CHICAGO -- If Colson Montgomery wants to cut down on his flurry of daily media requests, then the White Sox rookie infielder probably shouldn’t produce some sort of dynamic moment in every game he plays.
Take the 2-1 loss for the White Sox to the Tigers on Monday, in a game delayed for 63 minutes in the ninth inning at Rate Field before just seven minutes of action after the resumption at 10 p.m. CT led to the final out. That No. 1 under the White Sox came from Montgomery’s fifth-inning home run off Chris Paddack, marking his 10th home run of the season.
It also was Montgomery’s 10th home run in his last 18 games, representing two straight games in which he’s gone deep. He became the third rookie since 2020 to record 10 home runs in a span of 18 games, joining the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz from this season and San Francisco’s Tyler Fitzgerald from 2024, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
Monday’s blast also made him the third rookie in White Sox history to hit 10 homers in his first 32 career games, joining José Abreu in 2014 (12) and Zeke Bonura in 1934 (also 10). Bonura’s name received quite a bit of play when Abreu was tearing through his AL Rookie of the Year campaign, and Montgomery is carrying it forward.
“José, he was, everybody loved him here,” said Montgomery, who is ranked as the No. 3 White Sox prospect by MLB Pipeline. “It was pretty cool to be in that category with him. Met him a little bit at my first Spring Training. He was a great guy.”
“He's got tremendous bat speed. It's a compact swing,” said White Sox manager Will Venable of Montgomery. “With his levers, if he gets the barrel there, he's got a good shot to go out of the park. He's just a good hitter. Big, physical guy that's putting really good swing on baseballs right now.”
That swing was refined through extensive work alongside White Sox hitting coordinator Kyle Fuller during an in-season reset in Arizona. Montgomery’s swing certainly wasn’t geared for power at the time.
“First thing we kind of went to, we wanted to practice trying to keep the ball kind of low to the ground, line drives and things like that,” Montgomery said. “Some of my cues in the cage, I’m trying to hit a low line drive to the shortstop. Keeps me tighter to the ball. Not really a normal home run swing.
“A lot of the hitters can tell you if they tried doing home run swings, it’s probably not going to work. You just never know what’s really going to happen until you get here in the big leagues and you face pitching. I’m pretty happy with how things are going right now … staying consistent in my routines. The biggest thing is not trying to do too much.”
And it hasn’t been all about offense for Montgomery. He helped keep the game even in the eighth, turning a double play on Gleyber Torres following Javier Báez’s leadoff single. Lenyn Sosa made the play on the grounder off of Grant Taylor, and Montgomery finished with a strong throw to first.
He also made a leaping catch of Wenceel Pérez’s liner leading off the ninth, before Spencer Torkelson’s home run off Brandon Eisert off the left-field foul pole broke the tie.
“Yeah, Eisert he’s pitching his butt off. It was a late situation in the game, tried to stop their momentum and didn’t really see it go in my glove,” Montgomery said. “Just went in my glove.”
Elvis Peguero made his White Sox debut and struck out the side in the first on 11 pitches. Tyler Alexander did the bulk work, striking out five over 4 1/3 scoreless innings. There should be roster changes to come before Tuesday’s game, with the White Sox apparently going with another modified bullpen game before starting Shane Smith on Wednesday.
Montgomery’s name will be on that starting lineup. He could be the postgame focus again, after becoming the first White Sox player with 10 home runs in 18 games since Luis Robert Jr. from June 11-30, 2023 (per Elias). It sure is a great deal more fun for Montgomery than when he was fighting his way through on-field struggles with Triple-A Charlotte earlier this season.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m not going to sit here and throw a little pity party about everything I went through,” Montgomery said. “Everything I went through, I needed to go through.
“Early in my career in the Minor Leagues, I played really well. And then when I got to the higher levels, I had some ups and downs. I think it kind of helped me right now.”