Knights Prospect Antonacci Homers Twice in Dominant Opening Weekend

Sam Antonacci arrived at Triple-A Charlotte as the White Sox's ninth-ranked prospect, fresh off a World Baseball Classic appearance and a Cactus League that produced a .789 slugging percentage. He spent exactly one game making the jump feel like a formality.

On Opening Night at Truist Field, Antonacci clubbed a towering three-run blast down the right field line in the fourth inning. The homer had a launch angle of 45 degrees, capped an 11-run fourth, and helped Charlotte roll to a 19-2 rout, with the Knights tallying 11 runs in the fourth inning alone. It was not a cheapie. The swing was direct and the contact authoritative, the kind that travels regardless of the ballpark.

Twenty-four hours later, Charlotte needed every bit of Antonacci's production to survive. Brody Hopkins retired the first nine batters he faced before Antonacci evened the game with a homer to right to start the fourth, his second home run in two games. The game stayed deadlocked until the 11th, when William Bergolla Jr. ripped a walk-off single to give Charlotte a 2-1 win. Two games, two homers, two wins.

The back-to-back long balls mean more than surface numbers in isolation. Antonacci posted the highest WAR of any hitter in the White Sox system in 2025 at 4.9, but that came before he reached Triple-A. The two homers against Durham pitching confirm his power and timing are not just translating upward but doing so immediately. The White Sox are also in the early stages of expanding Antonacci's versatility, logging him in the outfield a couple of days per week under farm director Paul Janish. The early production only complicates the organizational arithmetic in the best way: when a player is hitting at this level and adding defensive range, the timeline for a big-league look compresses quickly.

Charlotte's Opening Day roster features four White Sox top-10 prospects, with starters Noah Schultz (No. 2), Hagen Smith (No. 4), and Tanner McDougal (No. 6) slated for the rotation, while Bergolla Jr. (No. 11) and Jacob Gonzalez join Antonacci in an infield that gives opposing pitchers problems before the first pitch is thrown. For prospect trackers looking for the most watchable lineup in the International League early, Charlotte handed them the answer across two games this weekend.

Antonacci's two-homer start sets the tone and the expectation. After the 45-degree launch on Opening Night and the go-ahead solo shot that kept Charlotte alive in extras, opposing pitchers have been given a scouting report they are not going to enjoy reading.