Oscar Gonzalez has 13 home runs in 145 games in the majors, although he has not hit his way out of the minors since 2023.
The 27-year-old veteran aims to change that at Triple-A El paso.
Gonzalez homered twice on Wednesday in the Chihuahuas’ 9-4 loss at Oklahoma City.
Both homers were solo shots. Gonzalez is hitting .167/.167/.500 through his first four games of the minor league season. He signed a minor league deal over the offseason and hit .400/.431/.564 in 21 Cactus League games this spring.
Gonzalez is a .269/.299/.413 hitter across 562 plate appearances in the majors since making his debut in 2022 with the Guardians.
First baseman Trenton Brooks (1.300 OPS) went 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two walks and center fielder Forrest Wall (.439 OPS) went 2-for-5 with a run scored.
Designated hitter Luis Campusano (.820 OPS), left fielder Tirso Ornelas (.777 OPS), third baseman Mike Brosseau (.536 OPS), catcher Rodolfo Duran (1.301 OPS) and shortstop Mason McCoy (.961 OPS) were all hitless in the game.
Left-hander Austin Krob (0.00 ERA) struck out four and scattered two this and three walks over 2⅔ scoreless innings in the start.
Among the relievers in play, left-hander Jake Higginbotham (0-1, 47.25 ERA) allowed five runs in one-third of an inning in the loss and left-hander Jason Blanchard (12.00 ERA) allowed four runs in an inning.
El Paso is 2-3.
The rest of the Padres’ full-season s start play on Friday.
