SAN FRANCISCO — Any other year of this White Sox rebuild, shortstop prospect Jacob Gonzalez would already be with the big-league squad by this point of the season.
The Sox’ 2023 first-rounder is slashing a torrid .294/.405/.606 at Triple-A Charlotte with 15 home runs, nine doubles and seven stolen bases.
The only problem for Gonzalez is the Sox have one of the most productive infields in baseball at the moment among Colson Montgomery, Miguel Vargas, Chase Meidroth and Munetaka Murakami.
“Jacob is playing as good as he can play,” Sox farm director Paul Janish said. “There’s a lot of options right now, so he’s doing everything he can and definitely has himself in the conversation.”
It’s a roster crunch the Sox are getting more familiar with after a few years of living with glaring MLB roster holes, meaning a little bit longer of a wait for some of their most anticipated talent.
“It’s a really good problem to have,” Janish said. “Generally speaking, the players figure that out. They will show us who’s supposed to be the shortstop. But having a bunch of options is a really good thing especially the way major league rosters operate these days.”
There he goes again!! Jacob Gonzalez 💣 pic.twitter.com/NL5YTBiWEy
— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) May 19, 2026
There’s a clearer path to Rate Field in the outfield, as second baseman-turned-left fielder Sam Antonacci can attest. There’d probably be more movement there if Tristan Peters weren’t manning center as adequately as he has (.262/.323/.377)
Top prospect Braden Montgomery figures to get his shot in the Sox’ outfield at some point this summer. He’s hit .243/.321/.400 with two homers in his first 18 Triple-A games.
“Braden answered every challenge we’ve given him at this point,” Janish said. “I know a lot of people will look at the offensive numbers, which are good, but he’s played as good of defense as we’ve seen from him in the year and half we’ve had him in the organization.”
The same goes for Rikuu Nishida (.347/.454/.395), a second baseman who’s taking reps across the outfield for the Knights.
“He’s one of the best baseball players that we have in our organization,” Janish said of Nishida, a native of Osaka, Japan. “He is contagious in the best way.”
While the Sox have had a rotating bullpen cast between Charlotte and Chicago, some movement could come to the rotation, too, if Erick Fedde’s struggles continue (0-5, 5.47 ERA).
David Sandlin has impressed with a 0.75 ERA in four Triple-A starts, while Hagen Smith, the Sox’ next top pitching prospect after Noah Schultz, has posted a 4.54 ERA in 10 starts.
“For him, it’s how he stacks over his back leg,” Sox pitching director Brian Bannister said. “If we get the lower body right, the stack right and he doesn’t feel stuck in that back leg, it’s pretty electric on how many guys he can strike out.”
Shane Smith on the mend
Shane Smith, the Sox’ Opening Day starter who got demoted to Triple-A and then landed on the injured list with a rotator cuff injury, is expected to resume his throwing program in June.
The Sox’ 2025 All-Star stumbled out of the gate and didn’t look all that much better at Charlotte, pitching to a 5.27 ERA in four starts before going down with the injury.
“He’s getting ready to start kind of the throwing program and working back towards being back on the starter’s schedule,” Janish said. “He’s doing well, progressing as he’s supposed to and he should be, at some point in June, back in the mix and in a normal role.”