One of the more intriguing roster battles entering camp, the White Sox outfield mix still has more questions than it does answers. Austin Hays, Andrew Benintendi, and Luisangel Acuna seem locked into roster spots, but the rest of the mix feels open. At first, the poor performance of Jarred Kelenic and the early injury of Everson Pereira put the group in flux, but Pereira’s return and Kelenic’s hot streak have turned up the intensity on the competition.
The White Sox added Jarred Kelenic on a minor league deal this offseason, but the club made it clear they were excited to land Kelenic and his top-5 prospect upside. He’s never been able to put it together at the big league level, but Kelenic has shown legitimate left-handed power and his bat speed and exit velocity metrics indicate there may be more in the tank. After working with White Sox hitting director Ryan Fuller early and often in the offseason, Kelenic felt he had a plan to improve. The early spring results weren’t great, but Kelenic has hit a pair of home runs in the past few days and has hit the ball hard all over the field. All of a sudden, Kelenic’s spring OPS is .857, and his exit velocities are among the best in baseball
Don’t look now, but OF Jarred Kelenic now has an OPS of .857 in the Cactus League
— Noah Phalen (@Noahp245) March 9, 2026
His average exit velocity of 98.3 MPH is in the 98th percentile of all hitters in baseball, and he has an impressive 61.5% hard hit percentage
Definitely makin the outfield competition interesting
Kelenic will always be a high-strikeout guy, but if he can balance it out with power and hitting the ball hard all over the field, he can be a productive player on a big league roster. One thing potentially working against Kelenic is his minor league contract, giving the White Sox the ability to send him down and keep him in the organization.
Kelenic's biggest competition for the roster is now healthy
On the other end of the competition is Everson Pereira, a former top 100 prospect that has yet to get an extended look in the big leagues. Will Venable praised Pereira’s start at camp, but he was scratched from the lineup for the Cactus League opener and missed more than two weeks of games. Pereira finally made his spring debut earlier this week, playing just three innings.
Pereira returning to game action is good news, but he’s a couple weeks behind the rest of the White Sox hitters and is out of minor league options. The team will need to make a tough decision on his roster status in just two weeks. When asked about his status, Will Venable had high praises for the 24 year-old.
“For him, it’s about health right now,” Venable said. “There is a pathway for him. He’s somebody we are very high on.”
It certainly sounds like the White Sox won’t be letting Pereira hit the waiver wire, meaning they’ll need to either save a roster spot for him, or place him on the injured list to start the year.
In my first 26-man roster projection for the White Sox, I had the team keeping both Pereira and Kelenic in the fold. Whether or not this is possible is unclear, but the versatility of Brooks Baldwin and Luisangel Acuna could make it more reasonable to keep an extra outfielder. Perhaps only one of Curtis Mead and Lenyn Sosa make the roster and the team uses Acuna to back up the infield if needed. Also in the mix is veteran outfielder Derek Hill, who is out of options and plays excellent defense but doesn’t have the offensive ceiling of Pereira or Kelenic.
The final two weeks of spring training will be crucial in determining the group that will head to Milwaukee for Opening Day. If Jarred Kelenic continues his resurgence this spring, the White Sox may not be able to justify leaving him off the roster, and if Everson Pereira stays healthy and produces, they may just need to find a way to include them both on the team.