There are some in White Sox player development who think 21-year-old prospect Caleb Bonemer looks like Mike Trout.
Not because he’s on a Hall of Fame trajectory, not yet. Not even after 39 home runs and counting this year through 143 games across the minors and the Arizona Fall League.
Rather, when he’s manning center field in Arizona despite a build more typical of a lead blocker for Bears running back D’Andre Swift, Bonemer looks like Trout, down to the Michigan native’s tree trunk of a neck and the deceptively suitable footspeed.
“The reads and the first step, and the lack of apprehension relative to some of the movements in the outfield were really encouraging,” White Sox farm director Paul Janish said of Bonemer’s transition to life on the grass.
Bonemer’s immolation of low minors pitching — he hit .251/.380/.550 across High-A and Double-A this year — earned him a midseason trip to the Futures Game in Philadelphia. As is often the case when seeing him for the first time, league scouts in attendance were troubled by the eerily still setup to his swing, where Bonemer’s only pre-pitch movement is a subtle load into his back hip. They quibbled about his actions on the infield, lining up with Bonemer’s admittedly shaky defensive performance that saw him commit 24 errors across shortstop and third base.
And scouts tended to note, as Bonemer posted plus run times from home to first, the power-hitting prospect is faster than he looks.
“Speed was always my game, and honestly this year with the added size, I kind of ticked that down a little bit,” Bonemer told the Sun-Times, noting the roughly 15 pounds he put on in added strength over the offseason. “Just playing in the outfield, I think it'll bring out some of that speed.”
They need starting pitching more, but White Sox general manager Chris Getz said he’ll seek outfield help this winter. After leading MLB in slugging against left-handed pitching, Randal Grichuk will be a free agent this winter, as will Tommy Pham. The Sox hope to see Braden Montgomery mature into a franchise cornerstone in right field, but the rookie switch-hitter posted a .430 OPS against lefties last year, and both he and Sam Antonacci could use a right-handed complement.
Why not Bonemer? He’s not in Glendale on a fact-finding mission.
“From what I was told from Janish,” Bonemer said on Thursday. “Being able to play outfield, would only accelerate the process of hopefully playing in the big leagues.”
Few, if any, league evaluators expect Bonemer to stay in center, and the presence of Tristan Peters and Brenton Doyle on the Sox depth chart suggests the outfield corners are where he’ll find playing time on the 2027 team. But the added difficulty of center can only aid Bonemer’s development. It’s occasionally super-charged by the AFL experimenting with outfield positioning rules at Salt River Field in Scottsdale, forcing fielders to play shallower with corner outfielders hugging the lines.
“Pretty much every ball is pretty much over your head or in the gap,” said Bonemer, who as an infielder, is used to playing balls in front of him. “It’s a lot of running around.”
For that, Bonemer’s offseason regimen will contain more cardio training, since patrolling the outfield at the end of his first year of over 140 games played has been taxing. He wants to work on swing decisions, as his first half issues against breaking balls and a strikeout rate north of 26% can make him look like a little too natural of a fit with the boom-and-bust nature of the 2026 Sox offense.
Bonemer will be a rookie next year, not Mike Trout in waiting, so expectations should be kept in check. But if the Sox can find a way to wedge him into their defensive alignment, the ultimate appeal to his game is similar.
“A lot of homers, extra-base hits,” said Bonemer, summing up the strengths of his year. “Very pleased with that.”
