Shawn Goosenberg

Shawn Isaac Goosenberg (born December 5, 1999), nicknamed "Goose", is an American professional baseball player. He played college baseball for the Northwestern Wildcats. He was named a First Team All Big-Ten selection for the 2021 season. The Chicago White Sox selected Goosenberg with the 23rd pick in the 19th round of the 2021 MLB draft (575 overall). Goosenberg primarily plays shortstop and second base.

Early life

Goosenberg was born and grew up in Encino, California, the youngest son of David and Jennifer Goosenberg, and is Jewish. His older brother, Jerry, played baseball with him at Calabasas High School, and went on to attend the University of Michigan. Goosenberg played his youth baseball at Encino Little League, the same little league as Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried.

Amateur career

Goosenberg attended Calabasas High School in Calabasas, California. In 2017, he was a member of the 2017 Maccabiah Games Team USA baseball team that won a gold medal in Israel. Goosenberg won MVP of the tournament, slashing .529 for the tournament. He was a three-year varsity star, being named to the first-team All-Marmonte League in 2018, and second-team All-Marmonte League in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, he also was named to the first-team all CIF Southern Section, hitting .400 with 9 homeruns and 35 RBIs. He won 2018 Calabasas High School student-athlete of the year.

Despite his numerous accolades, Goosenberg was not highly recruited, as among shortstops in his class he ranked 271st nationally and 41st in California. He went un-drafted as a senior in high school, and following his graduation in 2018, Goosenberg enrolled at Northwestern University, where he studied Learning and Organizational Change.

Goosenberg did not have a starting spot as a true freshman in 2019, but that changed quickly. By the seventh game of the season, Goosenberg had overtaken the role as Northwestern's starting second basemen while primarily hitting third in the lineup. He finished his freshman year with a .288 batting average, which lead all freshmen in the Big Ten. Goosenberg was rewarded by not only making the All Big-Ten Freshman team, but also third team All-Big-Ten.

Goosenberg appeared to take a major step between his freshman and sophomore season. He was off to a blistering .444 average with a home run and seven RBIs through 10 games in the 2020 season, but was forced to cut his season short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Goosenberg came in with huge expectations for his junior season, following his promising, albeit COVID-shortened 2020 sophomore year. He did not disappoint, ranking among all Big Ten players: first in OPS (1.143), second in batting average (.362), second in home runs (14), sixth in hits (55), seventh in stolen bases (10), and first in stolen base percentage (10-10). He was also known for his production in the clutch, leading the country with three walk-off home runs. He did all of this despite only playing in 36 games, as Northwestern had to cancel 12 of their games due to members of the team contracting the COVID-19 virus during the season. He also won two Big Ten Player of the Week awards in three weeks, for the weekends of March 26, 2021 and April 9, 2021. Goosenberg was rewarded by receiving 1st team all Big-Ten honors for the 2021 season. His head coach, Spencer Allen, described Goosenberg as "the best hitter [he] has ever coached". Goosenberg went on to graduate from Northwestern University in 3 years, allowing himself to get his degree while still having the ability to go pro when first eligible. He started the 2021 summer by playing in the Cape Cod League, which he had to forfeit the prior year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where he hit .270 with a home run and six RBI for the Brewster Whitecaps.

Draft and Minor Leagues

Goosenberg was seen as a mid-to-late top 10 round pick coming into the draft in July 2021. However, due to concerns about his surgically repaired shoulder, he fell to the 575th overall pick by the Chicago White Sox, and immediately reported to rookie ball in Arizona. He hit .273 with a home run and four RBIs in 6 games before getting promoted to Chicago's Low-A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. He finished the season in Kannapolis, slashing .213 with a home run and five RBI in 23 games.