Caleb Bonemer, playing in a minor league spring training game for the Chicago White Sox on March 12, is now with the High Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. (Photo by Chris Bernacchi/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
PHOENIX – On Tuesday, White Sox No. 11 prospect Caleb Bonemer hit the second home run of his young professional baseball career. The rookie shortstop’s homer for the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers was another example of the value he brings to Chicago’s High A affiliate.
The swing was also another step in his journey, one that has taken the Michigan native across the country. However, outside of his home state, no place has played a bigger part in his journey than Arizona.
In July 2023, Bonemer stepped into the batter’s box at a big league park for the first time in his young career. Just 17 at the time, he had never played in an MLB park before taking the diamond at Chase Field, home of the Diamondbacks.
Bonemer was among many young standout high school players in the Perfect Game 2023 National Showcase. In a pond full of fish, Bonemer needed to prove he was a prized catch worthy of the top collegiate baseball programs and major league organizations.
In five at-bats, he changed his career, blasting a pair of homers and launching his name up the rankings.
“Yeah, that was pretty sick,” Bonemer said of playing at Chase Field. “I hit a few homers and that was awesome to be able to do it in a stadium like that.”
The shortstop dominated among the top competition, tallying four hits in his five at-bats, with two leaving the park.
“He just hit lasers,” Caleb’s father, Barrett Bonemer, said. “And you know that’s supposed to be the top (competition). … That was probably the moment that you thought at some point he would get the opportunity (to play professionally).”
Caleb Bonemer, a Virginia commit, entered the showcase ranked No. 50 nationally in the 2024 class, according to Perfect Game. He finished sixth in the final rankings released in July 2024.
Caleb Bonemer signs his contract with the Chicago White Sox, making their selection official. (Photo courtesy of Carrie Bonemer)
Flash forward to just one year after the showcase, and Bonemer was sitting on his couch with his family on Draft Day, nervously awaiting a phone call. His camp was unsure of his future, as he had been committed to Virginia since 2021.
“The opportunity he had to go to Virginia was a phenomenal opportunity,” Barrett said. “A great academic institution, the coaching staff there. … They’ve been there a long time. They’ve had a lot of success. I know Caleb was nothing but impressed.”
The Bonemer family was prepared and happy about both possibilities entering the night, whether that meant Bonemer continuing his playing career as a professional or in college. Eventually, the phone rang, and the White Sox made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, selecting him in the second round with the No. 43 overall pick.
“Honestly, growing up as a kid, it was always the thing I wanted to do,” Bonemer said. “In my mind, it has kind of always been, ‘Oh yeah, I want to play baseball at the highest level.’ And luckily, I’ve been able to do that.”
A few days after his selection, Bonemer hit the road for Chicago to get physicals and a few other tests done. After this, the shortstop, then 18, was shipped off to Phoenix for rookie ball. His professional journey began in the same state where he forged a name for himself: Arizona.
As Bonemer traveled on the plane, thousands of feet in the air, he left a legacy behind in his hometown of Okemos, Michigan.
Leaving a legacy
Christena Sinila, Bonemer’s fourth-grade teacher at Cornell Elementary School in Okemos, has watched the shy 8-year-old from her classroom morph into a living superhero.
“I have this one kid this year, one of the first questions out of his mouth when he became a fourth grader was ‘Was Caleb in your room?’” Sinila said. “Like he’s famous. … For (students), it’s a point of pride just knowing that he sat in the (same) seats. … If you’re a 10-year-old who loves baseball, it’s like a hero sat in your chair.”
Cornell Elementary School teachers Christena Sinila and Joy Chase change the school sign to congratulate Bonemer on his MLB Draft day accomplishment. (Photo courtesy of Carrie Bonemer)
If you ask Bonemer, he’ll say it’s not a big deal. After Sinila and Cornell gym teacher Joy Chase changed the sign outside the school to read “Congrats, Caleb Bonemer. MLB 43rd Pick. Go White Sox!” Bonemer told his mother, “I haven’t even done anything yet.”
“He’s very kind of more modest about it,” Caleb’s mother, Carrie Bonemer, said. “He did bring a lot to the community this last couple of years with baseball.”
Bonemer dominated high school play while at Okemos, winning Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year not once, but twice. No other player from Okemos has ever won Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year. As a junior, he put up video game numbers with a .541 batting average, eight home runs and 35 RBIs in 25 games.
“The biggest thing was my junior year,” Bonemer said. “That’s where my name started jumping up on the boards. And that’s when I knew that playing professional baseball would probably be a pretty good possibility.”
He followed it up with a senior campaign that saw him hit .435 with seven home runs and an OPS of 1.387.
Two Gatorade Player of the Year banners hang at Okemos High School, where Caleb Bonemer is the only player in the school’s history to receive the award. (Photo courtesy of Carrie Bonemer)
“In a day and age of analytics, metrics, hitting gurus, pitching gurus, you have a kid who is essentially self-taught,” Mets scout Jaymie Bane said. “There’s an innate ability to make adjustments without looking to somebody else to do it, which is a very unique ability.”
Bane lives in Okemos and first saw Bonemer play near the end of his freshman season.
“I knew he was talented,” Bane said. “You never know how a guy progresses, because they’re human beings, right? Does he get better?”
Before entering the scouting world, Bane played for Arizona State from 1994 to 1997. Jaymie’s father, Eddie Bane, has his jersey retired by ASU and threw the only perfect game in Sun Devils baseball history.
“You never know, but I would bet dollar to donuts that guy’s gonna be a good major league player,” Bane said.
In Bonemer’s sophomore year, Bane took Caleb, his brother Gabe and father Barrett to a Detroit Tigers game. Caleb had the chance to meet with several of the players and coaches before the game.
Calmly and diligently, Caleb asked the big leaguers, including likely future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera, questions about how they prepare and what their offseason is like.
“Once I saw Caleb’s reaction to being around major leaguers, and not being in awe of them, I knew that he had his head on straight,” Bane said.
That summer day in Comerica Park wouldn’t be the first time Bonemer stood as one of the youngest in a professional clubhouse. He would spend his first spring and summer after getting drafted in Glendale, first for a performance camp in the summer, and then spring training.
A fourth-grade Caleb Bonemer shares his baseball dreams while attending Cornell Elementary School in Okemos, Michigan. (Photo courtesy of Christena Sinila)
“He’s the youngest kid there,” Barrett said. “Because he and this only one other kid were high school kids that got drafted.”
In the span of a few months, the 19-year-old rookie had gone from playing his home baseball games in a city with a population of 25,000 to playing on the backfields of Camelback Ranch, the spring training complex that houses both the Dodgers and White Sox.
From the suburbs to the same park that houses Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Luis Robert Jr. and more.
“Looking back now, you’re like ‘Gosh, that was his childhood dream,’ and now he’s doing it,” Carrie said. “I’m just happy that he’s fulfilling what he wants to do.”
With a .275 batting average and .866 OPS, Bonemer is making an impression on a parent club that has struggled to a 10-27 record.
The game will take you places. For Bonemer, a ball and a bat have taken him around the country, a journey evolving from a childhood dream into a reality.
“There’s nothing better than being able to play baseball for a living,” Bonemer said. “I couldn’t be happier with where I’m at, and it’s been a lot of fun.”