Pittsburgh Pirates Minor Leaguer Goes Viral For Throwing Punch at Chicago White Sox Prospect

A wild scene broke out on Friday night in a minor league game between the Greensboro Grasshoppers and the Winston-Salem Dash.

The Grasshoppers are the High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates while the Dash are the High-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. Both are in the South Atlantic League.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Grasshoppers' pitcher attempted to pick off runner Sam Antonacci at first base. Somehow, Antonacci offended first baseman Maikol Escotto and the two had words. Eventually, Escotto took a swing at Antonacci and the benches cleared. It's not clear what offended Escotto.

You can see the video below thanks to @FutureSox on social media:

The Hoppers Maikol Escotto loses his cool and takes a swing at Sam Antonacci. He has been ejected. Somebody is getting a 10 game is my guess LOL. #Dash pic.twitter.com/uEBObUPhCH
— FutureSox (@FutureSox) April 10, 2025

Antonacci is not in the White Sox' top 30 prospects, per MLB.com. The 22-year-old Illinois native was a fifth-round pick of the White Sox last year. He played his college ball at Coastal Carolina. Thus far, he's hitting .235 with a homer, five RBIs and two stolen bases. He has a .440 on-base percentage.

Escotto is also not a member of the Top 30 prospects for the Pirates. He's a 22-year-old who is listed at shortstop, despite playing first base in this scenario. A native of the Dominican Republic, he's hitting .647 in the early going with two homers, five RBIs and four stolen bases. Unfortunately, his hot streak is likely to be cooled by looming disciplinary action.

The two teams will reconvene on Saturday, hopefully in a better matter. At the big-league level, the White Sox will play the Boston Red Sox. The Pirates will play the Cincinnati Reds.

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