After two stagnant seasons in the minors, former first-round draft pick Jacob Gonzalez is showing early signs of progress in 2026 that could put him back on the radar as a legitimate piece for the Chicago White Sox.
It’s hard to imagine where the Chicago White Sox would even play another middle infield prospect if one were called up from the minors later this year.
It was for this very reason that Sam Antonacci started taking reps in the outfield with Triple-A Charlotte. Nevertheless, successful young players are always a welcome sight, especially for a White Sox team that is still trying to figure out its identity and what the roster core will look like moving forward.
For a while now, infielder Jacob Gonzalez has been a major disappointment for the White Sox.
He was the No. 15 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of Ole Miss, selected for his defensive reliability and offensive floor. MLB Pipeline even asserted that Gonzalez could have 25-homer potential as a professional. Evaluators believed he could become a quality regular at third base or second base if he did not stick at shortstop, but he has yet to put together even an average offensive season in the minor leagues.
The 2024 season was Gonzalez's first full year in pro ball, and in 130 games between High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham, he hit .238 with a .650 OPS, eight home runs, and 17 stolen bases.
Then in 2025, it was more of the very same. Gonzalez split time between Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte, once again hitting eight home runs and stealing 17 bases, this time with a .652 OPS. Those were not just underwhelming numbers. They were nearly identical to the year before, which made the lack of development even more concerning.
Gonzalez has dropped in prospect rankings and is now ranked No. 24 in the White Sox organization.
But 10 games into 2026, we are finally starting to see some of the potential that made Gonzalez a first round pick. He is currently hitting .250 with a .942 OPS, along with one triple, three home runs, and two stolen bases.
He has also been splitting his defensive time all over the infield, logging 18 innings at shortstop, 18 innings at second base, 25 innings at first base, and eight innings at third base thus far.
Adding some offensive power to an already versatile defensive profile, as well as his pedigree as a former first-rounder, could go a long way toward helping Gonzalez earn that big league promotion.
So while plenty of White Sox fans have probably written him off because of his slow start in pro ball and the organization’s middle infield depth, Gonzalez is still just 23 years old and remains one of the more interesting prospects to follow the rest of the way in 2026.