The White Sox announced that they have selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Sam Antonacci and recalled left-hander Tyler Gilbert. In corresponding moves, they have optioned left-hander Brandon Eisert and designated outfielder Dustin Harris for assignment. It had been reported earlier this week that Antonacci was likely going to be promoted.
The Sox added Harris to the roster a week ago when Austin Hays landed on the injured list. He got into six games and was sent to the plate 16 times. He drew four walks and recorded three hits, including one double. It’s possible the Sox just viewed Harris as a placeholder while they gave Antonacci more time to get outfield reps in the minors. Antonacci played all four infield positions last year but not the outfield. So far this year, the Sox have used him primarily in left field, with 11 starts at that position.
Harris is out of options and can’t be easily sent back to the minors. He was once a prospect of note with the Rangers but his production in the upper levels was middling. From 2023 to 2025, he was on the Texas roster but mostly kept in the minors, exhausting his three option years. He got into just 21 big league games, producing a .217/.280/.435 line in those. For that same span, he had a .271/.368/.418 line in the minors, which translated to a 103 wRC+. He was outrighted at the end of last year and elected free agency, which led to a minor league deal with the White Sox.
He’ll now head into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Sox could take as long as five days to field trade interest. Since he has been outrighted before, he would have the right to elect free agency if he clears outright waivers again.
The Sox will see how Antonacci’s bat plays in the majors. He has great plate discipline but not a lot of power. In 688 minor league plate appearances, he has seven home runs, but his 14.7% walk rate and 13.7% strikeout rate are both much better than average. That strong approach has helped him produce a combined slash of .299/.445/.419 for a 159 wRC+.
Antonnaci can play some infield but the Sox have Munetaka Murakami, Chase Meidroth, Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas from right to left. Since Antonacci has been playing left field this year, he will presumably jump into the outfield mix alongside Andrew Benintendi, Luisangel Acuña, Tristan Peters, Everson Pereira and Derek Hill. The designated hitter spot can also be used to spread some at-bats around. Lenyn Sosa was getting a decent amount of the DH time but he was traded to the Blue Jays this week.
Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Is Sam going to play everyday, or rot on the bench?
Stupid question. If he struggles with his hitting and as their starting LF the White Sox will just send him back to AAA Charlotte to reset.. He’s not “rotting” on anybody’s bench at this stage of his young career.
Sam Antonacci is also plenty versatile as a lifelong infielder before the White Sox began giving him outfield reps to expedite his promotion to MLB. The White Sox system is loaded with top infield prospects and they are currently deficient on the grass. If this trend continues, Antonacci might not be the only INF prospect who gets a shot in their future OF.
When the lefty hitting Antonacci is not playing LF his versatility could allow him to occasionally spell right handed hitting 2B Chase Meidroth and 3B Miguel Vargas. There’s no bench role for this young man at this stage of his promising career.
I suspect Sam Antonacci won’t get too may reps as the White Sox DH as suggested in this article. He’ll become the White Sox starting LF, at least versus right-handed pitching. He could also spell Meidroth and Vargas if either needs a break or when the White Sox face a tough RHP.
The Antonacci promotion should also (thankfully) put to rest any notion of Andrew Benintendi playing LF. If any DH reps are available, they figure to go Benintendi and not Antonacci. That role will also be needed later this month when Kyle Teel is finally back as the White Sox primary starting catcher. If and when Edgar Quero finally begins hitting, manager Will Venable will want to allocate some DH PA’s his way.
Starting 2nd tonight
Too bad his name isn’t Justin. The pun jokes would be almost as much as Yu Darvish
Let’s see how Antonacci does at the big league level!
Dustin Harris was probably a placeholder for Sam Antonacci, but a bit suprised they didn’t send down the leap year boy Tristan Peters to AAA
I think they love Peters defense at all three OF positions, makes him more valuable than Hill or even Acuña.
Welcome to the majors SamA! Hope he settles in at LF fulltime and leads off.
I’d love to see Meidroth moved to #9, where his smarts and hustle could help up pitch counts, move runners or do the little things to help the bottom of the order manufacture a run a game, setting the table for Antonacci & Teel.
Exactly. Peters has two options and isn’t doing anything. Not to mention Harris has been consistently a tier above Peters throughout the minors. Almost feels like the Sox know Harris is the better option but are trying to force a trade. Not shocking since it’s the Sox, but it’s pretty bad.
It appears the White Sox “debate” this past weekend over promoting Sam Antonacci wasn’t so difficult after all. I’m guessing that the organization just wanted to give top “hometown” SP prospect Noah Schultz his “own day in the sun” with his MLB debut yesterday. Now Sam gets his chance today.
Btw: Antonacci is also an Illinois native. He was born and raised in Springfield, IL. He also played high school ball there as well as at Heartland Community College in Normal, IL. before attending Coastal Carolina University to conclude his amateur career. The White Sox selected Antonacci in the 5th round of the 2024 MLB June Amateur Draft.
Who gets promoted for tomorrow’s game? They tend to come in threes.
Too bad for Noah. That debut was certainly less than ideal.
Coffee time!
Espresso!
Harris had some good AB’s.
Thank you. almost every event was a good at bat, he should’ve stayed..
The White Sox sure do love themselves some corner outfielders who can’t hit for power.
The White Sox won a championship in 2005 with Scott Podsednik as their primary LF and leadoff hitter. Just saying…
They also hit 200 home runs as a club, good for 5th in the majors. They had legitimate pop in all 8 of the other lineup spots. When this team starts stacking up 20-homer guys throughout the lineup like the 2005 team had, then we can talk.
The current front office seems to be on board with the rest of the MLB nerds. They’re prioritizing many of the advanced analytic trends including bat speed and launch angle. They have helped adjust the swings of traditional “grunts” like Sam Antonacci and William Bergolla Jr. in order for them to hit the ball harder and more frequently in the air without compromising their contact ability.
Antonacci has increased his hard hit rate and power numbers significantly since his pro debut in 2024. Bergolla Jr. is attempting to do the same this season at AAA Charlotte.
I don’t see an issue with the power potential of the majority of their key young players and prospects including their wealth of middle infielders. Colson Montgomery has legit power and will likely move to 3B when the White Sox contention window opens.
Star UCLA SS Roch Cholowski will come aboard as the #1 overall pick this July in the Amateur Draft. His hit and power tools are both plus.
Top INF prospect Caleb Bonemar has an ETA of late 2027 or 2028. He possesses the power potential to play at a corner on the dirt or the grass which is his likely destination with so many other INF prospects considered better defensively up the middle including future Gold Glove candidate Billy Carlson.
Top OF prospect Braden Montgomery also has plus power potential and figures to be the White Sox core RF beginning in 2027.
Clearly 1B Munetaka Murakami has an elite power tool. Hopefully he can keep his whiffs at a reasonable level while also maintaining his high walk rate. 20-year old OF prospect George Wolkow has a profile similar to that of Murakami as one of the youngest prospects at A+ Winston-Salem.
Finally, the young White Sox catching duo of Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero have solid hit tools along with power potential.
I can envision the next future Sox championship team duplicating the power potential of the 2005 team. I also have more faith in the club locking up their best young talent and spending big on supplemantal free agents when Justin Ishbia takes the ownership reigns from Jerry Reinsdorf in the next few years. 🙂
welcome to the show Sam Antonacci!! so happy he’s gonna bring to the team leadership and winning. I really believe today starts a new era for the White Sox.
On anlther note Harris should have stayed. Harris is a better batter than Hill, Murray, and Periara
Dustin the wind
I knew about this call up earlier in the week and posted as such on these forums. What I don’t know is how Venable plans to use Sam. If the Sox are serious about player development you put him at 2B and leave him there. Meidroth is a nice player but Sam has a chance to be much, much better.
Jeidroth needs to be in the lineup too. His at bats are always pretty good. Put Sam in LF
The White Sox appear to have a nice problem with so many of their best young players and prospects playing prime positions up the middle like SS, 2B and C. They don’t have room for all of them at the MLB level assuming most reach the promised land. The organization will have to figure out who stays at the prime spots with their defense and who moves to a corner on the dirt or to a new position on the grass. The organization may also face decisions on who gets traded in order to beef up weaker area of depth like the outfield and pitching.
Sam Antonacci will be the first decision. His offense currently profiles best at 2B where Chase Meidroth has a similar hit tool. For now, it should come down to the better glove which is Meidroth who also has the ability to play SS which Antonacci lacks. With that in mind Antonacci should get plenty of reps in LF. If he can continue to post elite OBP numbers and develop defensively on the grass, he could be their core LF going forward. His power potential is very much a wild card at this point. It has improved significantly with the adjustments the organization has made with his approach since drafting him back in 2024.
Considering Montgomery and Teel were the only two players on the 2025 team with a higher OPS than Harris currently has (albeit with a small sample size), this move seems oddly premature. If he doesn’t pass through waivers or get traded, it’d be downright idiotic. He posted 33 steals and an OPS over .800 in AAA in 2025, and his career minor league OPS is also over .800. I’m not buying the “struggled in the upper minors” narrative. Maybe the Rays will snag him.