Through the first 10 games of Cactus League play, Edgar Quero, Sam Antonacci, Tanner Murray, and Grant Taylor have separated themselves from the pack — flashing development, power, and upside that could shape the White Sox’ 2026 roster decisions.
View More
Video Transcript
It’s the White Sox Roundtable, Sam Phelan here.
We are ten games into Cactus League play in Spring Training twenty twenty-six.
The calendar has flipped over to March, and we are over a week in since the, beginning of Cactus League games.
So now is the perfect time, as players begin departing for the World Baseball Classic, and, as I said, the calendar flips to March, to look at who are the standout players for the White Sox in Spring Training thus far.
Which players are exceeding expectations and turning heads and, making White Sox fans and maybe members of the organization look at them a bit differently?
fortunately for the White Sox, most of the standouts have not been random minor leaguers or, aging veterans that you don’t put much stock into.
It’s actually been a lot of critical pieces of the organization, players who belong in the current core that give us signs of optimism moving forward and for the future.
of course, sometimes Spring Training stats are not particularly predictive.
However, when we look at what some players are doing, I think it’s a really good sign for what’s to come in twenty twenty-six.
So here are my four White Sox Spring Training standouts.
Number one is Edgar Caro.
The White Sox catcher is seven for thirteen with two doubles and the team leading eight RBIs in Spring Training.
That’s a five thirty-eight batting average.
Caro spent the whole off season working with Driveline, trying to improve his bat speed and his launch angles, and really unlock more of his power and slugging in twenty twenty-six.
And while we have not seen him hit home runs, he has done a nice job of putting the ball in play with his good understanding of the strike zone, good bat-to-ball skills, and his six ninety-two slugging percentage with good situational hitting in Spring Training already gives us reason to be bullish about what he’s capable of.
Good reminder, by the way, Caro is still twenty-two years old with a bright future ahead of him.
Number two, easy choice.
It’s Sam Antonacci, four for thirteen, two home runs, leads the team with seven runs scored in Spring Training, five hundred on-base percentage, OPS over thirteen hundred.
infielder, was the number eleven prospect in the White Sox organization when the twenty twenty-five season wrapped up, and he has everything.
He’s hit at every level he’s been at since Coastal Carolina.
In twenty twenty-five, had a big season that got him all the way up to Double-A.
He stole forty-eight bases and eight forty-two OPS, and really the only thing that has eluded Antonacci in his career is power.
That’s the one tool that seems underdeveloped.
and so obviously, if you don’t have much power in today’s game of baseball, you don’t really have a really high ceiling.
However, that power is developing, and we’re seeing that on display in Spring Training.
Two home runs are one thing.
Anybody can run into two home runs under the Arizona sun.
No, for me, it’s more about one hundred and seven and one hundred and nine point five.
Those are the two exit velocities on Antonacci’s home runs, just absolute rockets and missiles, showing that he does have a lot of pop in his bat.
He’s been one of the more dangerous hitters in the lineup, and tangible signs of growth in the one area that’s limited his ceiling is a big thumbs up from me.
Number three, Tanner Bibee, another guy that’s hard to ignore, four for eleven, two doubles, two home runs, five RBIs, a fifteen fifty-two OPS entering Sunday.
Just outrageous video game numbers from Tanner Bibee.
And unlike Antonacci, Bibee is not a top prospect.
He’s twenty-six years old, has never played in the big leagues, is kind of viewed as this utility infielder, can be played all over the diamond.
He was actually in the trade that also brought Everson Pereira to the White Sox from the Tampa Bay Rays and then stuck on the forty-man roster really due to his defensive versatility.
Last season, his OPS in Triple-A was at seven hundred flat, but he played second base, third base, shortstop, left field, center field, right field.
He’s played first base in his minor league career as well, so he can play all over, and now we are seeing some of that offensive upside in Spring Training.
I still think it’s pretty hard for Bibee to make the White Sox opening day roster, but he is positioning himself this spring to be one of the first guys they call upon should their depth get tested early.
Number four, my last one, is Grant Taylor, who’s been a very popular breakout candidate among White Sox fans and national pundits all winter as well, and for good reason.
His four point nine one ERA in his rookie twenty twenty-five season did not accurately reflect the quality of his stuff or how well he was pitching.
Expected ERA two point nine one, two full runs lower than his actual ERA, and Taylor was, elite in expected batting average, WHIP rate, strikeout rate, barrel rate, ground ball rate, all of the things that make for a dominant relief arm, and he’s been doing it in twenty twenty-six already.
he had thirteen point three strikeouts at the big league level last year.
It’s thirteen point five strikeouts per nine in Spring Training in twenty twenty-six.
Two appearances, two clean innings, two hits, a walk, striking out three.
He’s been sitting one hundred miles per hour with his fastball with some explosive cut ride action, a downer curve ball, an above average sinker, and a wipeout slider.
The arsenal is off the charts when you look at the Stuff+ rating, and for me, Taylor is just a, a future star closer in the making and maybe a future star starting pitcher in the making.
I think twenty twenty-six is the year he becomes a household name, and that could position him to be a starting pitcher in twenty twenty-seven.
but for now, those are my four standouts.
Like I said, Antonacci will be the one of the four that goes over to the World Baseball Classic.
He’s playing for Team Italy.
Meanwhile, the rest of these guys will continue to try to build upon their strong springs, and the White Sox will try to improve their plus nineteen run differential, which is already tied for the best in the Cactus League.