A hard knock life: White Sox showing off newfound pop

CHICAGO – Three central concepts sit at the core of the White Sox philosophy for offense valued throughout the organization: Good swing decisions, hard contact and hard contact on a line.

“You’re seeing that a lot more,” said White Sox director of hitting Ryan Fuller, speaking prior to his team’s 3-2 victory over the Yankees on Sunday, ending a five-game losing streak. “And then you’re looking at the performances in the Minor Leagues, and we’re seeing a lot more of that, too.

“Our organizational OPS has jumped up a good amount year over year. So a lot of things to be proud of, but also a lot of work still to be done.”

Signs of that progress were on display during this series finale at Rate Field, when Colson Montgomery delivered a game-tying home run to center off Luis Gil in the sixth and Lenyn Sosa knocked out the game-winner with a two-out blast to center in the eighth off Tim Hill. That combined 830 feet of home runs, according to Statcast, raised the White Sox record since the All-Star break to 17-23.

During that second-half time frame, the White Sox have hit 60 home runs, tying them with the Athletics for fifth in Major League Baseball. Their 204 runs scored rank seventh.

“We’ve seen in the second half of the season we are putting the ball in the seats a lot more,” Montgomery said. “They are momentum changers and get the guys going.”

“It’s great to have guys in the lineup that can change the score with one swing,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “We’ve seen with Colson in his time here how he’s had an impact with the long ball. Lenyn, the same thing. To have guys in the lineup that are able to slug obviously gives you another weapon, another way to score.”

Montgomery has launched 15 homers in the past 40 games, placing him behind only the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber (19), the A’s Shea Langeliers (17) and the Rays’ Junior Caminero (16) since the break. His immediate ascension at the Major League level, after significant and highly publicized struggles with Triple-A Charlotte, is a source of pride for Fuller and the organization – and, of course, Montgomery.

Fuller put in daily work and frequently dined with Montgomery in Arizona at the end of April, when the left-handed-hitting shortstop reset and refocused to put the tough times behind him.

“The great thing about Colson is he’s aware of things around him,” Fuller said. “He knew that this is not what my stat line in Triple-A is supposed to look like in order to get to the big leagues. So real conversations, but it was always the belief of, ‘Once I get there, I know I’m going to belong.’

“You look to what he did when he came up here and it was a couple of home runs early, he proved to himself quickly that, ‘This is a level I can compete at and excel at.’ Those conversations, looking back, were really good ones to have in the moment. And he was feeling down, but it was always a belief that, ‘Once I get here, I know what it’s going to look like.’”

Sunday’s Statcast-projected 412-foot blast for Montgomery, falling 14 feet short of Aaron Judge’s first-inning solo shot off Martín Pérez (two earned runs and seven strikeouts in six innings), gave Montgomery 10 homers in August. That total ties José Abreu from April and June 2014 for most in White Sox history by a rookie in a calendar month.

“Yeah, that’s awesome to be part of a guy like that, just because of everything that he’s done for this organization and the guy and player he was,” Montgomery said of the Abreu connection. “I’m honored.”

“A lot of power, a lot of talent. It has been kind of surreal to see what he has been doing,” Sosa, through interpreter Billy Russo, said of Montgomery. “That's going to put us in a better position in the future."

Sosa’s 18 home runs, including his Statcast-projected 418-foot tiebreaker, lead the team. His home run also set the stage for Mike Vasil to close out the victory, retiring Paul Goldschmidt and Judge on fly balls to center and striking out Cody Bellinger looking with a runner on second.

This hard-fought victory raised the White Sox record to 49-88. But the postgame celebration from Vasil (third save) and his teammates showed the true power of any victory.

“Yeah, some profanity and ‘I'm him,’” said Vasil on what he yelled as he pounded his chest following the final called strike. “Good feeling for sure.

“Any win you can get, especially going into September and finishing strong is huge. … You just want to win as many games as possible."