As Rick Hahn has said throughout the White Sox ongoing rebuilding process, rebuilds are full of surprises.
Count Daniel Palka among the biggest, at least during this developmental campaign.
The White Sox plucked Palka from the Minnesota Twins organization last November, and nine months later he ranks second on the team in home runs and has hit some of the season’s most dramatic dingers in recent weeks.
His pinch-hit blast beat the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 2. His ninth-inning homer beat the Tampa Bay Rays three days later. And Friday night, he broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off round-tripper to beat the Cleveland Indians.
Palka’s power is obvious. His knack for the clutch is becoming more and more apparent, too.
“He’s had big moments throughout the time he’s been here with us,” manager Rick Renteria said after the game. “In this instance, his last at-bat of the game. But he continues to go out there, he has fun, he wants to do damage. And he got a good pitch that he could handle and did what he needed to do.”
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“I like being in those moments,” Palka said. “The outcome is the outcome, but I definitely enjoy the pressure, so to speak.”
While it’s much too early to finalize who will be a part of the roster the next time the White Sox are ready to contend for a championship, Palka is doing enough in the present to at least stay in that conversation. Not all of his numbers are demanding he get etched into those future lineups — he entered this weekend’s series against the division-leading Indians with a .238 batting average and a .281 on-base percentage — but his 18 home runs rank just two behind team-leader Jose Abreu’s 20.
As the game’s pendulum swings further and further toward the home run, though, there’s always a place for power. Especially if that power is the difference between a win and a loss, like Palka’s has been three times in this just week-and-a-half-old month of August.
Will Palka end up this rebuild’s biggest surprise, a diamond in the rough stolen from a division rival? It’s too early to answer that question. But considering he didn’t make the team to start the season, it’s safe to say he’s been one of this campaign’s biggest surprises.
“I think he’s doing a great job, obviously,” Renteria said. “For him, he’s had a lot of big moments, big at-bats. He goes out, has three strikeouts or whatever, comes down to the last at-bat. It’s not the first time, either. He’s given himself a chance to do that a couple times now.
“You’ve got to give the front office, Rick and all these guys, credit for doing what they do in terms of trying to identify guys. (Palka’s) taken advantage of the opportunity and done a great job.”