CHICAGO -- The White Sox drafted Jake Burger with the 11th pick of the 2017 Draft as a third baseman.

During this past offseason, he worked diligently to add first base to his repertoire. And beginning with his first big league start during a 7-3 loss to the Cubs Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, Burger appears to be the team’s primary second baseman for the remainder of the 2023 campaign.

Burger finished 0-for-3 at the plate, but had five assists and two putouts in his fifth Major League game at second, with the previous four covering seven innings. Yoán Moncada returned from the injured list Tuesday and was back at third base, but the White Sox didn't want to lose Burger’s power bat.

“It felt comfortable. It felt smooth. I had a double play,” Burger said. “I wanted to get a feed in there, too. But I’ll go with the turn. Felt like I got an exorbitant amount of ground balls. The baseball gods were kind of testing me a little bit.”

“He actually looked pretty good, looked comfortable," White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. "Small sample, talked to him during the game, got to continue to work on this. We’re going to keep working with him, [third-base coach] Eddie [Rodriguez] will keep working with him, and we’re going to give him some more time. See what happens.”

When Burger met with the media before the team’s fourth straight loss, he was covered in sweat as his pregame work with Rodriguez had just concluded. That routine will be played out for the remainder of the season.

Seiya Suzuki’s grounder to end the third marked Burger’s first chance of the night, and he made a nice double-play turn on Yan Gomes’ grounder in the fourth. The only minor issue came in the seventh when Ian Happ’s catchable single ticked off Burger’s glove.

Moving to a new position won’t influence Burger’s hitting focus. In fact, he smiled postgame when bringing up some childhood wisdom from his father, Mike, concerning separating the two in a sort of roundabout manner.

“I’ll never forget my dad growing up, he would tell me, ‘If you are going to go to a dance with a girl, you can’t be a bad dancer and a jerk. You have to do one or the other or both,’” Burger said. “So you separate the two, and if you are going bad at the plate, you have to contribute somehow. I was able to do that on defense today.”

“Playing second base is a little bit harder because you are more involved in the game,” Moncada said through interpreter Billy Russo. “Third base, you have to react and just make the plays. Second base you have to be aware of a bunch of stuff. It’s not more pressure, it’s just playing the game. I think if he does it, he will be OK.”

Moncada started his career at second and expressed a willingness to move back there when asked before the game. That move seems unlikely, as a healthy Moncada gives the White Sox (41-61) a Gold Glove option at third.

Minnesota’s lead over Chicago held at 12 1/2 in the American League Central, as the Cubs (49-51) homered four times and swiped five bases. The dismal current situation for the White Sox with 60 games left allows them to take a few more chances down the stretch to see what they have for 2024.

Grifol’s confidence in Burger makes it a little more than a chance. Though this process began in full force a month ago, it truly started three years ago for Burger when he began playing third with Triple-A Charlotte in 2021.

“We’ve had a lot of ongoing dialogue about it. It’s awesome to have his confidence in me,” Burger said. “He knows the type of guy I am, and I’m going to work as hard as I can to give him the most confidence to put me in there. I think he’s pleased with the work I put in, and I’m pleased with the reports from Eddie Rodriguez.”

“An opportunity hasn't really shown up until right now because we've got everybody almost healthy,” Grifol said. “So to keep his bat in the lineup, when you compare the work he's put in and what Eddie Rodriguez is telling me ... let's give it a shot. With the bat in there, I'd give it a shot. Let's go do it.”