The White Sox are looking forward to the future, as they have some highly ranked prospects in the minor leagues looking to make their way to Chicago. As of right now, the White Sox have five top-100 prospects on MLB Pipeline, making them one of the teams with the most top-100 prospects.
Not included in that group of five top-100 prospects is Jacob Gonzalez, the White Sox 2023 first round pick. Unfortunately, Gonzalez hasn’t had the greatest two years in the minor leagues after getting drafted. To make matters worse, Matt Shaw and Kyle Teel were the two players selected right before Gonzalez, and Bryce Eldridge, the 21st ranked prospect on the MLB Pipeline list, was selected immediately after him.
The selections around Gonzalez definitely make his slow start feel much worse considering what the White Sox could have had, but Gonzalez may have figured something out recently, as he has been on heater.
Since May 17th, while playing for the Birmingham Barons, the AA affiliate of the White Sox, Gonzalez has gone 12 for 30, which works out to an impressive .400 average. If that wasn’t impressive enough, he has added three homeruns, eight RBIs, and two stolen bases over that same stretch.
Jacob Gonzalez has been on a tear wielding that bowling pin in the box. HR #2 on the year. Galanie comes in to score on the blast. #Barons up 7-1. pic.twitter.com/JuUSIoTzRp
— FutureSox (@FutureSox) May 22, 2025
This has raised his season slash line to a much more respectable .247/.317/.397 with four homeruns, 18 RBIs, and six stolen bases. Additionally, he has a solid .714 OPS, as he has slugged .500 in the month of May.
While you would expect a bit more out of a college first round pick, he looks significantly better in AA than he did last year, as in 94 games with the Barons last season Gonzalez hit .225 with a .284 OBP. He only added five homeruns, but did have a very solid 42 RBIs.
This improvement is encouraging, as he is about to turn 23 years old, so he is still a very young hitter adjusting to the minor leagues. He is still about one year younger than the average player in AA, so there is plenty of time for him to continue to figure it out.
It would greatly benefit Gonzalez to continue this nice streak to raise his average and overall stats, as he could earn a promotion to Charlotte and position himself for a late call up to the major leagues this season if he can hit at AAA.
With the emergence of Chase Meidroth and Miguel Vargas, the infield spots in in the major leagues are quickly filling up, so Gonzalez will need to make an impact sooner rather than later if he wants to be apart of the next winning White Sox team.
As of right now, Gonzalez may not be in the White Sox long term plans, as he was the last of the Rick Hahn era first round picks. However, if he continues this hot streak and finds himself producing at AAA, he could find himself in the major league lineup getting a chance to show what he can do, as he was a first round pick for a reason.
