SAN FRANCISCO — If you can’t name the only player in White Sox history to get hit by a pitch twice in the same inning, feel free to use context clues from the first month of rookie Sam Antonacci’s career.
The Springfield native has gotten plunked every fourth game or so on average since his big-league debut April 15, a painful clip that got a boost thanks to Antonacci’s franchise-first single-inning double-beaning while the Sox batted around the order Friday against the Giants.
That sounds about right for a player described as the consummate grinder by Sox starter Davis Martin.
“I’m sure Sam was destined to be the first one,” Martin said. “Just any way imaginable to get the job done, he’s going to get the job done, and everybody knows that’s the case. And to spearhead that lineup, I couldn’t think of anybody better.”
Antonacci’s penchant for plunkings is just one of the tools he’s deployed while largely entrenching himself at the top of the Sox’ batting order within six weeks of making it to The Show. Manager Will Venable has penned the 23-year-old left-handed hitter in the leadoff spot against right-handed pitchers, while second baseman Chase Meidroth continues to lead things off against lefties.
“My goal doesn’t really change, no matter where I’m at in the order,” Antonacci said. “Just trying to get on base for the guys behind me, especially in the leadoff spot with those power bats coming up. It’s a lot easier to win the ballgame if you’ve got runners on.”
It’s worked for Antonacci to the tune of a .364 on-base percentage while batting first. He’s hitting .275/.375/.385 overall in his first 34 games, with eight walks, five stolen bases and 10 times being hit by pitches to swiftly introduce himself to fans as a guy who makes things happen — often the hard way.
“The job that Antonacci’s done in the leadoff spot is awesome,” Venable said. “Every at-bat he seems to just grind and eat up pitches, let the guys behind them see different ways that the pitcher might attack, and just makes it really tough… Just a guy that you like setting the tone for you up top.”
As for Antonacci’s bruising franchise-first, Venable said. It “sounds fitting for Sam.”
“It’s a skill that he has developed,” Venable said. “He’s not leaning into stuff. He just ends up getting hit a lot.”
Fellow rookie and World Baseball Classic competitor Munetaka Murakami is just as impressed with Antonacci.
“He has a lot of guts in him,” Murakami said via interpreter Kenzo Yagi. “Chip on his shoulder.”
Antonacci is shouldering new responsibilities at his new spot in left field, where the Sox’ 2024 fifth-round draft pick got a crash course in outfield defense to fill a big-league position of need. He exclusively played the infield in the minors, mostly second.
The transition hasn’t always been pretty, least of all on a pair of awkward slides playing flies over the Sox’ first two games in San Francisco: one on a bouncing single he was lucky not to miss for extra bases, and another that he wrangled for a catch Saturday.
But by and large, he’s avoided costly, glaring mistakes, and has yet to be charged with an error.
“It’s been a lot more comfortable for me getting the daily reps, pregame and then during the game,” Antonacci said. “I’m refining my game out there. It’s pretty raw still, but that’s why we get to come here every day and work on it.”
He’s working on it with a host of teammates who have come up together in the Sox latest wave of talent producing the team’s most competitive brand of baseball in at least four years.
“It makes it a lot easier just knowing your teammates are and how they react,” Antonacci said. “We just stay true to ourselves and keep pushing forward.”