When the White Sox selected Caleb Bonemer in the second round of the 2024 Draft, they knew they were getting a player with some of the best bat speed in his class -- even if there were questions about how that might translate into games.
Less than two years later, the right-handed slugger is making his case as one of the best power hitters in the lower Minors.
The White Sox No. 3 prospect crushed three home runs on Tuesday in High-A Winston-Salem's 7-6 win over Greensboro at Truist Stadium, giving him the second-most home runs (10) in the Minor Leagues this season. Only Oklahoma City's James Tibbs III (LAD No. 10) has gone deep more (11), and Triple-A has played a week longer than any other level.
COMPLETE WHITE SOX PROSPECT COVERAGE
Bonemer had an excellent debut season in 2025 as he won Single-A Carolina League MVP honors, hitting .281/.400/.458 with 10 homers in 96 games before ending the year with an 11-game cameo in Winston-Salem, where he posted a 1.020 OPS with two roundtrippers. This season, the infielder has a near-identical average (.291) and on-base percentage (.406) as last year, but he's hitting for far more power.
And less than a fifth of the way through the campaign, he's nearly matched his home run total from last year.
The Michigan native got to three different right-handed Pirates prospects on Tuesday. After grounding out twice against Cameron Keshock, he took a sinker over the fence the other way in the sixth inning and followed that up by pulling Yulian Quintana's high fastball deep to left in the eighth. Coming up with two outs in the ninth, Bonemer came through in the clutch with a game-tying homer on Kyle Larsen's hanging breaking ball.
Bonemer currently ranks as the No. 53 overall prospect, but his arrow is trending up, and he's primed for a jump when MLB Pipeline releases its market corrections in May. Although he is striking out more (28.1 percent) and walking less (10.4 percent), it's not a bad tradeoff for the extra power.
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Bonemer has quickly answered questions about his once-long swing, and the results are plain to see. In addition to leading the South Atlantic League in homers, he also ranks first in RBIs (25), second in doubles (eight) and fourth in OPS (1.178). And he's doing it all at just 20 years old, more than two years younger than the average competition on the circuit.
Initially drafted as a shortstop, Bonemer is playing more third base these days and seems likely to stick at the hot corner long term in deference to Billy Carlson, the club's 2025 first-rounder who is playing a level below him and perhaps the best defensive shortstop in the Minors. But the way he's been swinging the bat, Bonemer looks like the power-hitting infielder Chicago was dreaming on two summers ago.