The Arizona Fall League has been rolling along, and Chicago’s contingent in the desert has already seen a little bit of everything. Seven prospects are with the Glendale Desert Dogs: right-handers Mathias LaCombe, Nick Altermatt, Jonathan Clark and Garrett Wright, lefty Tommy Vail, catcher Grant Magill and infielder Colby Shelton.
The club also had Pierce George and Anthony DePino on the original roster, but both were knocked out before getting going. George suffered an olecranon fracture in his pitching elbow and is expected to be back for 2027 Spring Training, while DePino had shoulder surgery and should be ready for spring as well.
The biggest offensive story from the White Sox side belonged to Caleb Bonemer, who wrapped up his fall assignment on Oct. 24.
In 13 games, the 3B/SS/OF put together a loud line of .286/.364/.633 with a .996 OPS. Over 49 at-bats, he piled up four doubles, two triples and three homers, while drawing six walks and driving in 12 runs.
He struck out 12 times. Shelton also appears to be finished for the season, as he’s no longer on the Dogs’ roster.
He closed at .277/.379/.511 with an .890 OPS in 15 games.
The Desert Dogs, now 9-17, are sharing the dugout with prospects from the Braves, Dodgers, Marlins and Pirates. On Nov.
4, Glendale blanked Surprise 2-0, with Magill going 0-for-3 and striking out twice. Clark picked up his first save, though he had to work through some stress in the ninth after loading the bases before getting the last out.
Two days later, the Dogs fell 6-3 to Mesa, and LaCombe had a rough stretch in the seventh. He came in, got a groundout, then ran into trouble with a single and back-to-back walks that loaded the bases.
He was one strike from escaping, but a two-run single ended his outing. Altermatt followed and got the final out of the inning, then came back for the eighth.
After he retired the leadoff hitter, an error by the second baseman opened the door. A single, groundout and double plated two unearned runs, and a walk put runners on first and second with two outs before Altermatt finally ended the frame with a grounder.
Wright delivered a cleaner outing in Glendale’s 1-0 loss to Scottsdale on Nov. 6. He worked a scoreless third inning and allowed just one hit.
The fall wrapped with the NL Fall Stars beating the AL Fall Stars 7-4 on Nov. 8, and both Bonemer and Clark had earned spots on the AL roster. Bonemer didn’t appear, having already finished his AFL run, but Clark did get into the game.
He came on in the eighth with two outs, a runner on second and three runs already in. Clark struck out Wyatt Sanford to end that inning, then returned for the ninth.
He needed only one pitch to record a flyout, but then gave up a single and was lifted. His runner later scored after a walk, single and throwing error, leaving Clark with an unearned run on one hit over two-thirds of an inning, with no walks and one strikeout.
Here’s where the White Sox hitters stood after that stretch: Bonemer at .286/.364/.633 with four doubles, two triples, three homers, six walks and 12 RBIs; Magill at .156/.222/.188 with a double, three walks and four RBIs; and Shelton at .277/.379/.511 with three homers, two doubles, eight walks and 17 RBIs.
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