Signing with Chicago White Sox fulfills a ‘dream’ for Naperville’s Colin Barczi, a lifelong fan

Colin Barczi knows why he wasn’t selected in the MLB draft in mid-July.

A former Naperville Central catcher who completed his junior season at Vanderbilt in May, the 6-foot-3, 217-pound Barczi had surgery on his throwing shoulder after the draft combine, where he hit one of the longest home runs during batting practice, and is not expected to play again until the 2027 season.

Barczi had suffered the injury in February and was sidelined for a month. But he finished the season as Vanderbilt’s designated hitter and had two 3-homer games.

“I was expecting to get drafted, honestly, but I just knew the medicals were obviously going to throw a little bit of a fork in it,” he said. “So I wasn’t really shocked when it didn’t happen.”

As it turned out, Barczi still got what he has always wanted. After the draft he signed a free-agent contract with the Chicago White Sox.

“I knew I really wanted to play professional baseball, so as soon as the draft ended, I talked to my adviser,” he said. “He asked me, ‘Is there a specific team you want me to reach out to?’ And I said, ‘It’s been my dream all my life to play for the White Sox.’”

Barczi’s agent didn’t need long to set up a meeting.

“I was actually doing rehab in Evergreen Park, so I was pretty close to the city,” Barczi said. “My agent texted me and said, ‘The Sox want to get you in, get a medical going real quick, if you can do that.’

“I’m like, ‘That’s perfect. I’m already right next to the city.’ So I went up there, saw the team doc, and that night they said they wanted me to be a White Sox.”

Barczi was so excited that he doesn’t know all the details of his contract.

“To be completely honest, I didn’t ask questions,” he said. “As soon as I had the chance to be a White Sox, I said, ‘I’m in.’

“There’s the initial signing bonus, but not really sure where it goes from there. I’m not asking questions. I’m just happy to be a White Sox.”

Barczi’s enthusiasm is understandable given his ardent fandom. He has been attending White Sox games since he was a little kid and remembers getting some nice perks due to a connection between his father, Scott, who played minor-league baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates system, and Jeff Cox, who was the third base coach for the White Sox.

“My dad was coached by Mr. Cox,” Barczi said. “It was cool because after games sometimes, Mr. Cox would let us walk on the field.

“I have so many signed balls and jerseys from players like Paul Konerko, who was my favorite player growing up. It was a long, long time ago, but I still remember a lot of those games, talking to Mr. Cox.”

Barczi, who established career highs this past season with a .263 batting average, a .917 OPS and 11 home runs despite his shoulder injury, was on the White Sox’s radar even before he played at Vanderbilt.

“Going into senior year of high school, I played for the Area Code tournament in California,” he said. “J.J. Lally was my coach for that, and he’s a White Sox scout. He reached out (after the draft), and it went pretty quick after that.”

Naperville Central coach Mike Stock was thrilled, although not surprised, to hear that Barczi is a professional.

“We’ve been waiting for it,” Stock said. “We weren’t sure when it was going to happen, but you knew it was.

“It’s a great investment by the White Sox. It would have been by anybody because he’s been a standout at every level. Having him as a hometown guy is going to be great.”

The White Sox have a history of signing players from the Chicago area. In recent years, they have drafted Oswego East’s Noah Schultz, who is in their starting rotation; Downers Grove North’s George Wolkow; and Nazareth’s Landon Thome, the son of Hall of Famer Jim Thome.

“They take a lot of pride in getting the local guys and developing them and getting them on the big-league team,” Barczi said.

Barczi is the second former Naperville Central player to sign professionally since Stock became the coach in 2011, joining Nicky Lopez, who was drafted out of Creighton by the Kansas City Royals in 2016. Lopez played for the White Sox in 2024 and is starting for the Texas Rangers.

“Between Nicky and Colin, these are two of the better guys and better teammates that I’ve gotten a chance to coach,” Stock said. “We’re cheering for them because they’re local, but I’m also cheering for them because I care a lot about them because they’re great guys.”

Barczi, who attended the White Sox’ game against the New York Yankees at Rate Field on Tuesday, will report to the organization’s training facility in Arizona next week.

“The rookie team is there, so that will be fun even though I’ll be rehabbing and I won’t be playing baseball,” he said. “All the guys that just got drafted will be playing down there, so I still get to be a part of the team and everything that’s going on.

“I get to meet everyone and hear from the coaches. I’ll be growing and learning a lot.”

Barczi hopes to resume throwing in a couple of months and be back on the field in the spring.

“Nothing in the game is too difficult for Colin,” Stock said. “Getting himself healthy will be his greatest challenge. But when he is healthy, he’s somebody who has risen to the level of whoever he played.

“The fun part about him is he’s a quiet kid, very low maintenance, but he’s a competitor. He’s had a plan for a while. He goes about it in a very businesslike fashion, and every time he’s in a new group, he becomes one of the standouts.”

Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.