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He considered playing winter ball after missing the season, but since he and his wife have a baby due in December, he’s going to stay home. Baldwin should have a decent chance of winning a spot on the White Sox next spring, but it wouldn’t initially come with the playing time he figured to get if not for the injury last season. The switch-hitting 26-year-old has thus far batted .232/.279/.382 with 13 homers and nine steals in 136 big-league games.

Baldwin was diagnosed with a sprained right elbow near the end of spring training after battling inflammation. He then opted to undergo surgery on April 1st and is expected to make a full recovery for spring training in 2027. In the meantime, Luisangel Acuña and Tristan Peters will continue to get regular at-bats in the outfield, with Sam Antonacci waiting in the wings in the minors.

Baldwin likely would have played pretty regularly for the White Sox at the start of the year, but his elbow started bothering him while throwing, which is something he’s dealt with previously. It sounds like he’ll miss at least the first few weeks, opening up extra at-bats for Luisangel Acuña and Lenyn Sosa.

No word yet on any sort of timeline for when he may return to action, but the White Sox aren’t likely to push him too quickly here. He could be looking at a short stint on the injured list to start the regular season.

Baldwin was a bit of a deep league sleeper in fantasy baseball after putting up impressive Triple-A numbers and hitting 11 home runs in 328 plate appearances with the White Sox in 2025. Venable said that Baldwin is “kind of day to day right now, will be evaluated,” so perhaps this is not a long-term concern, but we likely won’t know until the weekend or next week.

Baldwin clobbered a 423-foot (107.4 mph EV) solo shot off of Brad Lord in the fourth inning that extended the White Sox’ lead to 3-0. He then added on with a two-run double in the fifth that made it 7-0. The 25-year-old infielder finishes the 2025 season slashing .240/.290/.407 with 11 homers and 38 RBI in 328 plate appearances with the White Sox.