Montgomery's 'can't quit' attitude paying off in strong start to MLB career

CHICAGO -- It was a couple of months ago, while Colson Montgomery was playing shortstop for Triple-A Charlotte, when White Sox general manager Chris Getz called the organization’s No. 5 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

This cell phone connection certainly wasn’t leading to a Major League callup for Montgomery. That opportunity came Friday in Colorado, ahead of Montgomery’s home debut on Monday in a 8-4 loss to the Blue Jays at Rate Field, marking the Blue Jays’ (53-38) ninth straight win and dropping the White Sox to 30-61.

Instead, Getz was checking in with the struggling 23-year-old, who had dropped out of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 -- only to re-enter at 95 in the latest ranking.

“I said, ‘Hey, you know, we're going to figure this out. You're going to figure this out. You just can't quit,’” said Getz while meeting with the media for 20 minutes pregame Monday. “And he goes, ‘I'm not going to quit.’ And he didn't.”

Montgomery didn’t quit, but this journey to the Majors wasn’t an easy ride. As a young athlete in Indiana, Montgomery was a standout in baseball, football and basketball. He didn’t face any athletic struggles until posting a .214/.329/.381 slash line with 18 home runs and 63 RBIs during his first season with Charlotte in 2024.

Those struggles became even more pronounced early this season, with Montgomery’s .149 average and .478 OPS on April 27 sending him to Arizona for a reset with hitting coordinator Ryan Fuller. Montgomery returned to Triple-A to compile a 1.010 OPS with six homers and 16 RBIs in 16 games in June, earning his way to Coors Field.

His 5-for-10 weekend in Colorado made him the fourth White Sox rookie since 2000 to record five or more hits over his first three career games. On Monday, Montgomery reached on a walk and an error, scoring his first career run.

Meanwhile, he continued to look very smooth defensively at shortstop. Montgomery came up with a running catch into the outfield on Addison Barger’s popup for the first out in the fourth before taking a hit away from Alejandro Kirk with a diving stop on a grounder up the middle and flipping to second baseman Chase Meidroth for the forceout.

“The athleticism is really coming out. He’s making the right decision,” said White Sox manager Will Venable of Montgomery’s defense. “His first-step quickness is outstanding. He’s in a really good spot.”

Montgomery added: “Me and everybody else here, we take a lot of pride in our defense. Our guys, they pitch their butts off. The least we can do is just get a little dirty, lay our bodies out for them.”

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Montgomery was quick to squelch any thoughts of wanting to give up during those bad times when he spoke to the media earlier Monday. His support system helped him stay afloat to get things right, with strong messages from his dad, TJ, who was part of the family group watching Montgomery in action in Denver.

“He just kept telling me it's a game, and I've shown before that I'm a really good hitter and I'm willing to do some things that some people aren't,” Montgomery said. “He just kept on telling me how proud he was of me and that I belong. He kept telling me all the time, 'You're a big leaguer, you're going to be a big leaguer, just keep that in mind. Just go out every day and just try to win the game.'

“Sooner or later, you just keep stacking days and just find the little wins in things. You can't really define a lot of success off of just getting hits every single night, because this game is hard."

Did Montgomery believe his dad’s message, even when those little wins were few and far between? Simply put, yes.

“You have to,” Mongtomery said. “You have to if you want to keep going."

Getz added: “I’m really proud of him. We believe in the player, we believe in the person. Most importantly, he deserves the credit. But it's a big deal for this organization.”

Mike Tauchman topped the offense with three hits Monday, while starter Sean Burke allowed six runs on six hits (including three home runs) and three walks in five innings.

“I didn’t really feel great with my stuff kind of overall tonight,” Burke said. “But a few pitches here and there, maybe pitch-selection wise, could have been better. Some of the pitches, a little bit better execution would have helped. They also hit some pretty good pitches.”