Sam Antonacci has had a solid rookie year. He's been the White Sox leadoff hitter against right-handed pitchers, he has a .366 OBP, and he's scored 74 runs. He's sporting a .758 OPS in 130 games.
But he plays an aggressive style of baseball that's mostly died in recent years, and it hasn't always been appreciated in his first season. He's made his viewpoint clear; he doesn't go against the rulebook, but he's not a big time power-hitter, so he has to find other ways to contribute.
Some of his methods are just amusing; he's been hit by 27 pitches, which is second-place in baseball as of September 15th, and it's a single-season record for the White Sox. But he also has an aggressiveness on the basepaths that opposing fielders have not always taken to.
The most recent example was on September 9th. The White Sox were playing the Pirates, who tried to turn a double play in the seventh inning. Antonacci was running to second base, while Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe was attempting a throw to first. Antonacci made a hard slide, before popping up quickly, and seemed to hit into Lowe's arm to disrupt the throw.
Lowe was not pleased, and got into a verbal exchange with Antonacci that ended with the benches clearing. Antonacci firmly argued his play is legal, and he seems to be right--and to be fair, he was not ejected from the game, nor has he hid his actual intent.
Benches clear in Chicago after Sam Antonacci attempts to break up the double playpic.twitter.com/pTuvwCtpF2
— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) September 10, 2026
But this is still not the first time he's been in a disagreement like this. Earlier this year, he pulled a similar move against Wilson Contreras, the Red Sox first baseman. Contreas was about to throw home, and Antonacci appeared to bump his elbow. Contreras was not happy about it, and a similar exchange followed.
In the August 26th game against the Texas Rangers, Antonacci used his body to block second baseman Justin Foscue while running to the bag, disrupting Foscue's attempted double play to get Braden Montgomery out at first. To Foscue, throwing the ball appeared to mean hitting Antonacci, which slowed him down.
As Sox Machine pointed out, Antonacci attempted the same move in June, while playing against the Yankees. And like Lowe and Contreras, Foscue and Jazz Chisholm Jr. were unhappy; both players spoke with the umpires.
Some of this goes back to before Antonacci even reached the major leagues. He was playing shortstop for Team Italy during the WBC when Jarren Duran flew out into Jakob Marsee's glove. Antonacci pretended the ball was in the infield, and that he was executing a double play. This tricked baserunner Joey Ortiz into getting caught between the bases.
Antonacci's tendency to play the game hard is making enemies around baseball
Antonacci is a clever player who has become highly entertaining to watch, but it's worth wondering how sustainable his style of ball is. Some of you may remember, or have heard of, Hal McRae's questionable, highly aggressive slides in the 1970s. Watch them on YouTube if you haven't; they're fun to see. But the sport has changed since then, and while Antonacci is straight-up tame compared to McRae, some infielders are already not very happy with him.
His plays are legal, but a couple of of them are borderline. They're also the type of plays that, legal or not, tend to lead to disputes and that's probably just going to get worse as Antonacci builds up his reputation. It's also worth wondering whether there's value to his plays, as much as they seem to be difference-makers.
Antonacci's RS% sits around 36% compared to a league-average of 30%, so he has more success on the basepaths that a typical player despite have only 17 steals. His move against the Rangers did result in a team-win; Brenton Doyle came up to hit a home run that brought a losing game much closer. But Montgomery probably would've been safe even without Antonacci.
The Sox lost the Yankees game, where they were behind 11-1 when Antonacci made his move. They lost 4-2 to the Pirates, and they lost the Red Sox game 4-0.
The question is whether these kinds of plays will be worthwhile. Antonacci's method of playing baseball would not have been completely unusual a couple decades ago, but it's out of favor now; he's become an exception.
I wouldn't be surprised if managers eventually discourage him from making these kinds of moves, because of the negative reception he might get from other players, umpires, or managers. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple years of his career. For now, I suppose we should enjoy his craft and see what comes of it.
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