Sam Antonacci

Samuel Joseph Antonacci

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 193 lb.
• School Heartland Community College, Coastal Carolina University
• High School Sacred Heart-Griffin High School
• Debut April 15, 2026

• Born February 6, 2003 in Springfield, IL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Sam Antonacci played for the Italian national team before making his major league debut in 2026.

He was All-Conference in basketball and baseball in high school. As a freshman at Heartland Community College, he hit .471/.554/.832 then .515/.618/.903 as a sophomore, when he led the nation in average, RBI (103), runs (105), doubles (32) and OBP. Heartland won the 2023 NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series for their first title. He slipped to .216/.310/.255 with the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod League. Transferring to Coastal Carolina University for 2024, he produced at a .367/.523/.504 clip with 90 runs in 61 games! He led the Sun Belt Conference in OBP and was 5th in the NCAA; he was named All-Conference.

The Chicago White Sox took him in the fifth round of the 2024 amateur draft, and he signed for a $572,500 bonus. The scout was Kevin Burrell. He hit .333/.471/.432 with 22 runs in 23 games for a fine pro debut with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers then was 6 for 21 with 5 walks in the playoffs. Playing mostly second base, he spent 2025 primarily with the Winston-Salem Dash (.279/.425/.412 in 64 G) and Birmingham Barons (.292/.435/.381 in 49 G). He led White Sox farmhands in runs (78, one ahead of Corey Julks and Caleb Bonemer), was second in triples (6, one behind Alec Makarewicz), was second with 48 steals (32 behind Jordan Sprinkle), ranked third in walks (69, 6 behind Rikuu Nishida and Bonemer) and easily led in OBP (.433, .030 ahead of Nishida). He was named a South Atlantic League postseason All-Star. He then crushed the ball in the Arizona Fall League at .378/.505/.541 with 24 runs in 19 games for the Glendale Desert Dogs. He led the AFL in runs, tied Charlie Condon for the hit lead (28), tied for 7th in HR (3) and tied for 8th in steals (11).

Antonacci made Italian national team roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic; as usual, Italy was represented almost entirely by Italian-Americans. In spite of his lack of major league experience, he was a regular on the team that made it to the semi-finals; he batted just .105 but with a triple and a homer, with 5 runs and 3 RBIs in the 6 games. His homer was a two-run shot off Team USA's Nolan McLean in Italy's huge 8-6 upset. He started the 2026 season with the AAA Charlotte Knights, where the plan was to have him learn to play left field. He was hitting .313 after 14 games when he got the call to Chicago, replacing Lenyn Sosa, who had just been traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. He made his debut on April 15th, starting at second base against the Tampa Bay Rays. He went 1 for 3 with a run and a walk in an 8-3 loss. He hit his first big league homer on April 21st and it was an inside-the-park homer against the Arizona Diamondbacks. His line drive down the left field foul line was apparently touched by a ball boy, which prompted LF Lourdes Gurriel not to chase it; however, the umpires did not the see the possible interference, and this was not a reviewable play, so the homer was allowed to stand. It was the first inside-the-parker by any major league hitter that season.

Further Reading

• Scott Merkin: "Antonacci vows to give his all on South Side (you can give him a nudge if he's not)", mlb.com, April 16, 2026. [1]
• Scott Merkin: "That's one way to get your first career home run", mlb.com, April 22, 2026. [2]

Related Sites

• Sam Antonacci on mlb.com
• BR Register page
• Coastal Carolina University bio