The Chicago White Sox are giving Caleb Bonemer innings in the outfield, creating a clearer path for one of baseball’s top prospects to reach the major leagues.
While adopting the modern philosophy of drafting and developing up the middle, the Chicago White Sox have built a first-place ball club with a promising farm system and an abundance of talent at the shortstop position.
At the MLB level, Colson Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, and Sam Antonacci are all everyday players who were once shortstop prospects in Chicago's farm system. The team has found regular at-bats for each of them, with Meidroth settling in at second base and Antonacci making a significant move to the outfield earlier this season.
But even so, there appeared to be a logjam developing with some of the top talent in the pipeline.
The White Sox selected shortstop Billy Carlson with the 10th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. With the first overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, they selected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky. And before that pick was made, the top prospect in the White Sox organization was 20-year-old slugger Caleb Bonemer, another natural shortstop.
You can't play three shortstops at once. That left many White Sox fans wondering if the team had room for all of its top prospect talent. Both Cholowsky and Bonemer currently project to reach the big league level by 2027, and many fans wondered if a player like Bonemer might be expendable at the trade deadline as a result.
As expected, though, we're now beginning to see why the White Sox have embraced this philosophy, and we are getting a clearer picture of the vision for Bonemer's future. Chicago has made a significant decision regarding the No. 2 prospect in its organization and one of the top prospects in all of baseball.
Caleb Bonemer Playing Center Field
In 114 minor league games this season, Bonemer has 33 home runs, 16 stolen bases, and a .937 OPS. He has played 53 games at Double-A Birmingham and hit 15 home runs at the level.
Birmingham has 18 games remaining on its 2026 schedule, and beginning this week, the White Sox are planning to use Bonemer in center field.
"We brought it up to him last week and he was super open about it. By no means is he no longer an infielder," White Sox assistant general manager Josh Barfield said. "We see this as adding another tool in his bag and he’s super athletic. He's capable of doing it."
Bonemer's athleticism is an underrated part of his game. Because of his slugging ability, people often forget how well he moves. It's a tool that received some national recognition during the MLB Futures Game this year. But it's clearly something that hasn't been lost on the White Sox.
This is an example of why drafting a surplus of shortstops is generally a good process. They're instinctual athletes who are often capable of moving across the diamond. The White Sox know that Bonemer is closing in on an MLB debut, with the current projection being that he could join the team next season. But there isn't an immediate path to regular at-bats in the infield, especially if someone like Cholowsky is also in the fold for a promotion.
So naturally, it makes sense to try Bonemer where he might fit best. And Chicago's future in the outfield is very much up in the air.
If Bonemer takes to center field well, it clears a path for him to join the White Sox sooner rather than later and makes his bat that much more valuable. The White Sox showing this level of flexibility and foresight is a significant development for Caleb Bonemer's career and the overall health of the farm system.
