Like his travel Saturday, infielder Jacob Gonzalez’s trip to the big leagues hasn’t been straightforward.
On his 24th birthday, the former first-round pick was officially called up to the White Sox, taking the spot of the injured Munetaka Murakami. Before he could meet his new teammates, Gonzalez had to travel from Charlotte to Chicago, but his flight was delayed from 7:40 a.m. to 9:40 a.m. because of lightning and a door needing repair.
Perhaps facetiously, Gonzalez said he worried the extra two hours would give Sox brass time to reconsider bringing him to Rate Field.
“I was just hoping they weren’t going to change their minds,” Gonzalez said. “I was going to turn my phone off and stay on the flight.”
The Sox didn’t change their minds, but Gonzalez is changing how he is perceived.
After struggling at multiple minor-league levels in both 2024 and 2025, Gonzalez has broken out this year at Triple-A Charlotte. In 52 games, Gonzalez has 19 home runs, a .419 on-base percentage and .668 slugging percentage.
“He’s crushing baseballs is what he’s been doing,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “It’s really impressive.”
Travel issues aside, the lefthanded-hitting Gonzalez wasn’t slated to start Saturday against Tigers left-hander Framber Valdez. At least to begin, Gonzalez will play first base against righties to keep the rest of the infield intact.
“I’ll play anywhere,” said Gonzalez, who’s played six games at first in the minors. “I grew up playing everywhere and ready to help this team win some games.”
To make room for Gonzalez on the 40-man roster, the Sox moved Jordan Leasure (right flexor strain) to the 60-day injured list.
Q-rating
Catcher Edgar Quero also had an eventful day.
The Sox gave away bobbleheads featuring him and fellow catcher Kyle Teel. Minutes before the game, Quero’s wife Maira threw him a ceremonial first pitch. Then, despite a day of taking a beating behind the plate, Quero hit his second home run of the season, a solo homer in the seventh that gave the Sox a 3-1 lead.
With two hits, Quero raised his average to .196 and is showing signs of improvement at the plate.
“I was feeling pretty good [over] the last couple of games, making a couple adjustments in my setup in the box,” Quero said. “Feeling pretty good right now.”
Taylor-made
When Randal Grichuk dropped a fly ball in right, the Tigers got runners to first and second with no outs in the sixth. Reliever Grant Taylor replaced starter Anthony Kay, and Detroit’s rally stopped there.
Taylor got through the inning scoreless, picking up a strikeout, a flyout and a grounder. Taylor was better in the seventh, striking out the side.
“He pretty much saved the day there,” said Kay, who went five innings and allowed a run. “First and second, no outs and [for] him to retire three guys was massive. The boys tacked on and kind of made it a comfortable win.”
In brief
Derek Hill (upper back tightness) was a late scratch. He was replaced in center field by Rikuu Nishida.
* Outfielder Jarred Kelenic cleared waivers and declined an outright assignment, making him a free agent.