Caleb Bonemer’s 2026 season ended with the kind of number that stops you in your tracks: 37 home runs, the most by a White Sox minor leaguer in nearly 40 years.
That power surge is a big reason the 20-year-old has been named White Sox minor league player of the year for the second straight season. He split the year between High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham, going deep 18 times for the former and 19 times for the latter, while continuing a rise that has put him squarely on Chicago’s radar.
Bonemer said the answer to his breakout is pretty straightforward.
“Just my overall power game,” Bonemer said. “A lot of homers, extra-base hits. Very pleased with that.”
Chicago signed Bonemer for $3 million in the second round of the 2024 draft because of his pull-and-lift ability, and that part of his game has only grown louder. He also says the physical side of the jump came from putting on strength, and that meant fueling up.
“Pretty much eating as much steak and eggs as I possibly could,” said Bonemer, whose season will continue in the Arizona Fall League.
The season did not begin with him in this exact shape. After he dominated the low minors last year with a mix of contact, power and strike-zone control, his 2026 profile tilted hard toward power early on. But the bat-to-ball skills settled back in as the year went on.
At High-A, Bonemer posted a 68% contact rate. By the time he reached Double-A, that number climbed back near 74%, helped by cutting down on chase against secondary pitches.
A midseason visit from White Sox hitting director Ryan Fuller helped sharpen the picture. Fuller showed Bonemer that while his pull-and-lift approach was producing real damage, he was getting to the ball too early - his average contact point was the earliest in pro baseball.
“The big thing for that was getting in my backside better, getting my back foot in the ground better, and shortening up my stride a little bit,” Bonemer said. “It helped me just stay back and let the ball get to me.”
Bonemer’s progress has the White Sox thinking ahead to where he fits next. He has shown above-average raw run times, and his work in the Arizona Fall League will focus on getting more comfortable in the outfield as Chicago continues sorting out how to fit him onto a major league roster with a crowded infield.
In Other News...
White Sox Farm Awards Just Put Two Names On The Radar
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Kyle Teels Return Just Created A Troubling White Sox Question
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Since coming back from the injured list, Teel has been striking out at a high rate and chasing more pitches outside the strike zone, a notable step back from the plate discipline he showed a year ago. It is still too soon to label those changes permanent, especially after the stop-start nature of his season, but the White Sox are left with a real question about whether the injuries have simply interrupted his progress or started to alter it in a way that could linger. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Farm System Just Gave Fans A Reason To Believe
The White Sox got something worth watching out of the minor league season even as the big-picture organizational record came in below .500. Their full-season affiliates all finished with winning records, a solid showing that stood out against the struggles at rookie ball and gave the system a more encouraging shape than the overall numbers suggest.
Winston-Salem delivered the headline, winning the South Atlantic League championship and giving the organization a clear on-field success story to point to. Kannapolis added another layer of promise, with a pitching staff that kept its team ERA under 4.00 despite not being stocked with the system's top prospects, a sign that the pipeline may be deeper than it looked a year ago. [Read more 🡒]