IBC

51. Tyler Bremner Los Angeles Angels RHP

Ht: 6'2" | Wt: 170 | B-T: R-R

Age: 21
BA Grade/Risk: 55/Average

Adjusted Grade: 45

The Skinny: Bremner’s selection second overall raised eyebrows during the 2025 draft, but his potential justifies the investment. He pairs some of the best command in the class with a three-pitch mix headlined by a 70-grade changeup and a mid-90s fastball. Bremner could move quickly.

Scouting Grades Fastball: 60 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 70 | Control: 60

https://www.baseballamerica.com/ranking ... prospects/

1. Tyler Bremner, RHP

Ht: 6'2" | Wt: 170 | B-T: R-R

Age: 21
BA Grade/Risk: 55/Average

Adjusted Grade: 45

Track Record: Bremner spent his first two years at UC Santa Barbara as a swingman, with strong performances as a sophomore and in the summer with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team making him one of the top arms available in the 2025 draft class. Bremner started slowly as a junior, allowing five home runs and posting a 4.24 ERA with a 26% strikeout rate through his first seven starts. He quickly turned the corner and posted a 2.91 ERA with a 44% strikeout rate with no home runs allowed over his next seven starts, including six double-digit strikeout games, helping him become the Gauchos’ all-time strikeout leader with 295. Bremner pitched the whole season with the declining health of his mother Jennifer on his mind. She tragically died on June 11 after a five-year battle with breast cancer. One month afterward, Los Angeles drafted Bremner second overall and signed him for 75% of slot value at $7,689,525.

Scouting Report: Bremner is a lean 6-foot-2, 190-pound righthander with an ideal starter’s build and foundation for a midrotation future. He works early counts with his lively fastball that sits 94-96 mph and touches 98. His heater can sink to his arm side at the bottom of the zone and ride when elevated, but it was hit hard by amateur hitters who ambushed it early in counts. There are metric qualities—such as 17 inches of induced vertical break—that indicate it should improve with professional pitch design and not see it be purely a velocity-driven plus pitch. Bremner’s mid-80s changeup is a double-plus offering that he can get in and out of jams with, whether by weak contact or swing-and-miss to both righties and lefties. The pitch plays well off his fastball, holding a similar plane with late fade. He can locate it well and will throw it in any count. Bremner’s mid-to-upper-80s slider occasionally flashed above-average as an underclassman, but the consistency and feel backed up during his junior year. Improved breaking ball consistency is an early development focus. With a low-effort, repeatable delivery and a three-quarters arm slot, Bremner is a plus strike-thrower who can locate his three-pitch mix, giving more faith to his starter projection. Questions about his durability in college have carried into pro ball, where general soreness precluded him from getting post-draft reps in instructional league.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2 ... =preseason

The Future: Bremner has all the ingredients to become a midrotation starter. Some outside the organization believe he will be a rotation option in 2026. An argument can be made that a lengthier focus on pitch design and remaining physical projection could maximize his upside. Bremner looks like a staple in the Angels’ rotation for the next half-decade or more.

Scouting Grades Fastball: 60 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 70 | Control: 60

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2 ... =preseason

1. Tyler Bremner, SP

Drafted: 1st Round, 2025 from UC Santa Barbara (LAA)
Age 21.8 Height 6′ 2″ Weight 190 Bat / Thr R / R FV 50

Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Fastball Slider Changeup Command Sits/Tops
55/55 45/55 65/70 40/55 93-97 / 98

The Angels held the draft’s second overall pick in a year characterized by a lack of consensus at the top. True to form, they passed on the higher-ceiling talents expected to go within the first few picks in order to take the draft’s most big league-ready player in Bremner. Were this the NFL, they likely could have traded down to do this. They did manage to sign the former Gaucho for $2.5 million under slot and were able to spread the savings throughout the rest of their draft. Still, consensus was that this was a bit of an overdraft.

Setting aside your and my opinion on the wisdom of the Angels’ draft strategy — see the System Overview for more on that subject — Bremner is a very good pitching prospect. He’s an above-average athlete with an innings-eater’s frame and a long history of peppering the strike zone. His walk rate across three seasons of college baseball was under 2.5 per nine, and he missed a ton of bats alongside. Most of that is due to his 70-grade changeup, a pitch that stands out immediately for its devastating sink, late depth that works against both lefties and righties. He also misses bats with his sinker, which is a little strange, but it works in part because the separation between it and the change has hitters guessing. Finding a better slider is the big developmental goal here, as Bremner’s flashes, but its shape is inconsistent and, uncharacteristically, so is his feel for it.

The big question here is how much learning on the job the Angels will prescribe for Bremner. Each of L.A.’s last three first-round picks boat raced to the big leagues in less than a year, an aggressive timeline that reflects the organization’s tendency to push talented farmhands quickly. Bremner has been invited to big league camp, and while you wouldn’t think he’s likely to crack the club out of spring training, the Angels did that very thing with last year’s second-round pick, Ryan Johnson, who was even greener. Bremner’s control, command, and out pitch would make him a candidate to move quickly in any organization, but my instinct is that it wouldn’t be the worst thing for him to sharpen his slider in a developmentally-appropriate environment. We’ll see if the Angels think overwise.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/los-angeles ... prospects/

1. Tyler Bremner, RHP

Born: 2004-04-20
B/T: R/R
H: 6′ 2″ W: 190 lbs.

History: Drafted second overall in the 2025 draft, UC Santa Barbara; signed for $7,689,575.
Previous Ranking(s): NR
Major-league ETA: 2027

The Report: If you flashed forward from before the 2025 NCAA season to draft day, you wouldn’t have been surprised to see Bremner come off the board this high, but his junior year for the Gauchos was a little uneven, and we ended up ranking him 23rd on our draft board. First, the good news: Bremner added more ride on his fastball as the college season wore on, making it a true mid-90s bat-misser over the second half of the year. His change-up remained one of the best offspeed pitches around, too, with big arm-side fade, big velocity separation, and strong command in and out of the zone. On the negative side of the ledger, Bremner got off to a rough start on the non-conference slate, and now throws a firmer, more cutterish slider that doesn’t miss enough bats. 95 mph and this quality of change will dominate in college, but he will need to sustain his fastball shape gains (and we usually see regression in the switch to the pro ball) and find a better breaking ball option to continue his success in the minors.

OFP: 55 / no. 3/4 starter
Variance: Medium. Bremner is a prototypical fast-moving, “safe” college arm (which is no doubt why the Angels drafted him), but he will need a better breaking ball in the pros and has already dealt with elbow soreness.

Jesse Roche’s Fantasy Rundown:

Top-500 Dynasty Prospects: 125
Potential Earnings: $15-20
Fantasy Overview: Bremner has a mid-90s fastball with plenty of riding and running action, but it can bleed into a dead- zone shape, and plays down due to poor extension. He is most well- known for his bat-missing changeup, which receives plus-plus grades. It offers has 11-mph velocity separation and 10-inch vertical movement separation from his fastball while also generating a foot-and-a-half running action. Bremner also utilizes a mid-80s slider that lacks enough depth or sweep to be an impact offering. Changeup-oriented right-handed pitchers have mixed success in the majors without a viable breaking ball. Landing with the Angels means Bremner will arrive in the majors quickly, likely as soon as early 2026. Unless pro development unlocks a more viable breaking ball (and his 2024 shape was better), he may have a rough time.
Reckless Fantasy Comp: The best version of Chris Paddack

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/

2. Ethan Frey, OF

Ht: 6'5" | Wt: 220 | B-T: R-R

Age: 21
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Average

Adjusted Grade: 40

Track Record: Frey made the back of the BA 500 draft ranking out of high school in 2022 as a power-oriented catcher who was already 6-foot-4. He helped lead his Rosepine High team to a pair of Louisiana state titles, then was a part of an LSU team that won national championships in 2023 and 2025. He was a centerpiece of the LSU lineup in 2025, when he hit .331/.420/.641 with 13 home runs and 15 doubles in 62 games. The Astros drafted Frey in the third round in 2025, signing him for $997,500. He debuted after the draft with Low-A Fayetteville and impressed. Over 26 games with the Woodpeckers, he hit .330/.434/.470 with three home runs and nine stolen bases.

Scouting Report: Frey is a tall, athletic righthanded hitter who moves well in the box and in the outfield. He sets up deep into his back leg and uses a toe-tap timing mechanism. He likes to get extended in his swing and shows the ability to adjust to a variety of locations and pitch heights. Frey shows above-average bat-to-ball skills, with a patient approach that can border on passive. He looks to get on base and should run higher walk rates, but he could take more looking strikes than is ideal. Frey has plus raw power and has shown the ability to get into it in games with LSU and post-draft. He produces plus exit velocity data, with a 90th percentile exit velocity of 108.3 mph and a max of 113.8 mph. Frey is an average runner whom the Astros believe can stick in the outfield. He has played some center field but is likely best suited for a corner. His fringe-average arm could be a concern.

The Future: During his outstanding pro debut, Frey showed average hitting ability and the potential for above-average power. He is a future everyday regular in the corner outfield.

Scouting Grades Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 50 | Field: 50 | Arm: 45

10. Ethan Frey, OF

Born: 2004-03-15
B/T: R/R
H: 6′ 6″ W: 225 lbs.

History: Drafted in the third round of the 2025 draft, LSU; signed for $997,500.
Previous Rank: NR
Major League ETA: 2028

Year Team Level Age PA R 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ BABIP
2025 FAY Lo-A 21 122 20 5 0 3 17 20 25 9 5 .330 .434 .470 116 .405

The Report: The Astros nabbed Frey in the third round following a breakout junior year in the SEC, one in which he slugged over .600 after seeing only limited time in his first two seasons. Interestingly, in his short stint in Low-A ball after the draft, the Astros employed Frey mostly in center field, which may portend more confidence in an eventual outfield spot than we would have. Beyond that, this is what you’d expect from an SEC corner bat—a three-true-outcome bat who will need to hit his way up the ladder.

OFP: 45 / power-first platoon bat.
Variance: High. Frey will need to sustain his junior performance for more than a year and at higher levels

Jesse Roche’s Fantasy Rundown:

Top-500 Dynasty Prospects: 253
Potential Earnings: $5-10
Fantasy Overview: Frey is a big, 6-foot-6 power hitter with plus-or-better raw power and surprisingly strong bat-to-ball ability. His debut in Single-A turned heads, particularly his excellent contact rates. Frey is a prospect on the rise and should not be overlooked in first-year player drafts. With a strong start in 2026, he is poised to rocket up rankings.
Reckless Fantasy Comp: Why not Jayson Werth?

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/


https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2 ... =preseason

5. Christian Oppor, SP, CHW

Drafted: 5th Round, 2023 from Gulf Coast CC (FL) (CHW)
Age 21.6 Height 6′ 2″ Weight 175 Bat / Thr L / L FV 50

Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Fastball Slider Changeup Command Sits/Tops
50/60 45/55 60/60 30/45 92-98 / 100

Oppor is an athletic JUCO lefty who has two bat-missing secondaries and has touched 100 mph, but he has a limited track record of strikes and performance.

It’s been a longer wait for Oppor to become a relevant prospect than was anticipated after the A’s used an 11th round pick on the Wisconsin prep lefty back in 2022. He didn’t sign and pitched a year of JUCO ball before the White Sox’s love of their Area Codes players won the day and he was plucked in the fifth round for nearly $150,000 over his slot value. Still, it wouldn’t be until 2025 that Oppor escaped the complex, and he made up for lost time, with the 21-year-old earning a promotion to High-A after the first month and finishing with a combined 116 strikeouts against 42 walks in 87.2 innings of 3.08 ERA ball.

Walks spiked on Oppor during the second half, but so did his stuff, hitting 100 mph on his two-seamer repeatedly down the stretch and finding a sweeper that worked with both his lower arm slot and his pronation inclinations. Oppor gets less arm-side action on his changeup than his heater, which is typically problematic at upper levels, but he has shown the arm speed, velo separation and feel for location to carve with it (47% miss rate) thus far. Still slenderly built after some strength gains, Oppor’s delivery is both fluid and easy-looking, and also kinda weird. He lands with his front foot still closed off to the plate, pinning it to the ground so he can crossfire around it with a uniquely short stride. Along with a fastball that gets over a foot of arm-side run, it’s not the most typical look for commanding the glove side to right-handers.

There’s a threadbare history of strike-throwing here, especially with any spin, but the emergence of above-average left-handed velocity, his dynamic on-mound athleticism, and Oppor’s changeup performance has us buying this as an arrow-up profile.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2026-top-100-prospects/

Christian Oppor is actually a natural pronator who has organic feel for a changeup, and actually developing a sweeper that works out of his low slot release was the development breakthrough of his 2025 season (that and maturing into triple-digit velocity). The end result was a 3.08 ERA and 31.7 percent strikeout rate in 87⅔ innings across two levels of A-ball, and even saying that, Oppor was more exciting for his flashes of greatness than overall consistency.

But look where Oppor's front foot lands in his delivery. I had been wanting to talk to Bannister about it since the moment I first noticed it.

He keeps his front toe pointed basically toward the first base dugout (just for a moment), and then crossfires around it. It's weird! Unsurprisingly, Bannister digs it, and not just because it's weird, but rather due to the extra half-second it keeps Oppor's front shoulder closed off from the opposing hitter.

"The lefties that have an ability to stay closed longer than other lefties, and certainly their righty counterparts, it just feels like they have massive deception," Bannister. "If their stuff is equivalent to a righty, it already out-performs, and then if there's a layer of visual deception on top of it, it just plays up that's much more. With Chris Sale, or Carlos Rodón or anybody I've had that has the ability to stay closed -- Garrett Crochet was that way -- it just gives hitters fits."

Despite his readily apparent athleticism, Oppor actually gets well below-average extension. But a uniquely short stride can often wind up being a strange look to give a hitter on its own, and combined with Oppor's distinctly crossfire angle of attack, Bannister is in favor of maintaining something that offers a possibly unquantifiable edge.

"I honestly think it's the last frontier in pitching," Bannister said. "We've solved a lot of things. But the visual deception component and timing deception is far and away what [research and development] departments struggle with quantifying the most, and quantifying it in their models. Between scouts and R&D, it's the hardest component to tackle. So when guys have weird and quirky things, or unique ways they move, or timing cadences in their delivery, those guys become even more valuable."

Like Shane Smith's rushed tempo leg kick.

"It gives hitters fits. [Clayton] Kershaw had the hitch, or Tyler Anderson, give me those types of guys all day long. Because everyone at this point can pitch design. Everybody can quantify the value of pitches in the strike zone. What they can't change is the visual and timing of the delivery that gets the ball to that point. So now it's to the point where the weirder you are, the more I like you."

https://soxmachine.com/2026/02/talking- ... -prospects

Imagine a 95 or 96 mph fastball coming at you, and there’s no chance to get out of the way.

Pain is sure to follow when it contacts said individual’s body, and that fact holds true even if it’s a slightly lower velocity slider, curve or changeup. Now, imagine getting hit by a pitch 39 times in one season, and you have part of Sam Antonacci’s breakout 2025 campaign.

The 23-year-old -- who ended '25 ranked as Chicago's No. 11 prospect -- was hit 16 times with Double-A Birmingham, 19 times with High-A Winston-Salem and four times with Glendale in the Arizona Fall League. But don’t look for the talented infielder to avoid those baseballs in ’26.

His goal is to get on base, any way possible.

“Definitely hurts a little bit, but you have to grow up at some point and just be able to play through it,” the non-roster invite to White Sox Spring Training told MLB.com prior to Tuesday’s workouts. “It was instilled in me in college, especially when kind of getting screamed at it if I got out of the way. I’m happy I have those teachings.”
Sam Antonacci

Antonacci had 306 plate appearances for Coastal Carolina during the ’24 season and was hit by a pitch 27 times. After he was selected by the White Sox in the fifth round of the ’24 Draft, he was hit another four times with Single-A Kannapolis.

“A lot of bruises,” said a smiling Antonacci. “But it’s part of it.”

“You can tell Sam to get out of the way. He won’t,” said White Sox director of hitting Ryan Fuller of the fast-rising left-handed hitter. “He wants to get on first and you are going to see him steal second and create some havoc out there. A run-producing player.”

There’s certainly more to Antonacci than being able to manage pain for a trip to first base. During his ’25 campaign, primarily with Winston-Salem and Birmingham, Antonacci posted a slash line of .291/.433/.409 with 21 doubles, five home runs, six triples, 57 RBIs, 78 runs scored and 73 strikeouts against 69 walks. His 48 stolen bases ranked second in the organization.
Sam Antonacci

This on-field prowess earned Antonacci a spot on Team Italy’s roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic. He’ll be teammates with catcher Kyle Teel, a union figuring to play out again during the ’26 White Sox regular season.

“I’m excited to play alongside Teel. That should be fun,” Antonacci said. “Right now, I’m honestly just here to meet all these guys and kind of just get together with them and build on what the White Sox are doing, and then when Team Italy comes, I’ll focus on that. My sole focus is here and getting better with these guys.”

Team Italy contacted Antonacci in November. His great-grandfather is from Italy, and he would like to make that trip in the future.

His mom, Nicki, certainly will have immense pride watching her son in action. She’s not so happy with his propensity to get hit by pitches, as Antonacci explained.

“My mom hates me for it. I found that out in the offseason,” said Antonacci with a laugh. “She said I’m going to get hurt that way.

“She could be right. But I would rather get hurt for wearing a pitch to help my team out than getting out of the way and then striking out. So, she can be mad at that, but we’ll have our differences. I’m just here to try to get on first base.”

There have been near injury moments for Antonacci, but talented trainers and the organization’s recovery programs make sure he’s back on the field the next day. “No pain, no gain,” is a life motto for Antonacci.

“Sam is a gamer. It’s the level of work he puts in the cage,” Fuller said.

“His intent is amazing, but it turns to another level when the game starts. He’s not going to do anything that jumps off the page. He’s not going to hit the hardest balls, but he’s incredibly consistent. You watch him two, three games, you look at the scorecard and it’s, ‘Sam got on base seven times in the last two games.’”

“If that’s part of his game, then some guys, that’s just what they do,” said White Sox manager Will Venable, who was hit by a pitch 26 times during his nine-year Major League career. “He’s definitely that kind of player where he’s not going to shy away from any kind of contact -- certainly not from the ball. If it helps him get on base and he’s not breaking bones, it’s fine by me.”

https://links.mlb.mlbemail.com/s/vb/dC9 ... 1k6HFdg/17

8. Zach Root, LHP

Ht: 6'1" | Wt: 177 | B-T: L-L

Age: 21
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Average

Adjusted Grade: 40

Track Record: With the 40th and 41st picks in the 2025 draft, the Dodgers went hog wild, selecting Root and outfielder Charles Davalan consecutively out of Arkansas. Root started his career with two seasons at East Carolina before transferring to Arkansas for his junior year. With the Razorbacks, Root went 9-6 and racked up 126 strikeouts in 99.1 innings while helping lead his team to within a game of the College World Series finals. The Dodgers signed Root for $2,197,500 and shut him down for the rest of the year.

Scouting Report: Root works with a full four-pitch complement and adds deception thanks to a funky delivery that contains a high leg lift and a three-quarters arm slot. His arsenal is fronted by a sinking fastball in the mid 90s and backed by a potentially above-average curveball and changeup as well as a slider that could be an average pitch. The latter breaking ball features 1-to-7 break and was used against both lefties and righties, and the Dodgers would like to see Root throw his changeup more as a professional than he did in college. The biggest questions about Root revolve around how many bats he’ll miss as he moves up the minor league ladder. He was less a bat-misser than a barrel-misser in college, and the Dodgers will consider adding a four-seam fastball to his mix to help him get whiffs up in the zone. Despite all of its moving parts, Root maintains and repeats his delivery well, which gives evaluators confidence that he’ll get to above-average control in the big leagues.

The Future: Root’s college pedigree means he’ll likely start his pro career at High-A Great Lakes. There, he’ll work on shaping his arsenal into that of a big league starter. He has a chance to pitch at the back end of a rotation in a few years.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2 ... =preseason

Zach Root, LHP, Los Angeles Dodgers, 6’2”/210

After pitching two strong years as a starter at ECU, Root transferred to Arkansas, where he continued to pitch well, posting a 3.62 ERA with a 30 percent and just an 8.3 percent walk rate. The lefty has steadily improved his strike-throwing ability, and it showed this year as he dominated despite moving to the SEC.

The arsenal is deeply Rooted here, but the 93-94 mph sinker is the foundation, getting 17 inches of arm-side run. Root plays off it well with a changeup, which works in the mid-80s that gets good, late depth and over 17 inches of arm-side movement on average.

Getting to the breaking stuff, the two-plane curveball sits around 81 mph and gets nice depth and sweep. Root also mixes in a mid-80 gyro slider that missed bats at over a 40 percent clip. The changeup had a deadly 55 percent whiff rate.

Root feels like a high-probability starter with room to grow into more in the Dodgers org.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j3u ... 2c5ot8time

It takes a lot to stand out in a batting practice group with Junior Caminero. Jacob Melton did just that Tuesday morning on Field 2 at Charlotte Sports Park.

The 25-year-old outfielder crushed balls all over the back field, an impressive display of power during Tampa Bay's first full-squad workout. It was just one example of the all-around athletic ability the Rays saw in Melton when they acquired him from the Astros as part of the three-team trade that sent Brandon Lowe, Jake Mangum and Mason Montgomery to the Pirates.

“He hits the ball incredibly hard. I mean, off the bat, he hits the ball like Yandy [Díaz] and Cami do -- that hard,” manager Kevin Cash said Wednesday. “It really jumps off his bat.”

Melton, the Rays’ No. 4 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is one of the most intriguing players in camp due to his combination of power, speed and defense. That skill set prompted president of baseball operations Erik Neander to say he has the potential to be a 20-homer, 40-steal player who can offer elite defense in center field -- and that he’s “not terribly far off” from reaching that ceiling.

Melton may not crack the Rays’ Opening Day roster next month. They have a crowded enough outfield situation as it is, he has Minor League options and they don’t want to put undue pressure on someone in his first spring camp with a new team. But they will give him every opportunity to show what he can do in Spring Training, and it seems inevitable he will play a role in the Majors at some point this year.

“Some of the first conversations I had with them [were] just come in, be yourself and let the cards fall,” Melton said. “Obviously they acquired me, and they saw something that they liked, so I think that's a really cool thing. It kind of frees me up to go out and be myself, and, like I said, just enjoy every day and make the most of it.”

Melton, a second-round pick out of Oregon State in the 2022 Draft, said he learned he’d been traded while he was driving home for Christmas. He was about 10 minutes into the three-hour drive to Medford, Ore., after finishing up a workout at Oregon State, when his Astros teammates started texting him.

Melton was on the phone with his wife, Maizy, and had to ask her: “Hey, did I get traded?”

“We felt like some stuff had been building up to that and heard some rumors and stuff, so I had her check while I was driving,” Melton recalled. “She's like, 'Yeah, you just got traded to Tampa.'

“I was thrilled. I mean, Houston's a great organization. They do a lot of things the right way, but to come to another organization that is looked at in the same light -- especially from the player development side -- I think, is really special, and it's a really cool opportunity. So I'm thrilled to be here.”

Melton made his MLB debut for the Astros last season on June 1 against the Rays in Houston, during which he picked up his first hit -- an infield single that Cash challenged. He played regularly for two weeks before he landed on the injured list with a sprained right ankle, then struggled in his return to the Majors.

Melton’s numbers in 32 games with the Astros won’t catch your attention, as he slashed just .157/.234/.186, and he ended up back in Triple-A for much of September. But he felt he made important changes during the final weeks of last season, cleaning up his approach and regaining some momentum heading into the offseason.

“I am, in a way, fortunate for how it went,” Melton said. “Obviously, we would have loved for it to go a little better, but using that as a learning tool, I think it's gonna be really important for my development this year.”

Putting it all together at the plate would make Melton an impactful player in every aspect of the game, considering what he can already do on the bases and in the outfield.

His speed has allowed him to be a prolific basestealer in the Minors, as he swiped 76 bases in 204 games from 2023-24. Defensively, his combination of range and route efficiency has impressed the Rays, who will give him a look in all three spots this spring.

And there’s no doubting his raw power. Just look up when he steps into the cage.

“Couldn't be more excited to have him in our camp,” Cash said. “His defense is really, really good. Then you watch him put a bat in his hand, and what he does in batting practice is impressive.”

https://www.mlb.com/milb/news/jacob-mel ... e-coverage

Spring Training Prospect Watch
Standout of The Day

Sam Antonacci, 2B, Chicago White Sox

Stats: 1/3, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Notable Data: 109.5 MPH HR, 100.3 MPH Ground Out, 94.6 MPH Force Out

Spring Line: 1/3, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Why The Performance Matters:

Antonacci got off to a blazing hot start to spring, leaving the yard off big leaguer, Jameson Taillon in the second inning of Friday’s game. It was no ordinary home run, though, as it left the bat with an exit velocity of 109.5 mph and traveled 417 feet. Sure, it was a 92.5 mph fastball that Taillon left over the heart of the plate, but the significance is the exit velocity here, as Antonnaci reached a max exit velocity of 110 mph last season.

The contact skills are legit and showed again on Friday as he swung and missed just once. In addition to the home run, Antonacci had an additional ball hit over 100 mph and another that was just shy of 95 mph.

Splitting the 2025 season between High-A and Double-A, Antonnaci slashed .291/.433/.409 with five home runs and 48 stolen bases. He did have 32 extra-base hits, so if a few more of those doubles turn into home runs, as we saw, this is a top 100 prospect.

Antonnaci ended the 2025 season with an overall contact rate of around 87 percent, and the in-zone number was just shy of 90 percent. The chase rate an impressive 16 percent.

Keep a close eye on Antonacci this spring.

Fantasy Spin:

The performance should not make you think Antonacci is immediately a top 50 prospect or anything of that nature, but it does show a few things.

Raw Power is developing

He can handle MLB pitching

His offensive ceiling might be a tad higher than originally thought.

Antonacci does not have much value in most dynasty leagues. If he is available, I would pick him up and see where it goes. Again, it’s early. Keep a close eye on the exit velocities the rest of spring. -CC

https://www.thedynastydugout.com/p/spri ... b71c27ac4e

MESA, Ariz. -- Sam Antonacci swiped the spotlight from Munetaka Murakami during the White Sox 8-1 victory over the Cubs on Friday.

Murakami understandably drew the main portion of the focus with his White Sox debut during the team’s 2026 Cactus League opener. But Antonacci, the left-handed-hitting second baseman with a propensity to get on base after being hit by a pitch 35 times last season in the Minors, had the biggest highlight with his Statcast-projected 417-foot, two-run home run off Jameson Taillon.

Antonacci added extra emphasis to that home run with a noticeable bat flip following his connection on the no-doubter to right.

“Yeah, a little bit,” said Antonacci, when asked if he immediately knew it was a home run. “Kind of reality hit there, and being able to produce for my team felt good.”

“That ball was crushed,” said White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon of his run support. “I kind of missed the swing, but I heard it and I was like, ‘Oh,’ and that ball was gone before I even could turn around. He’s a really good player and obviously has a ton of pop, so definitely excited to see him continue to play.”

There won’t be a great deal of time for the non-roster invite to prove himself at White Sox camp, as he’ll be joining catcher Kyle Teel with Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic. But with 48 stolen bases and a .433 on-base percentage over 519 plate appearances last season, Antonacci isn’t a surprise to anyone in the organization.

“Honestly, just the same mindset going forward,” said Antonacci, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the White Sox No. 11 prospect. “Just continue to master my routine and to help my team and be a good teammate.”

“It was amazing,” said White Sox manager Will Venable of Antonacci, who also picked up a stolen base. “You see kind of the look in his eye when he's out there competing. It's just a fierce competitor and obviously some good swings, some good at-bats, some good defense. Good first day out here for Sam."

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