included club options for 2017 and 2018.

González is a strikeout pitcher, with a rate of nearly 1 per inning over his career. He was fourth in strikeouts per nine innings pitched in the AL in 2011, and second in the NL for the 2012 season (as of 17 August 2012).

González became the first pitcher since 1918 to have three consecutive appearances in which he finished a start with at least six shutout innings and no more than two hits allowed. González set a Nationals record when he pitched 25 consecutive scoreless innings, that ended on April 29, 2012. When the 2012 MLB All-Star Game roster was announced on July 1, González found himself on it for the second time in his career. Later that same day, he earned his 11th win on the season after the Nationals topped the Atlanta Braves, 8–4. González would earn one more win in his last start before the All-Star break, pushing his record to 12–3 and lowering his ERA to 2.92, and in doing so, was tied for the most wins on the first half of the season. His win total tied a Nationals record set in 2005 by Liván Hernández.

On August 8, 2012, González hit his first career home run off Houston Astros pitcher Armando Galarraga and pitched his second career complete game. On August 31, González pitched his first career shutout in a 10–0 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals.

When González and the Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers on September 22, it moved his record to 20–8 and he became the first pitcher in MLB to reach the 20-win mark on the season. He finished the regular season with a major league best 21 wins, to go along with a 2.89 ERA and 207 strikeouts, winning the 2012 Warren Spahn Award as the best left-handed pitcher in the majors. González finished third in NL Cy Young voting in 2012.

In 2012, González created the GIO (Giving Individuals Opportunities) foundation, a charity to assist medical patients in need of financial support. He is also a comic book hobbyist.

In 2013, González had a record of 11–8 with a 3.36 ERA. In the first half of 2014, González went 6–5 with a 3.56 ERA. On July 20, González recorded his 1,000th career strikeout against the Milwaukee Brewers, including 511 strikeouts with the Oakland Athletics and 489 strikeouts with the Washington Nationals. He ended the 2014 season with a 10–10 record and a 3.57 ERA.

In 2015, he was 11–8 with a 3.79 ERA and led the major leagues in allowing opposing batters the highest batting average on balls in play (.341). In 2016, he went 11–11 with a 4.57 ERA, his highest since 2009. His WAR of 0.9 was also his worst since 2009. In 2017 he was 15–9 with a 2.96 ERA. He led the major leagues in stolen bases of third allowed, with seven. To start 2018, he went 7–11 in 27 starts. He recorded 126 strikeouts while having a 4.57 ERA and a 1.5 WAR.

On August 31, 2018, the Nationals traded González to the Milwaukee Brewers for KJ Harrison and Gilbert Lara. He would make five starts for the Brewers, going 3–0, posting a 2.13 ERA. In a 2–1 loss of Game 4 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Gonzalez suffered a high ankle sprain, attempting to field a ball hit by Yasiel Puig, ending his season and being replaced by Zach Davies on the Brewers roster.

On March 19, 2019, González signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees. The deal guaranteed $3 million if he made the big league roster and $300,000 for each game started. After pitching for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, González opted out of his contract and the Yankees released him on April 22.

On December 20, 2019, González signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Chicago White Sox, with an option for 2021. With the 2020 Chicago White Sox, González appeared in 12 games, compiling a 1–2 record with 4.83 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 31.2 innings pitched.