White Sox Finally Found Real Power But One Big Question Remains

Despite their strikeout struggles, the White Sox's newfound home run prowess in 2026 led to a surprising wild card spot and glimpses of an offensive resurgence.

The White Sox spent 2026 doing a lot of damage with the long ball, and that made for a season full of extremes. They had enough punch to lead the American League in runs scored, enough power to erase some of the damage from all those strikeouts, and enough raw force to turn home run tracking into its own little highlight reel.

That was a big shift from the three straight 100-loss seasons that came before it, when the Sox were getting beaten badly in the power column. In 2023, they hit 171 homers and allowed 214.

In 2024, it was 133 hit and 201 allowed. In 2025, they hit 165 and gave up 189.

The arrival of Munetaka Murakami on a two-year deal pushed the offense even further toward boom-or-bust baseball, and this time the boom showed up often enough to matter. The Sox finished with 84 wins and a wild card berth, even with the rough edges still showing.

If the season was built on brute force, the home run leaderboard was the cleanest way to see it. Here’s how the White Sox’s longest blasts stacked up in 2026:

Shortest home run: Sam Antonacci, 57 feet on April 21

Antonacci’s first career homer was the kind of play that probably should have been scored as a double. A ball person deflected it along the left-field wall without realizing the ball was live, and Lourdes Gurriel could have handled the carom instead of throwing his hands up and jogging away.

No interference was called, so Antonacci kept going, and the play wasn’t reviewable. Even if it had been, it might have stood anyway, which somehow fit.

Highest home run: Munetaka Murakami, 49 degrees on Sept. 5

Before the season, Seby Zavala owned the two highest White Sox homers of the Statcast era, both at 46 degrees. Murakami passed that mark twice in 2026. He hit a 48-degree homer off Drew Pomeranz in April, then topped it with a 49-degree opposite-field shot off Taj Bradley that floated into the White Sox bullpen with a little help from the wind.

Lowest over-the-fence home run: 19 degrees, Randal Grichuk on Aug. 21 and Colson Montgomery on Aug. 31

Antonacci’s inside-the-parker came in at 1 degree, but for homers that actually cleared the fence, Grichuk and Montgomery shared the lowest launch angle of the season. Grichuk got there first with a homer off Sean Manaea, and Montgomery matched him 10 days later on a fastball from Bennett Sousa.

Fastest home run: Colson Montgomery, 115.4 mph on Aug. 31

The hardest-hit homer of the year also belonged to Montgomery, which makes the next entry even more amusing.

Slowest home run: Colson Montgomery, 92.9 mph on April 4

For anyone wanting a reminder of what a fresh Colson Montgomery looked like, there it was in the home-opening series against Toronto: a ball that barely sounded right but still carried over the right-field wall. It wasn’t a hard-hit ball, but it sure looked good.

No. 4(t): Colson Montgomery

The top five turned into a top six because of a three-way tie for fourth. One of Montgomery’s entries came during a night when he was the third straight White Sox hitter to homer off Arizona starter Merrill Kelly, after Murakami and Miguel Vargas had already gone deep following two quick outs. Murakami’s homer measured 426 feet, but Montgomery’s blast ended up taking the same tier.

No. 4(t): Colson Montgomery

Date: June 30 | Distance: 440 feet | Exit velocity: 109.1 mph | Launch angle: 29 degrees

This one came at Camden Yards, where left-handed hitters can do serious damage. Montgomery sent Trey Gibson’s pitch onto Eutaw Street, and the whole sequence had the look of a no-doubter: Gibson’s quick spin, the crowd’s reaction, Montgomery’s slow walk out of the box, and the outfielders barely moving. The concourse space there even lets you see the backs of fans’ jerseys.

No. 4(t): Munetaka Murakami

Date: Aug. 18 | Distance: 440 feet | Exit velocity: 111.1 mph | Launch angle: 39 degrees

This was the most impressive of Murakami’s homers, and that says something. It was the longest of his 35 blasts, and it took multiple replays before either broadcast team could really pin down where it landed. CHSN’s cameras got closer than Marquee’s, but both settled on the front half to middle of Wrigley Field’s left-center bleachers, when the scoreboard behind them was the real target.

No. 3: Colson Montgomery

“A missile that showed how much Rate Field's right field misses the fiberglass goose with regards to visual drama.”

That was the description of Montgomery’s third-longest homer from last season, and it fits here without needing much else.

No. 2: Jarred Kelenic

Kelenic’s homer was another one that barely made it into the cameras’ view, clearing the first tier of shrubbery behind center field. According to T ed’s season-ending Sporcle, Kelenic was the 12th-most forgotten White Sox out of the 59 players who suited up for the 2026 team, so the blast didn’t exactly leave a lasting imprint.

No. 1: Munetaka Murakami

Ryan Thompson gave up both the shortest White Sox homer of the season and the longest one over a two-day stretch. A day after Antonacci’s inside-the-parker, Murakami almost reached the scoreboard at Chase Field before settling for a 451-foot homer that landed just beneath the massive video display. It was Murakami’s fifth straight game with a homer, tying the White Sox record, and even though the streak stopped there, the season’s longest shot was a fitting finish.

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