MINNEAPOLIS — White Sox first baseman Jacob Gonzalez had a rough start to his first major-league road series. He struck out in his first six at-bats this week at Target Field, and the skid left him with an unfamiliar feeling.
“I don’t consider myself a person that strikes out a lot,” Gonzalez said Wednesday. “And then I struck out six times in a row — for the first time in my life, probably.
“I knew that it wasn’t gonna keep happening. I consider myself better than that. So I was just sticking to what I was doing, and I knew that it wouldn’t happen a seventh time.”
It didn’t. In his third at-bat Tuesday against the Twins, the left-handed-hitting Gonzalez grounded a single to right field. In his fourth at-bat, he walked, against a left-hander, no less.
Now he was on to something.
In his first at-bat Wednesday, Gonzalez lined a single the other way that drove in two runs in the first inning, his first two big-league RBI. He lined another single to right field in the third, and he walked in the eighth.
“Today was good,” Gonzalez said. “Obviously, I walked yesterday left on left and walked today. Those feel better than hits sometimes. It means you’re seeing it well.”
Though manager Will Venable handed first base to Gonzalez with Munetaka Murakami recovering from a strained hamstring, no one is expecting him to replace Murakami’s production. But he certainly can provide some pop, as evidenced by his 19 home runs in 52 games this season at Triple-A Charlotte.
“It’s really nice to see,” Venable said, “especially a young player in this league, you’re getting your footing and to be able to get results is great, especially after a run there where there were some strikeouts.”
Gonzalez isn’t just learning how to hit in the big leagues. He’s also learning how to play first base. Of his 52 games at Charlotte, he started 35 at shortstop and only five at first — and those were his first games there since the Sox drafted him 15th overall out of Mississippi in 2023.
It showed in the third inning Tuesday, when the Twins’ Alex Jackson bunted a ball that was fielded by pitcher Davis Martin. The problem was that Gonzalez had moved for the ball, too, and when Martin threw to him, Gonzalez didn’t get back to the base in time to touch it. He didn’t realize he had veered too far.
“I was just thinking, I know I should’ve gone to the base first and turned around,” Gonzalez said. “But [Davis] was looking at me already, [so] I’ll just catch it and touch the base as I’m catching it. And I just wasn’t where I was supposed to be.
“So I will try to never do that again. I’ll just go to the base, step on it and turn around. I’ve never had to worry about going to cover a base on a ground ball.”
Despite the mistake, which led to a run, Venable stuck by Gonzalez after the game.
“He’s here to play first base for us,” Venable said. “We’re gonna continue to support him, and he’s still gonna be working hard every day to go out there and do his job.”
He did that Wednesday with a big day at the plate, which included catching up to a 98.7 mph fastball away and sending it to the opposite field at 105.5 mph.
“It’s nice to have that club in the bag,” Venable said of lining a pitch the other way. “Obviously, he’s been slugging a ton in Charlotte. Still feel like he’s gonna do damage up there. But to use the whole field, that’s how you’re gonna survive here.
“You’ve gotta be able to move the ball forward and on some tough pitches on the outside of the plate. He did a great job of that.”
ON DECK
SOX AT PHILLIES
Friday: Anthony Kay (5-1, 3.77 ERA) vs. TBA, 5:40 p.m., CHSN, 1000-AM.
Saturday: Sean Burke (2-3, 3.72) vs. TBA, 3:05 p.m., CHSN, 1000-AM.
Sunday: David Sandlin (1-1, 8.10) vs. TBA, 12:35 p.m., CHSN, 1000-AM.