White Sox rookie review: Luis Gonzalez

Despite there being no minor league season in 2020, there were a significant number of White Sox prospects who made big strides. The White Sox had 12 players make their MLB debuts.

We are taking a look back at how they fared and what it means for their future. We already covered everyday players in Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal. Let’s focus on a hitter who didn’t get much of the spotlight, Luis Gonzalez.

Relevant stats
Regular season: 0-for-1, HBP, R, K in 2 PA (3 games)

Gonzalez didn’t get much playing time so obviously we’re not going to be able to talk at length about his time in the majors. However, we did learn a bit about the 25-year-old outfielder.

He entered the year hoping to improve on a disappointing 2019 in Double-A Birmingham. Gonzalez hit .247/.316/.359 for the Barons. His stock dropped after he was so solid in both levels of Single-A in his first full professional season.

This year would have been a bit of a make-or-break year as far as his prospect status is concerned. As it stands, Gonzalez is 25 and still hasn’t proven he can hit above A ball, but he’ll get another shot and got some valuable experience regardless.

Gonzalez was with the group in Schaumburg throughout the 2020 season. He got called up on August 17 when Adam Engel was found to be a contact of someone with COVID-19. A day later Gonzalez made his MLB debut.

He came on late in a 10-4 win against the Detroit Tigers. He had an error, a hit-by-pitch and a run scored to his name before he had an official at-bat. Three days later he got that at-bat, a strike out, in a blowout win against the Cubs. Gonzalez was also a defensive replacement in the final game of that Cubs’ series. That was all we’d see of Gonzalez.

So what can you glean from that? Well, not much obviously. The one thing that stands out is that Gonzalez got called up ahead of Micker Adolfo and Blake Rutherford, who were also outfielders in Schaumburg at the time.

Gonzalez and Rutherford can both play center, but the White Sox went with Gonzalez. He is more of a center fielder than Rutherford. That defensive versatility could be key to Gonzalez going forward. He may end up as a fourth outfielder.

That may be a bit disappointing after the White Sox spent a third-round pick on him in 2017 and saw him have a breakout year in 2018. However, his struggles last year were a setback. Next year, he’ll have a chance to show 2019 was a fluke and he may get another stint as a fill-in outfielder with the White Sox.

Prognosticating anything based of Gonzalez’s 2020 is a waste of time. Either way, it will go down as a memorable year for him.

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