Colson Montgomery heading to Arizona to work on offensive approach

CHICAGO -- Colson Montgomery, the No. 4 White Sox prospect and No. 36 overall, per MLB Pipeline, will go to Arizona to work on his swing and his offensive approach, according to comments made by general manager Chris Getz prior to Tuesday’s game at Rate Field.

Montgomery was given the news on Tuesday and Getz estimated the reset would cover one or two weeks at the White Sox Camelback Ranch complex. White Sox director of hitting Ryan Fuller will be spending time with Montgomery via this one-on-one work in Arizona.

“Ryan was on the road trip with our Major League club this past stretch of games, and he and I had some really good conversations about different ways to develop players,” Getz said. “He’s going from Baltimore and he referenced how many strides they were able to make at the alternate site years ago with some of the adjustments those players had to make.

“It got me thinking about our experience at the alternate site as well with not having to rely so much on game feedback, game results and then developing these players. So we decided to attack it this way and Colson is on board.”

Montgomery, 23, features a dismal slash line of .149/.223/.255 over 23 games for Triple-A Charlotte this season, with three home runs, one double, six RBIs and 43 strikeouts against seven walks for a young hitter known for his exceptional approach.

During Sunday’s 13-12 victory for the Knights over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 12 innings, Montgomery finished 0-for-6 with a walk and two runs scored. He is 1-for-21 over his last five games.

“There have been plenty of examples in this game of guys that stepped out of their respective affiliates and go to work on something. We’ve done it in the past,” Getz said. “It was best for these players to get into a different environment and work on their swing or pitch arsenal or mechanics. We are going to do that with Colson and we’ll kind of take it from there.

“Players, oftentimes, they wait until the offseason to make some of these adjustments. We figured, ‘why wait?’ Let’s attack this, and we look forward to seeing what we can do.”

A chance exists for the shortstop to eventually get into games at extended spring training, but most of Mongtomery’s work will be in the cage and on the field, per Getz. Montgomery struggled overall in his first year with Charlotte in ‘24, finishing with a .214/.329/.381 slash line, 18 homers, 21 doubles, 63 RBIs and 164 strikeouts against 69 walks.

He finished strong following a five-person Zoom meeting in early August -- involving White Sox hitting coach personnel and Montgomery’s hitting guys -- which helped him to re-focus. He then posted a .263/.357/.465 slash line over his final 99 at-bats beginning on Aug. 24.

But a balky back sidelined Montgomery for 10 games during Spring Training before he was sent to Charlotte. Now, he’s trying to find his way back to the Knights through the Arizona work.

“Sometimes the best thing is to change the work environment and be able to focus on some things without the results of the game impacting you,” said White Sox manager Will Venable of Montgomery. “It’s a great opportunity for him to get on the right track and get back to the player we know he can be.

“The challenge for all these players is to listen to the right information and that’s what can set a lot of these guys apart in their development. You’ll always have different thoughts and ideas, hear different things from outside sources. It’s everyone’s challenge to take what you can to be the best player you can.”

Both mechanical and approach dynamics will be addressed with Montgomery. As for why now is the right time, Getz echoed Venable’s thoughts about getting away from regular games and not staring at your numbers.

“So, we just felt like this was the right time to do it, and with the feedback we are getting from Colson, we felt like it’s the right time,” Getz said. “It’s part of the development process. He’s 23 years old.

“In a way he’s still at the beginning of his career. We didn’t want to wait any longer. We felt like, ‘let’s go and attack this now.’ I feel like we are going to make strides because of it.”