The White Sox say it’s who he is: rookie Sam Antonacci doesn’t flinch often, doesn’t treat being hit as a fear, and keeps finding ways to produce—turning frequent plunkings into a signature.
NEW YORK — Ask Sam Antonacci if it hurts to be hit by a pitch, and he looks at you as if the question shouldn’t even exist.
“No,” he said, impassively. “Not really.”
For most players, that fear is the invisible bill coming due the moment the pitching tightens—especially when a fastball finds the wrong spot. For Antonacci, a rookie pest for the Chicago White Sox, it doesn’t compute.
The numbers are stark. The franchise dates to 1901. and in all that time. no player in the major leagues has been hit by a pitch so often in so few games. Antonacci took that distinction in stride, needing only 48 games to be plunked 15 times. He flinched just once—on June 7 in Philadelphia—when the Phillies’ José Alvarado drilled him on the elbow guard with a 100-mph fastball. Antonacci needed a minute to collect himself and assure the manager and trainer he was fine.
Otherwise, it’s been “Tubthumping.” Off the shoulder at 97 mph. Off the calf at 93. A cutter to the hip. A sweeper to the kneecap. Nothing changes his posture or his approach.
His recent stretch has been almost unreal even by the standards of a violent sport. He was drilled in four consecutive games. and he achieved a franchise first by getting hit twice in the same inning on May 22. There’s a clip from May 23. 2026—posted by Milb Central—showing Antonacci being hit by a pitch twice in the fourth inning.
At Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, Antonacci explained how he thinks about production—what he can control, and what he refuses to treat like a trap.
“It’s just knowing that I don’t have that luxury of being able to hit 30 or 40 home runs in a season. ” he said. “I have to find different ways to produce, and that just happens to be one of them. I guess just being unselfish, trying to get on any way I can. I’m not going up there trying to be hit by a pitch. but if he happens to throw one at me. I’m not going to move out of the way.”.
Opponents have also tried to test him when pitches merely graze his jersey. Twice, they challenged him unsuccessfully on balls that only brushed him. Since the start of the 2024 season—when Chicago drafted him in the fifth round—Antonacci has been hit by pitches 91 times.
That total spans more than one uniform and more than one level. It covers games with Coastal Carolina University. the White Sox and their affiliates. Glendale of the Arizona Fall League. and Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic. And the simple truth underneath those stops is that this isn’t normal.
Josh Barfield. the assistant general manager for the White Sox since September 2023. provides a baseline most players never get close to. Barfield had 1,075 career plate appearances and was hit by a pitch five times. Antonacci needed only 70 plate appearances to match that number—and now he’s blown past it.
“It’s who he is, it’s the way he plays the game,” Barfield said. “When he’s on your team, you love him. When he’s on the other team, you hate him. He’s just a grinder. He’s going to stick his nose in there. he’s an agitator on the field. and he just makes things happen. He brings so much energy to this team every day. You love him for it.”.
That energy hasn’t stayed theoretical. It shows up in how Chicago is building its present. Sacrificing his body has helped Antonacci to a .380 on-base percentage through Thursday for the White Sox, who are 39-34 after winning one of three against the Yankees this week.
He bats in front of their middle-order sluggers—Colson Montgomery, Miguel Vargas, and the injured Munetaka Murakami—so when Antonacci gets on, the inning keeps moving. Against righties, he hits leadoff; against lefties, he hits ninth.
Chase Meidroth, the White Sox second baseman, said Antonacci sets the tone: “He’s done a great job of setting the tone every day,” Meidroth said. “Being a rookie, he plays well above his age and he’s a big part of what we do.”
Antonacci’s power is real—he belted a 422-foot homer during the Yankees series—but what defines him goes back to the first time he felt the weight of a new milestone.
His first career homer came in Arizona on April 21. Antonacci slashed a ball down the left field line, and Diamondbacks outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. gave up on it, believing a ballboy had interfered. Antonacci never stopped running and slid headfirst into home.
His enthusiasm doesn’t stay in the batter’s box. Defensively, Antonacci has made no errors. He usually plays left. but the White Sox have also used him at second base—he has started three games there—and at third. first and shortstop in the minors. He used to pitch, and he still catches bullpens in the offseason.
“As a kid, you just want to play every position you can,” Antonacci said. “That’s something I took pride in. I always wanted to catch when I was younger, shag in the outfield, throw in the bullpen. It helps make the game fun, too, just never knowing where you’re going to be the next day.”
Chicago’s recent turn hasn’t happened quietly. The White Sox never knew they would be here. at or near the top of the American League Central. after three 100-loss seasons in a row. Yet the young core is improving together. and the team’s haul from the Boston Red Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade—Meidroth. outfielder Braden Montgomery. reliever Wikelman González and catcher Kyle Teel—has the look of a future taking shape. especially with Teel set to return after hamstring and knee injuries.
Last week, Chicago won four of five against the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. Even the loss came with a kind of momentum: Tristan Peters, a Tampa Bay castoff who has thrived in Chicago, foiled a no-hit bid by Yoshinobu Yamamoto with a homer in the ninth.
General manager Chris Getz may need to bolster the rotation before the trading deadline to keep the White Sox in contention, but for now, the breakout feels lived in—not manufactured.
Barfield said the team has embraced that identity.
“This is the best talent we’ve had since we’ve been here, but it’s also just the way they play the game,” Barfield said. “We have guys that are more versatile, guys that can play defense, they can beat you on the bases, beat you with a homer or beat you by bunting a guy over.
“I think the team has embraced that identity. There’s no egos. It sounds cliche, but it’s a bunch of good guys in that clubhouse and everybody’s pulling for each other. Once you start to believe a little bit, special things can happen.”
Sam Antonacci Chicago White Sox hit by pitch José Alvarado .380 on-base percentage AL Central rookie Garrett Crochet trade Chase Meidroth