The White Sox have already turned 2026 into a debut parade. More than a dozen players have reached the majors this season, an eye-popping number even for a club built around youth. Sam Antonacci, Munetaka Murakami, Tristan Peters and others have all played meaningful roles in the team’s success, and that naturally raises the next question: who’s coming behind them?
A few names in the system look like they could matter a lot by 2027.
Caleb Bonemer is the clearest one to circle first. Some may want to rank him behind 2026 No. 1 overall pick Roch Cholowsky, but Bonemer looks far closer to the big leagues right now.
Chicago grabbed him in the second round of the 2024 MLB Draft, and he’s backed up that investment with a monster minor league season. The White Sox’s No. 30 overall prospect has put together a .245/.376/.548 line with 36 home runs and 17 stolen bases in 126 games.
The age-20 season is where the power really showed up, and he doesn’t have much left to prove in the minors. If there’s an opening in the everyday lineup, Bonemer has a real shot to be on the 2027 Opening Day roster, whenever that ends up happening.
Cholowsky’s path looks different. The UCLA shortstop went first overall and sits at No. 11 on the overall prospect list, but the timeline may not be nearly as fast as some expected.
Plenty of scouts and teams viewed him as the most MLB-ready player in the draft, yet there’s a decent chance he doesn’t debut until late 2027, if not 2028. He got into only nine minor league games after signing, all at High-A, and the results were rough: .167/.326/.333.
An injury shut him down, too. His glove may already be good enough for the majors, but the bat needs serious work before he can become what the White Sox want him to be.
That could make him another project for hitting director Ryan Fuller, much like Colson Montgomery.
On the pitching side, Joey Volchko is a name that should move quickly. Chicago took the Georgia right-hander in the third round of this year’s draft, and he’s already the No. 9 prospect in the system.
The 21-year-old does have control issues, but the stuff is loud enough to bet on. His fastball can reach triple digits, and his slider is tight enough to miss bats at the highest level.
If he reaches Chicago, he figures to do it as a high-impact reliever, in the same mold as Hagen Smith or Grant Taylor.
Then there’s Mathias LaCombe, a less familiar name but one worth watching. He’s No. 18 in the White Sox system and hasn’t posted numbers that jump off the page, but his recent run has turned heads.
The 24-year-old has a 6.48 ERA in 14 Double-A appearances, yet he hasn’t allowed a run in his last 11 games since July 28. LaCombe also brings a compelling backstory: he was the second native of France ever selected in the MLB Draft, going in the 12th round in 2023.
His arsenal includes a mid-90s fastball with strong run and carry and an above-average slider, and he could move as a reliever fairly quickly.
The White Sox may not have the same flood of headline-grabbing rookies next year, but the organization still has plenty of talent stacked in the minors.
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