White Sox recent outfield shuffle has only complicated their long-term outlook

The White Sox decided to rebuild their outfield during this off-season. Of the five outfielders they had on Opening Day in 2025, only Andrew Benintendi was on their Opening Day roster for 2026. These adjustments, and readjustments, have continued into the regular season, with injuries, underperformances, and minor league breakouts all playing a role. Now, after finally getting their outfield to some relative stability, they've shaken it up again.

The White Sox started this year with a six-man outfield. Since then, Derek Hill was traded to the Phillies, Luisangel Acuna was moved to a utility/infield role off the bench, Everson Pereira was DFA'd, and Benintendi has become a full-time D.H. Only Tristan Peters, who started the season on the bench, is still a regular Sox outfielder, primarily starting in center against righties. Austin Hays and Pereira both got hurt early in the year, so the Sox brought in Jarred Kelenic, but he didn't last long either. They also got Randall Grichuk, who has been good, but has primarily been the DH against lefties instead of a regular in the outfield.

The White Sox have received contributions from several rookies throughout the season, including Sam Antonacci, Rikuu Nishida, Junior Perez and Braden Montgomery. When Everson Pereira returned from his latest injury, it felt like the roster shuffle was over and they finally had some stability.

But this past week, the Sox outfield adjustments have made their long-term plan less certain. They acquired Colorado Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle before the trade deadline, a surprising move that let to the DFA of both Hays and Pereira. Pereira was quickly claimed on waivers by the St. Louis Cardinals, and the White Sox were left with a thinner group than before.

The White Sox have no clear answer to their outfield puzzle moving forward

The biggest question now is how they'll handle playing time moving forward. Doyle is an elite defensive center fielder, but he's generally a poor hitter--his career OPS+ is 76. The corners are bat-first positions, which basically limits Doyle's value to center.

A platoon with Peters in center seems likely, and Peters has hit well this year--he has a .730 OPS, and even made the All-star team. But he's in the midst of a brutal slump and it's fair to wonder whether he can continue being productive in his role. The White Sox have often taken a platoon approach, so Doyle is likely just their right-handed sub for Peters.

Even if a platoon is the plan, Doyle is still a strange pick, because he just doesn't hit that well against lefties either. I like Doyle, but I'd pick Antonacci and maybe even Peters to hit every time, even against a lefty. And, of course, he can't sub for both Antonacci and Peters at the same time.

Doyle's advantage is defense; that's important at center, but not really the corners. If they wanted him over Pereira, whose a pretty solid right-handed hitter, it could mean the Sox have a more complicated plan to give him regular role.

That brings us to Antonacci. He's naturally a second baseman, but plays left field because the infield is full, and he's done a solid job of transitioning to a new position even if the numbers don't back it up.
Fangraphs lists him as having -2 DRS, -5 OAA, and -6 FRV. Maybe the Sox want to give him more games in the infield while moving Peters to left, and let Doyle play center.

But that doesn't make much sense either--it's hard to see Antonacci getting more time in the infield, because that would mean putting Chase Meidroth on the bench. Meidroth has improved a lot as a hitter, and he's become one of the White Sox core players. His 3.0 fWAR is the second most on the team. And Peters doesn't need to move off of center when he's a plus-player there. Maybe there's an advantage to putting Antonacci at his natural position, but he's been a serviceable outfielder, and that's really all you need in LF.

And that leaves Braden Montgomery. He's currently playing right field, and his OPS is .674. He's actually declined slightly since the All-Star break (from a .696 OPS down to .637). He's one of the White Sox top prospects, and has graded well defensively. I don't see them putting him back in Triple-A unless the offensive struggles escalate, but it's possible. The White Sox aren't afraid to demote struggling players. Even though a demotion's unlikely, he could see less time during high-stakes games.

And sooner or later, the Sox need to decide whether to add a 5th outfielder. Acuna, Grichuk, and Benintendi can all play the outfield, even if they're not desirable choices. Perez could be called in from Triple-A any time. Teams usually have five outfielders, but the Sox seem to have opted for several possibilities, rather than one guarantee.

So that's where things stand. On one hand, the Sox have plenty of talented players who know the outfield. On the other hand, it's unclear how these players will be used, and the Sox might have the right players in the wrong places.

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