Caleb Bonemer is tearing up High-A Winston-Salem with elite power numbers at just 20 years old, quickly rising up prospect rankings and emerging as a potential cornerstone for the Chicago White Sox.
Minor league stats aren't everything. The same goes for prospect rankings, and neither one of them translates to MLB production 100 percent of the time. Chicago White Sox fans know this better than most.
But for those keeping one eye on the minor league box scores throughout the 2026 season, it's hard not to be excited about what Caleb Bonemer is doing this year and what his future could be with the White Sox.
Prior to the 2026 season, Bonemer was being talked about as the prospect who could unlock the entire White Sox rebuild. He drew comps to Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles, with some outlets such as Baseball America believing Bonemer had the upside to be a top 10 prospect in the game by the end of the 2026 season.
In his first year of professional baseball, Bonemer played in Low-A Kannapolis and High-A Winston-Salem. He had 30 doubles, 12 home runs, 29 stolen bases, and a .874 OPS in 107 games at just 19 years old.
He was the only player in the minor leagues with 10 or more home runs, 30 or more doubles, 20 or more stolen bases, and a wRC+ above 150.
That was enough to garner national attention. And as things currently stand, Bonemer is the No. 53 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline. But after watching the start of his 2026 season, the White Sox very well could have a future star on their hands. Adding Bonemer to the current mix of exciting young players on the big league roster could ultimately be the thing that puts Chicago over the top.
In 22 games this season, Bonemer has eight doubles and 11 home runs with 26 RBIs for the Winston-Salem Dash (High-A ). He's getting on base at a .406 clip and has an OPS of 1.189. That's outrageous production from a 20-year-old who was a second-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Bonemer had three home runs in a comeback victory for the Dash on Tuesday night. He followed it up with another home run on Wednesday, because of course he did. And he's doing it while slugging to all fields against a variety of pitch types.
The defense is above average, and so is the arm. Bonemer has played the majority of his defensive innings at third base this season, making the transition from shortstop with a pretty loaded infield in Winston-Salem.
That's probably a better projection for his future anyway, with Colson Montgomery off to a fantastic start to his career and playing great defense at shortstop for the big league club, and possibly another rising shortstop prospect joining the organization soon if UCLA's Roch Cholowsky is in fact the number one overall pick in the upcoming draft.
Again, minor league numbers aren't everything. But when you have a 20-year-old infielder tied for the minor league lead in home runs and on pace to be a top 10 prospect in the game by the end of this season, it's hard not to get excited.
It's about time we stop referring to Bonemer as a potential future contributor for the White Sox and shift the conversation to Bonemer being a future star in a White Sox uniform.