The Antonacci Sequence
Sam Antonacci (CHW): 4-4, 2 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB.
The White Sox took it to the Twins early yesterday, scoring four runs in the first inning en route to an 8-0 victory. Leading the charge was Sam Antonacci. The White Sox leadoff hitter (vs righties) was perfect on the day, posting a 4-4, 2 2B, 2 R, RBI line and adding a walk and hit-by-pitch to boot. Antonacci got things started with a line drive single in the first before coming around to score on a Chase Meidroth RBI walk. In the second inning, Antonacci hit a line drive to left but was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double for perhaps his only mistake on the day. Antonacci walked and was stranded in the fourth inning, then doubled in Rikuu Nishida on a low-and-away splitter in the sixth. Antonacci roped another double in the 8th inning that Trevor Larnach couldn’t quite get to and came around to score on a Miguel Vargas single, before capping his day in the 9th by reaching base via HBP.
Antonacci has shown off his best features since joining the major league squad. He’s hitting .291/.383/.391 after yesterday’s game, good for a 123 wRC+. He’s gotten there by making excellent contact, especially in the zone, with an 86.6% overall contact rate and 91.7% zone contact rate. He’s hitting a ton of line drives, with his 26.2% line drive rate good for 6th among MLB hitters with at least 150 plate appearances. While he’s not an insane burner, his sprint speed is in the 77th percentile in MLB, and he’s using it on the basepaths. Antonacci has taken off on 2.9% of his stolen base opportunities, the same rate as Bryson Stott, Elly De La Cruz, and Justin Crawford.
Antonacci has traded some of his contact for power lately. His rolling (300 pitches) Contact+ has ticked to below league average, while his Power+ and Decision+ are carrying him. He’s also slowed down a bit at the plate over the same timeframe. His rolling xwOBA is around league average after starting off on a tear as well. Despite the shift in approach, Antonacci’s still only homered once since joining the majors. Giving up contact for doubles isn’t nearly as useful as selling out for homers. Hopefully yesterday’s game is a sign of Antonacci putting together his gap power and excellent contact ability.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Wednesday…
Andrew Benintendi (CHW): 2-3, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB.
To paraphrase Juan Soto, the pitchers didn’t want to play ball with Benintendi yesterday. After reaching on a single and a fielder’s choice in the first two innings, Benintendi walked in both the fourth and the sixth. In the eighth inning, Benintendi came to bat with the White Sox up 6-0 and Miguel Vargas on first. He got an 83 MPH changeup that drifted over the heart of the plate and crushed it 402 feet to right for his sixth homer of the year. Benintendi’s strikeout rate is way up this year at 28.1% vs a career 18.0%. He’s chasing a bit more, but what’s really driving his increased strikeouts is the continued erosion of his contact skills. He’s at 72.1% contact on the year, down 5 percentage points from last year and 10 percentage points since 2024.
José Ramírez (CLE): 3-4, HR, 3 R, RBI, SB.
Cleveland won a 5-4 nailbiter against the Yankees yesterday, needing every bit of production Ramirez could give them. After a routine grounder in the first, everything Ramirez hit was hard. He had a 99 MPH single in the fourth inning, stole second, and came around to score on Rhys Hoskins‘ sixth homer of the year. In the sixth, he yanked a Gerrit Cole fastball 100 MPH down the right-field line for a solo homer. Then, in the eighth inning, Ramirez smoked a 107 MPH grounder to right off Tim Hill for a single and eventually scored the decisive run.
Kyle Manzardo (CLE): 3-4, 2 2B, HR, R, RBI.
Manzardo was also instrumental to the Guardians’ victory. Leading off the second inning, he golfed a low-and-in curve 370 feet to right field to give the Guardians the lead. After a soft pop out in the fourth inning, Manzardo hit a 99 MPH double in the sixth and a 104 MPH double in the eighth inning. His eighth inning double would have left 14 MLB parks, but it was enough to get José Ramírez into scoring position for the eventual winning run.
Vinnie Pasquantino (KCR): 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB.
Vinnie P had three hard-hit balls in this one and everything at 91+ MPH. In the first inning, Chase Burns threw Pasquantino a 98 MPH fastball up and in, out of the zone, and Pasquantino sent it out to right at 101 MPH for a 2-run homer. In the third inning, Pasquantino hit a 95.5 MPH fly to center for an out. Then, in the sixth inning, Pasquantino sent a 101 MPH liner to center which was also caught. Pasquantino reached on his last two plate appearances. The first was a 91 MPH ground ball single through the left side of the infield. The second was an intentional walk after the Royals had scored three runs to take the lead in the 9th inning, and he was stranded on both occasions.
Kyle Tucker (LAD): 3-5, HR, R, 2 RBI.
It’s been a rough start to life in Dodger Blue for Tucker. He took advantage of a struggling Zac Gallen in this one, though. In his first at-bat, Tucker launched a middle-middle 94 MPH fastball out to right-center at 107.6 MPH for a two-run homer. His next two opportunities vs Gallen were line drive singles at 95.7 and 96.9 MPH. He finished the day with a groundout and a strikeout, but the game was way out of reach after Shohei Ohtani and two Dodgers’ relievers combined for a two hit shutout.
Jordan Walker (STL): 3-4, 3 R, SB.
While Walker had three singles in this one, they could not have been more different. Walker beat out a double play in the first and came around to score on an Alec Burleson single. He then singled in the third on a 65.1 MPH bloop to right and scored again after back-to-back doubles by Nelson Velázquez and Burleson. In the fourth inning, he added an 86.6 MPH line drive single to center. In his final at bat, Walker showed off some of what he’s famous for, smashing a 114.9 MPH grounder back up the middle for his third single of the game. After reaching, he then stole second, the Cardinals third steal of the night vs Kyle Higashioka.
Caleb Durbin (BOS): 2-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI, SB.
Are these signs of life from Durbin? He’s had hits in five of his past six games, with this being his third multi-hit effort in the span as well. Durbin singled in his first at-bat, sending a line drive to center at 99.7 MPH. He stole second and came around to score on a Wilyer Abreu home run that was hooked around the Pesky Pole in right field. In the fourth, Durbin was asked to bunt, but reached after the Orioles got the forceout at second. In the fifth inning, Durbin went below the zone to hook an 86 MPH changeup from Albert Suárez down the line to left for an RBI double.
Yordan Alvarez (HOU): 4-5, R, 2 RBI.
Another day, another monster game for Alvarez. It didn’t matter that the Pirates were starting Paul Skenes, as Alvarez and the Astros put up 7 hits against the ace in his 4.2 innings. Skenes did coax Yordan into a routine flyout in the first, but everything else was coming off his bat hot. Alvarez’s four singles were between 99.9 and 106.3 MPH. The first was a grounder to right, scoring Nick Allen. The other three were line drives, two to left field and one to center field. The final single of the day was crucial, though, as the Astros put up a six run eighth inning to come back from a 9-5 deficit. Alvarez might have added a second run to his line as well, but he was taken out for a pinch runner as part of the late comeback attempt.
Esteury Ruiz (MIA): 1-2, HR, R, RBI.
I got a great view of this one thanks to my wife scoring company tickets. Ruiz took a 91 MPH fastball middle-in and absolutely smoked it straight down the left-field line at 108 MPH. The only question was whether it would stay fair, and it did, hitting the foul pole about a third of the way up. One thing that really caught my attention was the Marlins bringing in Liam Hicks, Jakob Marsee, and Owen Caissie in the sixth inning. That’s a lot of substitutions to make fairly early in the game and left them with just Leo Jiménez on the bench in a 1-1 game. It worked out, though, as the Marlins scored 3 runs late to win 4-1.
Photo by Patrick Gorski/Icon Sportswire | Featured image by Ethan Kaplan (@djfreddie10.bsky.social on Blue Sky and @EthanMKaplanImages on Instagram)
