Chicago’s struggling offense looks for a spark as Sam Antonacci makes his MLB debut against former White Sox pitcher Jesse Scholtens and the Rays.
On Wednesday night, the Chicago White Sox will look to even their series with the Tampa Bay Rays as Sam Antonacci makes his MLB debut and joins the lineup.
Sometimes, hitting can be contagious. For the White Sox in 2026, though, it’s been the opposite—a slippery slope that’s been difficult to stop. Perhaps one good game is all it takes to unlock some of the potential in what has been a dormant offense. And on Wednesday night, they’ll have an opportunity to do just that against a familiar face.
Right-handed pitcher Jesse Scholtens spent time with the White Sox during the 2023 season.
He made his MLB debut on April 7, 2023 and pitched 85 innings with a 5.29 ERA before missing the entire 2024 season with Tommy John surgery and leaving the organization in August of 2025 when he was designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by Tampa Bay.
Now, Scholtens gets the start for the Rays in his old stomping grounds of Rate Field.
After being claimed, Scholtens made two appearances at the MLB level in 2025, both in long relief. He logged 8.1 innings with a 5.40 ERA for Tampa Bay while bouncing between the majors and Triple-A.
So far in 2026, he’s been deployed in a similar role, being asked to eat innings and moving between the big league and Triple-A Durham. In his first and only MLB outing of the year, he tossed 4.2 scoreless innings.
From a metrics standpoint, Scholtens has looked sharp since joining the Rays organization. He’s also a bit of an outlier when it comes to splits. Scholtens has exhibited reverse splits throughout his career, meaning the burden will fall on right-handed hitters to do damage for the White Sox on Wednesday night.
Of the 16 home runs he’s allowed in the big leagues, 15 have come against right-handed batters. Righties are also hitting .327 with a .933 OPS against him.
Left-handed hitters, on the other hand, have managed just one home run while posting a .239 batting average and .603 OPS in a similarly sized sample.
The White Sox starting lineup features six left-handed hitters, including Antonacci in his debut. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. CT.