Why White Sox won't follow Kade Anderson's call-up path with top prospect Caleb Bonemer

2026 has been a year full of exciting call-ups for the Chicago White Sox. Between Opening Day and today, 15 different players have made their big league debut for the White Sox, and despite the youth movement, the White Sox enter the weekend in first place in the AL Central. Following the debuts of lefty Hagen Smith and righty Tanner McDougal, the White Sox may be done with debuts for the season. Earlier this week, the Seattle Mariners promoted top pitching prospect Kade Anderson to the big leagues straight from Double-A, and it made some wonder if the White Sox might follow a similar path with one of their top prospects. 

Infielder Caleb Bonemer has emerged as one of the best hitting prospects in baseball over the past two seasons. A second-round pick in 2024, Bonemer burst onto the scene in his debut year, demonstrating a strong all-around hitting ability. His 2026 season has continued to impress, and he’s emerged as one of the best power hitters in the minor leagues. Bonemer launched his 31st home run on the season Thursday night, and he’s paired it with 80 RBIs, 16 stolen bases, and a .933 OPS. Bonemer began the year with High-A Winston-Salem, but has more than held his own in 50 games since his promotion to Birmingham. 

At just 20 years old, Bonemer has posted excellent offense numbers against largely older competition. He looks primed to make a big league impact sooner rather than later, but it won’t be this season. Calling a player up straight from Double-A isn’t unheard of– the White Sox themselves did it in 2024 with Drew Thorpe– but it’s more common with pitchers, and Bonemer isn’t a perfect player by any means. 

Bonemer's contact questions and 2027 uncertainty will postpone his big league debut

Bonemer’s power increase this season is impressive, but he has sacrificed a bit of his contact to get there. The White Sox would love to see him make more contact and cut down on the strikeouts at the higher levels of the minor leagues before promoting him. In addition, questions remain about Bonemer’s defensive home and fit on the roster. He was originally drafted as a shortstop and played there last season, but has primarily moved over to third base this year. The White Sox infield is set for the rest of this season, so there wouldn’t be a clear path to at bats for Bonemer in Chicago barring an injury anyway. 

Another factor to consider is that adding Bonemer to the 40-man roster with uncertainty surrounding the 2027 season could be be a mistake. If MLB were to miss games next year due to the lockout, any player on the 40-man roster would not be eligible to play in the minor leagues, while players not on the 40-man would. Would it be worth risking losing an entire season of development for Bonemer to get him to the big leagues right now? Probably not. 

A catastrophic injury to a White Sox infielder over the next few weeks could change things, but at this point, it’s hard to see the White Sox forcing the issue and promoting Caleb Bonemer this season. As exciting as it would be to see a team pushing for the playoffs get another major boost, White Sox fans will likely need to wait until 2027 for their next major debut.

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