Daniel Palka turns 27 today; his age now matches his rookie home run total for the White Sox.
Drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 3rd round in 2013, traded to the Twins in November 2015 and selected off waivers by the White Sox in November 2017, Palka’s sudden breakout caught a lot of people by surprise.
Minor league success was nothing new to Palka – he hit 34 home runs over two levels in the Twins system as recently as 2016. But as a 26-year-old heading into the 2018 season, he had yet to have a taste of the Majors.