The Arizona Fall League is giving Chicago a full-stage look at nine prospects, and the headliners are hard to miss. Caleb Bonemer, listed as a 3B/SS/OF and ranked No. 2 in the system and No. 27 by MLB, is in Glendale with the White Sox contingent, along with Mathias LaCombe, Pierce George, Anthony DePino, Colby Shelton, Nick Altermatt, Jonathan Clark, Grant Magill and Garrett Wright.
Chicago is sending five Top 30 prospects to the AFL, matching Los Angeles for the most in the league, and all of them are working out of the Glendale Desert Dogs’ clubhouse with prospects from Atlanta, the Dodgers, Miami and Pittsburgh.
Bonemer wasted little time making noise. In the Desert Dogs’ 9-4 loss to Salt River on 10/3/26, he went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and delivered a two-out, bases-clearing double in the bottom of the ninth to trim the margin to 9-4.
He also spent time in center field, getting the outfield reps that are a big part of his assignment. The day wasn’t spotless, though: he also committed a throwing error after a fifth-inning sac fly that opened the door to three unearned runs.
Shelton chipped in a 1-for-4 effort in that opener, and his hit sparked the ninth-inning push.
The next day against Scottsdale, Bonemer stayed hot at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a walk, while Shelton added a single in four at-bats and Magill made his AFL debut, finishing 0-for-3. The pitching side, though, was a slog. Chicago arms combined to issue nine walks, and the game turned messy in a hurry.
Altermatt earned a hold with a hitless, scoreless fourth, though he did walk two. George followed with a rough fifth, giving up a run without a hit allowed, but three walks, a wild pitch and a hit batter brought the trouble.
LaCombe came on to finish the frame, then ran into his own problems in the sixth, allowing two runs on three hits, including a homer, while also handing out two more free passes. Wright covered the next stretch, and Clark finished the game, but Glendale kept having to grind for every out.
On 10/5/26, the Desert Dogs fell 8-7 to Surprise in walk-off fashion, but Shelton gave them a brief jolt. After entering as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the eighth, he stepped in with one out and a runner on second in the ninth, with Glendale down 7-6. He punched an RBI single to center to tie the game, only for Surprise to answer in the bottom of the inning and leave the Dogs still searching for their first win.
That first victory finally came on 10/6/26, when Glendale beat Mesa 4-3 in 10 innings, and the White Sox prospects were right in the middle of it. Shelton tied the game with a sac fly in the sixth after a wild pitch had produced the Dogs’ first run in the fourth.
Then Bonemer came through in the 10th with an RBI single that brought home the eventual winning run. Shelton and Bonemer accounted for the only two earned runs in the game, Magill added two hits in a 2-for-4 showing, and Altermatt closed it out with the last out in the bottom of the 10th for his first save.
The offense went quiet again in a 10-2 loss to Peoria on 10/8/26, but Bonemer still managed to stand out. He was the only Chicago hitter to appear and went 2-for-4 with a double, collecting two of Glendale’s six hits.
LaCombe and Wright each turned in scoreless two-inning outings on the mound. LaCombe did it without allowing a hit, though he walked two and struck out one.
Wright gave up two singles and a walk while striking out four.
Chicago’s bats picked things up on 10/9/26 in a 13-9 loss to Salt River. Bonemer kept reaching base, finishing 1-for-4 with a triple to center, a run, an RBI and a walk.
Magill had the loudest night of the group, going 2-for-3 with a bases-clearing double, four RBIs and a run scored. Shelton went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, while Altermatt worked the sixth and allowed one run on two hits with two strikeouts.
The latest oddball came on 10/11/26, when Surprise won 5-4 on a walk-off. Shelton was the lone White Sox prospect to appear in that game, entering as a defensive replacement in the sixth and going 0-for-2. His average sits at .176 as he keeps looking for something to get him going at the plate.
The AFL site had Glendale down for a 6-2 loss in seven innings, but the video told a different story. MLB’s highlight clips showed Shelton launching a grand slam in the top of the eighth to tie it at 6-6 before play was suspended. In that version of the game, he finished 1-for-3 with the homer and a walk, Bonemer was 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout, and the grand slam stood as the lone hit from Chicago’s prospects.
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