The White Sox will promote Colson Montgomery for this weekend’s series against the Rockies, reports Kris Norton of WITZ Radio in Indiana. Montgomery is already on the 40-man roster, so the Sox only need to make an active roster move.
It’s the first MLB call for the 23-year-old, who’ll likely make his MLB debut tomorrow against Colorado’s Antonio Senzatela. Chicago’s first-round pick in 2021, the lefty-hitting shortstop was one of the sport’s top prospects not too long ago. Montgomery placed among Baseball America’s top 50 minor league talents entering each of the past three seasons. BA ranked him as the best prospect in the Sox’s system each year from 2022-24.
Montgomery is listed at 6’3″ and 230 pounds, giving him big raw power potential for a middle infielder. A very patient plate approach led to strong on-base marks against low minors pitching, but he has had a tougher time against more polished arms. Montgomery spent all of last year at Triple-A Charlotte, where he hit .214/.329/.381 in 130 games. He connected on 18 home runs with a strong 12% walk rate but struck out in nearly 29% of his trips to the plate.
Chicago needed to add Montgomery to the 40-man roster last offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He’d surely have been selected despite the middling Triple-A numbers, so that was an easy call for the front office. They optioned him back to Charlotte to begin the season, and he’s had similar concerns in his second crack at the level. He has struck out a third of the time while batting .218/.298/.435 in 55 games.
While the season numbers don’t exactly demand a promotion, they’re weighed down by an atrocious April. Montgomery had a serviceable May and was very productive in June, batting .281 with six homers and 11 extra-base knocks in 16 games. The plate discipline concerns persist — he struck out 22 times while drawing only five walks in 71 plate appearances last month — but he’d shown enough from a power perspective for the team to give him a look.
The Indiana native has played four games at third base this year but has otherwise been a full-time shortstop in his minor league career. It’s unlikely the Sox would call him up if they weren’t prepared to give him everyday playing time at his natural position. Rookie Chase Meidroth has gotten the playing time there. Meidroth, acquired from the Red Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade, is hitting .260 with a solid .347 on-base percentage. He hasn’t shown any kind of power, but the disciplined approach is probably enough to stay in the lineup.
Meidroth’s defensive grades are serviceable, but most scouting reports project him as a second baseman. The Sox could slide him to the keystone and move Lenyn Sosa to third base to push Josh Rojas out of the mix. Sosa is a known commodity as a utility type as well, so the focus should be on getting Montgomery and Meidroth into the lineup on a daily basis.
Oboy oh boy o joy
His last month has been very exciting, cutting down on the K rate and crushing the ball again. Great time to see what he can do, especially when on a hot streak… 11 for 22 with 4 HRs over the last week.
Big Hurt: This weekend’s Toilet Bowl series at Colorado seems like a good time to get him in the lineup.
Lol that’s fair.
Toilet bowl that’s a good one lol
Coors Field is the perfect place to get him some reps and show off his power.
Hitting .215 in AAA. He will fit right in.
Not sure what happened to him, he was a highly rated prospect a few years back.
If you’re not sure what happened, probably better to just not comment about it.
I farted 3 minutes ago
But fixes his swing at hitter camp, now he be raking in time for leaf season
Colson Montgomery should get the lions share of playing time at SS. Chase Meidroth should do likewise at 2B to finish the season. As things stand now, one of Caleb Bonemer or Montgomery figures to be the White Sox core SS with the other transitioning to 3B.
Of course, things could easily change depending on the White Sox next couple of amateur drafts, their international signings along with additional prospects acquired in trades that figure to prioritize positional players.
Aaron: When was the last time the Sox paid anything for an international player? Not being a smart a##. I just don’t know.
Avenger,
I believe that would be Oscar Colas. That turned out great. I could be wrong so feel free to correct me.
Luis Robert was an international signee that they spent big on too…. Jose Abreu & others that didn’t pan out. Another question could be when do they go hard for a non-Cuban international signee?
It’s not their fault. The White Sox scouts don’t know where countries like the Dominican Relublic and Venezuela are. They need GPS and Jerry won’t spend the money on it.
Oh that cracked me up. You win the chat today
Haha…Bonemer.
Bonemer looks good in the lower minors but so did Montgomery.
It will be interesting to see what Montgomery does in Chicago.
Deep dish pizza?
A hot dog?
Just kidding. I mean on the field of course. The Sox need some of these guys to break through.
Let’s try to help him out by not having a 150 hitter behind him.
Former Southridge Raider. Best of luck Colson!
Fun fact: he could have played Hoops at Purdue. Painter loved him.
Love the call up. Not sure if he sticks at SS though.
It’s obvious every White Sox article on this page is always written by someone who knows absolutely nothing about the White Sox.