CHICAGO -- Colson Montgomery connected on a 1-1 cutter from Slade Cecconi in the first inning of a 6-4 White Sox victory over the Guardians on Sunday at Rate Field and immediately dropped his bat.
Not a bat drop out of frustration. No, this casual show of confidence screamed out, “I just hit the baseball a very long way.”
And that’s exactly what Montgomery did, blasting a Statcast-projected 452 foot shot to the back row of the outfield seats in right, making it the longest home run during the 2025 season at Rate Field. That previous honor was held by the Twins’ Byron Buxton, a 446-foot drive on April 2.
“I haven’t played many games here at the Rate, but to do that is pretty cool,” Montgomery said. “That might have been my farthest and hardest in a game. When I try to be low effort and not really try to do too much, I feel like good things happen.”
Let’s not short-change the rookie shortstop on all the particulars of this long ball helping to end a six-game losing streak for the White Sox and raise their record to 11-10 since the All-Star break. According to Statcast, Montgomery's home run had an exit velocity of 114.5 mph, an expected batting average of 1.000 and it would have been a homer in every Major League ballpark.
With that sort of power and force, it might have been a homer at Yosemite National Park. It also was the longest home run by a left-handed-hitting White Sox rookie in the Statcast era.
“Cutter. Bad one. Just right down the middle, backed up,” Cecconi said. “He hit it pretty well."
“It's beautiful, man, just beautiful,” said White Sox starter Davis Martin, who earned Sunday’s victory by allowing three runs over five-plus innings. “It's something about a lefty swing. Sitting on the bench, we were in the middle of our in-between meeting, and you just hear crack, and you just see everybody's head rip up and we're just like, 'Oh my God, that ball's destroyed.'”
Montgomery’s homer followed three batters after Lenyn Sosa’s two-run shot, staking the White Sox (43-75) to a 3-0 lead. Sosa produced his ninth career three-plus-RBI game and his sixth this season, and he has five homers and 11 RBIs over his past 13 games.
Sosa’s home run traveled 380 feet, per Statcast, which was certainly an impressive feat. But in the midst of a breakout year offensively, with 14 homers and 48 RBIs, he marveled a bit at Montgomery’s raw power.
“That was something unthinkable,” said Sosa through interpreter Billy Russo. “The power that he has to hit the ball that far is unbelievable."
“I felt really comfortable in the box,” Montgomery said. “Had a good scouting report on him, and just threw it where I was looking, and I didn’t miss much of it.”
There’s more to this long-ball tale beyond Montgomery’s ninth homer since arriving with the White Sox on July 4. He connected with his torpedo bat, which he used for the first time since breaking it in his second at-bat during the first game in Anaheim.
Although he hit a long home run on Aug. 3 in Anaheim, Montgomery joked it didn’t feel right. General manager Chris Getz humorously mentioned Friday he would personally order the bats for Montgomery if he didn’t have them yet, but they arrived just in time for Sunday.
“My first at-bat was my first time using it. I guess I like the bat or the bat likes me,” Montgomery said. “I would like to think that if you just give me a bat, I’ll be fine, but some guys have their special thing with certain bats, and I just feel comfortable with it.
“Once I got it, I felt it was pretty natural. When I had to use a normal bat, I felt like there was too much weight at the end. It kind of made me out and around and pull happy, I guess. When I have a torpedo in my hand, I guess I feel tight to the ball and can let the ball track a little bit more and I can whip it to the zone faster.”
If it’s one of the many things working for Montgomery after his much-publicized journey reached Chicago, there’s no need to change for the No. 4 White Sox prospect, per MLB Pipeline.
“Now I’m just here playing. This is fun,” Montgomery said. “This is why I’m here. This is where I wanted to be and kind of when I got up here, it’s all that weight lifted off my shoulders.”