Montgomery's torpedo bat propelling both him and White Sox

CHICAGO -- Colson Montgomery has torpedoed various opposing pitchers over 21 games with the White Sox, although he went hitless in four at-bats during a 6-3 loss to the Phillies on Tuesday night at Rate Field.

That description is intentionally put into use, as the White Sox third baseman switched to a torpedo bat during the second game of the series vs. the Rays on July 22 and promptly launched the first home run of his career.

“It was just kind of a talk with all of our guys, with all of our hitting guys,” Montgomery said of the switch. “We have a whole bunch of research where I was hitting the ball off the bat, and they just told me to try it.

“And the first game I tried, it was the second game in Tampa … I hit a homer with it, so I thought I'd just keep doing it.”

Montgomery has used the torpedo bat since that game, although he will switch when he or the coaching staff feels a change is needed. He smiled when adding a new order of bats was placed after the game vs. Tampa Bay.

“So there's some more in the works,” Montgomery said. “It's just a lot of how you'll be pitched. I mean, we don't exactly know how we'll be pitched, but we can kind of make good assumptions and guesses with it, and I know they probably want to try and throw me in.

“My goal, even for the regular bat, is trying to get the head out and try to be as early as I can, and I just felt like I wasn't really getting the bat around as quick as I normally do. So they just told me to try it. And I tried it in BP and I kind of liked it and then took it to the game."

All four of Montgomery’s home runs have come since the bat switch, including the final two games of the Rays series and the opener of the weekend series vs. the Cubs on Friday against lefty Shota Imanaga. Montgomery went deep against southpaw Cristopher Sánchez during Monday’s 6-2 victory, marking just the fourth homer Sanchez has given up in his career to a left-handed hitter and his first since Matt Olson went deep twice on Aug. 29, 2024.

Although his overall numbers against lefties have not been overwhelming, the recent connections serve as confidence reinforcements.

“Even in the Minor Leagues, I felt like I swung it pretty well against lefties,” Montgomery said. “A lot of it comes just like a mindset with it. If you just say to yourself, 'Oh, it's a lefty pitcher, I'm overmatched,’ I mean, you're not doing yourself any favors. I kind of take [the approach of] if I'm facing a lefty, like, it's just [like] a righty, you know? 


“They've got to throw the ball over the plate, too. They're trying to get you out. Just having so much success in the Minor Leagues against lefties gave me confidence. 
And then also, I mean, that guy last night, he was a really good pitcher, too, so just being able to put a good swing on the ball feels good."

Philadelphia used a two-run home run from Brandon Marsh and Kyle Schwarber’s 37th long ball off the season, both off Jonathan Cannon, to build up a 6-0 lead behind Jesús Luzardo. The Phillies held on despite Lenyn Sosa’s 10th homer of the season highlighting a three-run White Sox ninth.

As a team, the White Sox have played to a 7-4 record since the All-Star break, leaving them at 39-69 overall this season. Young players such as Montgomery have been at the core of this almost two-week turnaround, but Montgomery’s bounceback from his early-season struggles at Triple-A Charlotte make his story as strong as his torpedo bat results.

“One hundred percent. That speaks to the kind of guy he is,” said Cannon, who fanned three over six innings. “He's kind of had that top prospect status for a long time, and it comes with a lot of pressure.

“For him to be in Triple-A on the cusp of the big leagues on the 40-man, to get sent to Arizona and not let it just deflate his whole season speaks to the kind of guy he is. Now he comes up here and is doing what he's doing. That's really, really impressive to see what he's doing."