White Sox rookie shortstop Colson Montgomery accomplished yet another outrageous feat

When the Chicago White Sox promoted former first-round pick Colson Montgomery to the Major Leagues on July 4, not many people anticipated he’d take the league by storm in the way that he has.

Montgomery had noticeable struggles in 2024 at the Triple-A level, and got off to an even worse start in 2025 before being pulled from game action and sent to Arizona to work on his swing.

Although he looked better upon his return, the Triple-A numbers were never eye-popping, and it was fair to wonder if he’d be in over his head at the big league level. Montgomery has quieted his critics in a big way. 

Colson Montgomery joins some elite company

Since the All-Star break, Montgomery has launched an impressive 10 home runs in 22 games. His OPS for the season sits at .876, and he’s exceeded any and all expectations for his big league debut.

Montgomery is the third fastest player in White Sox history to hit 10 career home runs. He joins some great company, with 2014 José Abreu (26 games) and 1934 Zeke Bonura (25 games) being the only players to do it faster.

Coincidentally, Montgomery’s home run brigade began at the same time that he switched to a torpedo bat. Then again, maybe that's not a coincidence at all.

On Sunday, the legend of Colson Montgomery reached a new level. 

Colson's 9th home run was one to remember

Colson’s first inning homer off Guardians starter Slade Cecconi nearly reached the concourse. As impressive as it looked, it was even more impressive when the numbers came in. The ball left Montgomery's bat at 114.5 mph and traveled 452 feet, making it the longest home run hit at Rate Field this season.

Montgomery’s blast was the 5th longest by a White Sox player at Guaranteed Rate Field since 2020, and the longest since Luis Robert Jr.’s 470 foot blast on June 29, 2024.

At 114.5 MPH, Montgomery’s homer also was the hardest hit ball by a White Sox player this season. It marked his second 110+ MPH hit in a week, putting him in an elite category for exit velocity. 

While imperfect, Colson Montgomery is incredibly valuable

There are some reasons to be concerned about Colson Montgomery long-term. First, the strikeout rate is high. It always has been, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If Montgomery can balance out the strikeouts with homers and walks, he can be a very successful big league player.

Colson has walked just three times since the All-Star break, so I’d like to see him being more patient at the plate. He has a tendency to chase breaking balls below the zone and struggles to make contact with offspeed pitches at times.

While Montgomery is far from a perfect player, he’s shown a great deal of promise on both offense and defense. If he can learn to lay off the low breaking balls and force pitchers to give him more strikes, his power numbers could take off even more than they have recently.

Montgomery has the power to be a 30+ home run hitter at the big league level on a yearly basis. Having that much power to go with solid defense at a premium position like shortstop is incredibly valuable.

As the league adjusts to Colson, we’ll see how he adapts, but it’s clear that the talent is in there. If Montgomery can continue to develop into the star the White Sox believe he can be, rebuild 2.0 will get a massive boost.