Jacob Gonzalez homered three times in a doubleheader Thursday for Triple-A Charlotte, recording his fourth multihomer game of the season and taking outright control of the Triple-A home run leaderboard with 18 long balls.
Gonzalez opened the day 1-for-4 in game one, driving a homer in his final plate appearance. He followed that with a 4-for-4 performance in the nightcap: a first-inning homer, a two‑run double in the third, another solo homer in the fourth and a single in the fifth, finishing the twinbill with three homers and a spotless line in game two.
The day’s output pushed a season that has already produced repeated power bursts for Gonzalez: the fourth multihomer game underscores a pattern rather than a one-off. His three-homer pair in the doubleheader left him alone atop the Triple-A leaderboard with 18 home runs, the clearest measure yet of his run production this year at the highest minor-league level.
Statistically, the performance is part of a sharp turnaround. This season — his second stint in Triple-A — Gonzalez is hitting.308/.414/.646. By contrast, he finished last year slashing just.204/.310/.293 across 45 Triple-A games. That gap between seasons is the friction in his story: a hitter who struggled in an earlier Triple-A run is now producing a level of power and on-base work that would have been unexpected a year ago.
Those numbers also come with prospect context. Gonzalez is listed among the White Sox’ top-25 prospects, appearing as No. 23 in one ranking and No. 24 in another, and his recent power surge has turned what had been an uncertain high-minors profile into one anchored by a league-leading total in homers. Four multihomer games in a single campaign — including Thursday’s three-homer showing — is the clearest evidence that the power output is recurring and not merely a hot streak across a handful of games.
The immediate consequence is straightforward: Charlotte’s lineup got a major boost Thursday, and Gonzalez now carries the Triple-A home run crown. What remains unresolved is equally plain — the record of the day does not say what happens next. His next start was not confirmed, and there is no verification available yet on how long he will keep the lead. The White Sox organization is directly affected by his continued Triple-A production; whether Gonzalez sustains this level of hitting or how his role will change in the coming weeks is the standout question left after a day that did little to quiet his swing.
