{"id":627348,"date":"2026-03-17T01:28:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T01:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/627348\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T01:28:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T01:28:32","slug":"antonaccis-breakout-ramps-up-pressure-on-meidroth-in-crowded-white-sox-infield-mix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/627348\/","title":{"rendered":"Antonacci\u2019s Breakout Ramps Up Pressure On Meidroth In Crowded White Sox Infield Mix"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sam Antonacci has left quite an impression this spring, and while Chicago White Sox general manager Chris Getz has indicated he won\u2019t break camp <\/a>with the team, the pressure could be ramping up on Chase Meidroth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meidroth quickly emerged as a fan favorite, bringing an advanced understanding of the strike zone, strong bat-to-ball skills, and defensive versatility up the middle. After being called up in early April, he provided an instant spark for the White Sox lineup, recording 10 hits in his first 10 games. By the end of his rookie campaign, he had reached base 165 times,\u00a0 the third-most among American League rookies.<\/p>\n

But in July, Meidroth had to be shifted from shortstop to second base to accommodate Colson Montgomery, who proceeded to hit 21 homers in just 71 games. Montgomery is just the tip of the iceberg in a White Sox organization suddenly filled with infield depth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Suddenly Crowded Infield<\/p>\n

The White Sox third-ranked prospect, Caleb Bonemer, earned Carolina League MVP honors in Single-A in his first professional season. William Bergolla Jr, the White Sox\u2019s 11th-ranked prospect, hit .286 in Double-A Birmingham last season, while leading the minor leagues with a 5 percent strikeout rate. And Billy Carlson, the White Sox\u2019s first-round pick in 2025 and 73rd-ranked prospect in baseball, is considered by many to be one of the best defensive shortstops to come out of last year\u2019s draft.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd25 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel<\/a> to hear Chicago legends tell stories you\u2019ve never seen in headlines \u2014 real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.<\/p>\n

The White Sox also hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft, where UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky is widely viewed as the favorite to go first overall. Baseball America called him the best college shortstop prospect<\/a> of the past decade, while MLB Pipeline projects him as the most well-rounded college shortstop to enter the draft in roughly 20 years.<\/p>\n

Cholowsky is the type of player who could rush his way through the minor leagues quickly and force the White Sox to slide Montgomery over to third base as soon as next season. \u00a0<\/p>\n

While Meidroth has solidified himself as the starting second baseman for the upcoming season, he may soon be looking over his shoulder, with Antoncacci now emerging as his biggest immediate threat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not as if Meidroth has underperformed. He still carries a relatively high floor. Through his first 122 games, he owned a 14 percent strikeout rate, good for the 88th percentile in MLB, while his whiff rate, chase rate and squared-up percentage all ranked within the top 16 percent of big-league hitters.<\/a><\/p>\n

But with limited power and a .649 OPS to end the 2025 season, Meidroth still has a ways to go before he emerges as the definitive long-term solution at second base, and a slow start could prompt the White Sox to give Antonacci a look.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Antonacci Brings Winning Edge<\/p>\n

Following Antonacci\u2019s breakout performance in the Arizona Fall League, where he collected 28 hits and added three home runs in 19 games, the\u00a0White Sox ninth-ranked prospect has continued to turn heads. Antonacci has already gone deep against Jameson Taillon and Tanner Bibee in Cactus League play, then launched a 403-foot blast off Nolan McLean for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n

The sudden power surge is particularly notable considering Antonacci hit just five home runs in the minors last season, yet still managed to slash .291\/.433\/.409 with 32 extra-base hits.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just the box score that has stood out. Antonacci\u2019s hard-nosed style of play has translated into winning baseball. In the WBC alone, he charged home on a passed ball against Team USA in a play that Jon Smoltz said might be \u201cthe greatest anticipated ball in the dirt with a runner on 3rd I think I\u2019ve seen in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He later manufactured a double play against Mexico by diving after a ball the baserunner believed had been hit up the middle, when in reality it was a lazy fly ball to center field. The heads-up play fooled the runner into continuing toward third, resulting in an easy 8-3 double play. Later in the game, he scored from first base on a single by aggressively sprinting to third, then quickly recognizing the ball had been misplayed in center field, allowing him to charge home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he\u2019s about, what he brings on a daily basis, it\u2019s a winning style of baseball that\u2019s going to fit in very well here,\u201d Getz told MLB.com\u2019s Scott Merkin<\/a>. I\u2019m very confident that the South Side is going to enjoy watching Sam Antonacci when the time comes,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Winning has followed Antonacci at nearly every stop of his career, and that\u2019s hardly a coincidence. In 2023, he helped Heartland Community College capture the NJCAA Division II national championship while earning Junior College Player of the Year honors. After transferring to Coastal Carolina the following season, he continued to shine, hitting .367 while leading the Sun Belt Conference with a .523 on-base percentage.<\/p>\n

His toughness and competitiveness show up in every aspect of his game,\u00a0 even in the way he gets on base.<\/a> Antonacci was hit by 35 pitches between High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham last season, a trait he credits to lessons learned at Coastal Carolina about doing whatever it takes to reach base and help the team win.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Limited Options For Meidroth<\/p>\n

A case could be made for moving Antonacci to the outfield<\/a> to help clear space for the White Sox growing group of infield prospects. However, even if the team goes that route, Meidroth could still find himself on the hot seat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His limited arm strength makes second base his most natural fit, which could become an issue if both Roch Cholowsky and Colson Montgomery are in the organization next season. Offensively, he also shares a similar profile with Bergolla and carries a lower ceiling than Antonacci. Bonemer\u2019s .874 OPS across two levels during his first pro-season adds another layer for Getz and company to consider.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good problem for the White Sox to have, and one that may eventually force them to move some prospects to clear space. In the short term, however, Meidroth\u2019s sophomore season could play a significant role in whether he is considered a trade chip, bench piece, or everyday starter moving forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sam Antonacci has left quite an impression this spring, and while Chicago White Sox general manager Chris Getz…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2379],"tags":[5,1001,138,49,2561,4,17709,396,2562],"class_list":{"0":"post-627348","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-chicago-white-sox","7":"tag-baseball","8":"tag-chase-meidroth","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-white-sox","11":"tag-chicagowhitesox","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-sam-antonacci","14":"tag-white-sox","15":"tag-whitesox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116241926102777011","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}