White Sox picks in the 2024 MLB Draft: Three New Rising Stars in the South Siders’ Talent Pool

Caleb Bonemer (Okemos shortstop and Virginia commit)

Caleb Bonemer was selected by the White Sox in the second round of the Major League Baseball Draft on Sunday night. He was selected with the 43rd overall pick at a cost of $2,172,800. Bonemer, who is ranked as the No. 71 prospect by MLB Pipeline, became the first Greater Lansing player selected in the MLB Draft since 2017, when Portland’s Tanner Allison and Holt’s Jessie Heikkinen were selected. His selection represents the highest selection in the MLB Draft from Greater Lansing. Only one other Greater Lansing high school player has been selected in the top 100 in the main draft, Owosso’s Mitch Zwolenky, who was selected in the fourth round with the 98th overall pick in 1978. The 6-foot-3 Bonemer is also the second Okemos player to be selected in the MLB draft, joining pitcher Paul Quantrill, who made it to the majors. Quantrill was selected in the 26th round of the 1986 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but chose to attend Wisconsin. He was later selected in the sixth round of the 1989 draft.

Blake Larson (IMG Academy, Florida)

Blake Larson was selected 68th overall by the Chicago White Sox in the B round of the MLB Draft on Sunday. Larson, a left-handed pitcher from Iowa, expressed his excitement in a phone interview with the Des Moines Register on Sunday night, saying “There’s no better feeling.” He has dreamed of this moment since childhood, and now he is seeing his plan come to fruition. Although Larson no longer lives in Iowa, he is well known throughout the state. He participated in the 2018 Little League World Series with the Grandview team, and played his first two seasons of high school baseball at Dowling Catholic. During his sophomore season at Dowling Catholic, Larson posted a 1-0 record with a 1.20 ERA and 27 strikeouts in just 11 2/3 innings. However, he missed his junior season due to injury. Hoping to improve his chances of being selected in the draft, Larson decided to move to Florida to attend IMG Academy, a boarding school that attracts some of the top high school athletes.

Larson explained, “Being in Iowa, we play in the summer, and it’s hard for scouts to get there.”

But in Florida, the left-hander displayed a 90-plus mph fastball that caught the attention of scouts and evaluators. Larson, who planned to play at Texas Christian, was featured on MLB.com.