Instead of following right behind Brooks Baldwin to Chicago, Gonzalez floundered in the second half with the Barons
Jacob Gonzalez
6´2´´
200 pounds
Age: 22
2024 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking 6
2024 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -1.8 years
SSS rank among all shortstops in the system 5
Overall 2024 stats 130 games ▪️ 8 HR ▪️ 57 RBI ▪️ .238/.307/.343 ▪️ 17-of-23 (73.9%) SB ▪️ 47 BB ▪️ 74 K ▪️ .975 FLD% ▪️ 1.4 Simple WAR
Jacob Gonzalez was a bit of a shock first-rounder in 2023, taken 15th overall just two years after Colson Montgomery was snagged in the first round and deemed the Shortstop of the Future. However, Gonzalez had the pedigree the White Sox were shifting toward (namely, bat discipline, contact skills and that unspecific favorite, athleticism) and hey, you can never have too many players emanating from the toughest position behind the pitcher on the field. Plus, Montgomery is gonna be a third baseman or left fielder or right fielder or first baseman, right?
The Ole Miss product (yep, a teammate of Tim Elko and seemingly half of the players in the White Sox system, when the South Siders find a type they run it into the ground!) did little to reward going right back to the shortstop till in 2023. Perhaps gassed after 54 hard-fought SEC games already that year (and close to 70 in both of the previous two seasons), Gonzalez was fairly flat in both the ACL and at Kannapolis.
Which made the shortstop’s blossoming in April 2024 so wonderful; Gonzalez hit the ground running at a new level, High-A Winston-Salem, and killed it. And when he moved quickly up to Double-A Birmingham in later May, the kid was still killing it.
Until he wasn’t.
Before you could even begin to dream of an ascendance that kicked the learning curve in the keister and trucked him right up to Charlotte or even Chicago, Jacob fell off of the later and … crashed. The blistering .321/.387/.468 May that tsunamied him to Double-A flattened out, badly, soon into his Bham stint. July was a horror show, as Gonzalez cratered to .151/.184/.194 and really wasn’t able to see his season recover.
Gonzalez’s Baseball Cube player ratings
Contact 93
Durability 85
RBIs 67
Hitting 63
Power 56
Runs 55
XBH 54
Speed 31
Average 63.00
Obviously, we have to pump the brakes hard on Gonzalez, as if a stratospheric climb from Winston-Salem to Chicago was ever in the 2024 cards. That said, it would be less than shocking to see him hit the ground back in Birmingham hard enough to see significant (say, midseason promotion) time in Charlotte this summer. At this point, Montgomery’s progress may play a role, as if the 2021 first-rounder flounders this spring and continues to struggle at Charlotte, Gonzalez may have to play well enough with the Barons to essentially leapfrog his way to Chicago. It happened a year ago with Brooks Baldwin, so stranger things could surface.
2025 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox Prospects
16. Jacob Gonzalez, SS
17. Caleb Bonemer, SS
18. Wikelman Gonzalez, RHSP
19. Aldrin Batista, RHSP
20. Sean Burke, RHSP
21. Nick Nastrini, RHSP
22. Blake Larson, LHSP
23. Tyler Schweitzer, LHSP
24. Alexander Albertus, 3B
25. Wilfred Veras, RF
26. Seth Keener, RHSP
27. William Bergolla, 2B
28. Samuel Zavala, CF
29. Peyton Pallette, RHRP
30. Jake Eder, LHSP
31. Juan Carela, RHSP
32. Javier Mogollón, SS
33. Nick McLain, RF
34. Ronny Hernandez, C
35. Casey Saucke, RF
36. Eric Adler, RHRP
37. Rikuu Nishida, 2B
38. Shane Smith, RHSP
39. Tim Elko, 1B
40. Zach DeLoach, LF
41. Riley Gowens, RHSP
42. Prelander Berroa, RHRP
43. Sam Antonacci, 2B
44. Adisyn Coffey, RHRP
45. Jarold Rosado, RHRP
46. Ryan Galanie, 1B
47. Trey McGough, LHRP
48. Ricardo Brizuela, RHSP
49. Lucas Gordon, LHSP
50. Aaron Combs, RHRP (traded to Phillies on January 1)
51. DJ Gladney, RF
52. Abraham Núñez, CF
53. Andre Lipcius, 1B
54. Shawn Goosenberg, 1B
55. Caden Connor, 1B
56. Mario Camilletti, 2B
57. Jake Peppers, RHSP
58. Ryan Burrowes, SS
59. Garrett Schoenle, LHRP
60. Jackson Appel, C
61. Tommy Vail, LHSP
62. Bryce Collins, RHRP
63. Tanner McDougal, RHSP
64. Stiven Flores, C
65. T.J. McCants, CF
66. Gil Luna, LHRP
67. Fraser Ellard, LHRP
68. Zach Franklin, RHRP
69. Drew Dalquist, RHRP
70. Nick Altermatt, RHRP
71. Carson Jacobs, RHRP
72. Alec Makarewicz, 1B
73. Jacob Burke, CF
74. Calvin Harris, C
75. Terrell Tatum, CF
76. Phil Fox, RHRP
77. Reudis Diaz, RHSP
78. Jurdrick Profar, SS
79. Drew McDaniel, RHSP
80. Michael Turner, C
81. Caleb Freeman, RHRP
82. Braden Shewmake, SS (designated for assignment on January 1, claimed by Royals)
83. Connor McCullough, RHSP
84. Shane Murphy, LHSP
85. Mikey Kane, 1B
86. Daniel González, LHRP
87. Wes Kath, 3B
88. Pierce George, RHRP
89. Tristan Stivors, RHRP
90. Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa, RHRP
91. Chase Plymell, RHRP
92. Eddie Park, CF
93. Loidel Chapelli, 2B
94. Adam Hackenberg, C
95. Adrian Gil, 1B
96. Jared Kelley, RHRP
97. Lyle Miller-Green, 1B
98. Marcelo Alcala, RF
99. Drake Logan, LF
100. Cole McConnell, CF