Are the White Sox Trying to Speed Up Caleb Bonemer's Path to the Majors?

The Chicago White Sox are giving one of their top prospects a new challenge.

According to Scott Merkin of MLB.com, the organization plans to give Caleb Bonemer some action in the outfield throughout the remainder of the minor league season, as well as once the Arizona Fall League starts up.

The 20-year-old is in just his second season with the franchise after being drafted No. 43 by the White Sox in 2024. He has exclusively played in the infield throughout his pro career thus far, essentially splitting his time between shortstop and third base. During this 2026 season, however, third base has primarily been Bonemer's home.

All things considered, it's a pretty interesting move for the franchise's No. 2 prospect. For someone who has been as good as he has, there can be a level of risk involved in asking him to man an entirely new position. At that same time, one has to imagine the White Sox are thinking about all their other highly-touted youngsters, many of whom are also manning the infield.

Take Roch Cholowsky, for instance! The No. 1 overall pick in 2025 is known for his elite defensive tools at shortstop. It may only be a matter of time before he's knocking on the MLB door. Meanwhile, Colson Montgomery is already at the big-league level and is still viewed as a potential star in the making. Where will the White Sox plan to play him once Cholowsky is ready for the call-up? It doesn't feel as easy as moving one of them to second, as Chase Meidroth has been promising in his own right.

For what it's worth, it did previously feel like a hole at third base would be there for Bonemer. But then Miguel Vargas became an All-Star. The former Dodgers prospect has become one of the most important players on the White Sox with his 29 home runs. He's repeatedly come through in big moments, looking like a worthwhile building block at only 26 years old.

May the White Sox be willing to move on from Vargas with so much talent in the farm system? Maybe, but it's hard to give up on someone who's been on that kind of trajectory. Vargas has been as big a part of this recent turnaround as anyone.

With all that said, why not see if someone as talented as Bonemer can become even more versatile? The outfield is far more open for the White Sox, specifically in center field. Tristan Peters has had his moments in 2026, but it's been an up-and-down campaign. The team is also still trying to figure out what they have in both Sam Antonacci and Braden Montgomery.

Speaking of which, asking Bonemer to get his feet wet in the outfield isn't a new strategy for this franchise. They recently asked the same of Sam Antonacci, who started to split his time between the corner outfield and infield to start the season. This ultimately led to the White Sox giving Antonacci a call and finding room for him in the everyday lineup. He's now been their go-to lead-off man against righties.

If Bonemer can begin to look comfortable in center field, it will be hard not to wonder if the White Sox could suddenly fast-track him to the majors. To be clear, it's highly unlikely that we'll see him over the next month, but is it crazy to think he can be a meaningful part of the 2027 squad? With the kind of year he's had at the plate, it sure doesn't feel like it!

Bonemer's .249 batting average for the season may not blow anyone away, but he's still been good enough to earn a promotion to Double-A. Not to mention, his .937 OPS speaks for itself. Thanks to his explosive power swing, pitchers have had trouble attacking the zone. It's led to a 13.8 percent walk rate this year so far.

More importantly, Bonemer is an extra-base hit machine. He has 60 on the season. He's also up to 83 RBIs with 33 home runs. In the month of August alone, he has 12 extra -base hits with the Birmingham Barons.

MLB’s No. 30 prospect Caleb Bonemer homers in his third consecutive game💥

The @whitesox No. 2 prospect is slugging .647 with 12 XBH in August for the Double-A @BhamBarons: pic.twitter.com/uW69PqdRka
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 22, 2026

Bonemer still has plenty to prove before the White Sox officially make room for him on a major league roster. Especially on a team with this much young talent, it's going to take a lot to prove worthy of a consistent role. With that said, starting to clock some games in center field may very well signal how eager the White Sox are to add Bonemer to the mix.

If he can hold down the fort in the coming months, things could be very interesting come Spring Training in 2027.

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