White Sox Prospect of the Year winners show a system on the rise

With a record-breaking 121 losses in 2024, hope for the future has been the lone lifeline for White Sox fans. The White Sox tore down their core and set off on rebuild 2.0, with trades of Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, Dylan Cease, Garrett Crochet, and Erick Fedde leading the way and replenishing the White Sox farm system. 2025 saw the graduation of many of these prospects to the majors, and the White Sox were hoping to see another wave of prospects step up and put themselves on the map. That happened in a big way in 2025, and two breakout prospects were recently named the White Sox Prospect of the Year winners, Infielder Caleb Bonemer and left-handed pitcher Christian Oppor.

INF Caleb Bonemer

The White Sox second round pick in 2024 took the league by storm in his first full season, reaching the High-A level before turning 20. Questions about his consistency allowed Bonemer to fall to the second round in the draft, but his first professional season answered many of the doubts. Bonemer finished with a .401 on base percentage and an OPS of .874 between Low-A Kannapolis and High-A Winston-Salem, flashing five-tool potential and flying up boards into a consensus top-100 prospect. Bonemer was named the MVP of the Carolina league in his first professional season. Baseball America recently compared Bonemer to Orioles all-star Gunnar Henderson, a bold but flattering comparison. The White Sox have struggled to draft and develop position players in recent years, but the emergence of Colson Montgomery and the quick rise of Bonemer have been promising signs of change under scouting director Mike Shirley. The White Sox will look for another step forward from Bonemer in 2026, which could firmly insert him into the list of the best overall prospects in baseball. 

LHP Christian Oppor

If there’s one area the White Sox have always excelled at, it’s the development of left-handed pitching. Mark Buehrle, Chris Sale, Carlos Rodon, and Garrett Crochet are all examples of left-handed pitchers the White Sox have drafted and turned into gold. In Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith, the team has a couple of obvious examples of pitchers they’re hoping will follow a similar path. But an underrated development that nobody’s talking about is that of lefty Christian Oppor. Drafted by the White Sox in the 11th round in 2022, then again in the 5th round in 2023, Oppor reached full-season ball for the first time this year. In 87.2 innings between Low-A and High-A, Oppor struck out 116 hitters and posted a 3.08 ERA. Opponents hit just .199 against Oppor this season, and he cruised his way up to 8th on the MLB Pipeline White Sox top prospect list. Oppor is likely to begin the 2026 season with High-A Winston-Salem at age 21 and will look to further increase his innings load. He has a chance to reach the upper levels of the minor leagues in 2026 and could be a big league factor as early as 2027. 

The emergence of Caleb Bonemer and Christian Oppor was an excellent unexpected development for a White Sox farm system that has seen some prospects graduate and some tough injuries, and they aren’t the only fast risers in the system. Outfielder Braden Montgomery has emerged as the top prospect in the system and tore up the Arizona Fall League in October and November. RHP Tanner McDougal had a bounce back season after a tough 2024 and should be on the big league radar in 2026. Infielder Sam Antonacci has done nothing but hit at every level he’s been at in 2025 and could be in the big league mix before long. Player development has been a major focus area for the Chris Getz regime, and the additions of Ryan Fuller and Brian Bannister to run the organizational hitting and pitching philosophies seem to have paid dividends. A strong player development system will be a key to building a consistent winner on the south side.

Overall, the White Sox have a farm system that’s much deeper than in past years, and they'll likely have a chance to add another top pick to the organization in this July’s draft. 2026 should be another year of growth, and another opportunity for White Sox prospects to step up. We’ll see who’s up for the challenge.