Five White Sox players playing big role in 2026

In 2024, the White Sox lost 121 games, a Modern Era record (since 1901). Two years later, Chicago finds itself squarely in the playoff picture through the first two months of the season.

At 28-27, the White Sox hold one of the three AL Wild Card spots, a significant development given we just passed Memorial Day. It’s unclear how the rest of the season will play out, but the White Sox have had many positive developments.

Much of the discussion has, rightfully, been about Munetaka Murakami, who has crushed 20 home runs and posted a .936 OPS in his first 55 games. But the first-year Japanese slugger has been far from the only White Sox player to spark Chicago’s run of success.

Here are five other prominent White Sox players and a brief breakdown of how they got here.

The following numbers are entering Wednesday’s games.

Colson Montgomery, SS
2026 stats: .792 OPS, 13 HR, 2.0 WAR (per FanGraphs)

What a difference a year makes. In late April 2025, Montgomery was struggling so much at Triple-A Charlotte that the organization sent him to work at the White Sox Camelback Ranch complex in Arizona for a multiweek reset. The move worked, as Montgomery surged back during the summer, debuted in the Majors in July and hasn’t looked back since.

Montgomery hit 21 home runs in 71 games as a rookie with excellent shortstop defense and he’s largely produced at a similar rate this year. Since debuting last July 4, Montgomery ranks 11th among position players in WAR (4.7) and has crushed 34 home runs, tied for the fourth most in baseball.

Selected No. 22 overall by Chicago in the 2021 Draft, Montgomery has blossomed into an all-world defender at shortstop and some of the best power of any player at the position. While there are undeniable questions about his propensity for whiffs — his 37.6% whiff rate ranks in the 2nd percentile of all qualified players — the power/defense combination is remarkable.

Davis Martin, RHP
2026 stats: 61 2/3 innings, 2.04 ERA, 66 K, 12 BB, 2.3 WAR

Martin’s rise to legitimate frontline pitcher and possible Cy Young Award candidate is one of the most unlikely developments of the season. The 29-year-old has never shown this kind of production pretty much anywhere — he had a 4.32 ERA in 256 innings in his first three MLB seasons (with even worse ERA indicators). This coming after he had a 4.80 ERA in seven seasons in the Minors.

A 14th-round pick in the 2018 Draft by the White Sox, Martin has completely flipped the script in his professional career, as he boasts a top-10 ERA and WAR among all qualified pitchers. The right-hander has made some interesting changes across the board to explain his new success. He’s dropped his arm angle a few degrees and is now throwing six pitches more than 10 percent of the time. That can help explain his huge improvement in multiple measures, including a career-best 27.4 percent strikeout rate, 5.0 percent walk rate, 28.0 percent whiff rate and 35.4 percent chase rate.

Even if he’s over his skis a bit, Martin’s clearly unlocked something to profile as a real rotation arm. Count this as a big development win for both him and the team alike.

Miguel Vargas, 3B
2026 stats: .837 OPS, 12 HR, 1.7 WAR

Acquired from the Dodgers in the 2024 three-team trade that sent Tommy Edman to L.A., Vargas has come a long way since he made his way to the South Side. After posting a .387 OPS in 42 games with the White Sox after the ‘24 trade, Vargas improved and was roughly a league-average player in 2025 (99 OPS+ and 1.4 WAR in 138 games). Vargas has taken an even bigger jump this season.

The 26-year-old has shown a new level of offensive prowess across the board, posting a .233/.361/.476 slash line with 12 home runs in 53 games. Vargas has added more bat speed (+3.4 mph) than any qualifying player, which has paid dividends with a career-best 15.0 percent barrel rate. He’s dropped his chase rate to 16.8 percent, placing him in the 99th percentile of players. His 19.3 percent whiff rate, too, is also a career-best mark.

A former top Dodgers prospect, the skills have always been there for Vargas. Now, he’s realizing them for a White Sox team that did quite well in that original trade.

Grant Taylor, RHP
2026 stats: 26 2/3 innings, 2.36 ERA, 39 strikeouts, 1.0 WAR

Taylor has been one of baseball’s best relievers this season, full stop. Even last year, when he had a 4.91 ERA in 36 games as a rookie, all of the underlying numbers and swing-and-miss prowess signaled this kind of breakout coming. And boy, what a breakout it’s been.

Taylor has struck out 34.8 percent of opposing hitters, the ninth-highest rate among all pitchers with at least 20 innings pitched, while his 1.65 FIP is fifth among that subset of pitchers. At 6-foot-3, Taylor has elite extension (97th percentile) and throws a high-octane 98.4 mph average fastball, a nasty mid-80s curveball and a high-80s slider.

He’s not Chicago’s de facto closer yet, but he’s certainly on track to grab that mantle sooner rather than later.

Sam Antonacci, OF
2026 stats: .747 OPS, .374 OBP, 0.5 WAR

Antonacci put himself squarely on the baseball radar earlier this year for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic when he hit a two-run homer in an upset win over the United States. After beginning the year in Triple-A Charlotte, Antonacci was promoted in mid-April and has been one of the best White Sox players since that point.

Despite that homer in the WBC, Antonacci is not known as a power threat (he’s homered once in 37 games) but he’s your quintessential pest at the plate. The 23-year-old is a tough at-bat, boasting a strikeout rate, whiff rate and chase rate in the 88th percentile or better. He’s also apparently magnetic to baseballs, as his 11 hit-by-pitches are the most in the Majors.

Antonacci has been the perfect complementary role player to help supplement the big boppers mentioned above.