GLENDALE, Ariz. – Contentment isn’t part of Colson Montgomery’s repertoire.
“I’m still trying to prove myself,” said Montgomery, less than five months after producing 21 home runs and 53 runs batted in after his July 4 major league debut.
“Trying to prove myself to the league and trying to prove myself of coming in every single day and being the best person and player I can be.”
As much relief as Montgomery’s production provided to White Sox executives who waited patiently for him to develop after being selected in the first round of the 2021 draft, there are greater expectations as the team tries to advance from the rebuilding to the contending phase.
“I feel really good he’s comfortable with that process of handling expectations,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “In our support of that, we are helping him focus like all our players in creating really good habits on a daily basis to sustain your performance throughout the year. Colson is no different in that regard. He’s built for that.”
Montgomery’s offseason simulated his regular season preparation from a hitting standpoint.
The 6-3 Montgomery, who appears lighter than his listed 230 pounds, reviewed videos of his swing and decisions with director of hitting Ryan Fuller and new hitting coach Derek Shoman. They did not overlook his 29.2 percent strikeout rate, his 69.6 percent contact rate or his 28.2 percent rate on chasing pitches outside the strike zone, according to Statcast.
However, that was only part of his offseason work. Montgomery batted .286 on breaking pitches but only .238 on fastballs.
“They told me to just do more competitive machine work (with) high velocity,” Montgomery said. “I felt like I hit high velocity pretty good, but you can always improve in this game and keep getting better. That was one of the biggest things.
“From my overall background, I’m a competitor, so they wanted me to do a lot more competition stuff. It just makes my intent a lot higher in the cage other than if you are just doing normal flips in (batting practice).”
The scrutiny on Montgomery’s offensive breakout (following a two-week reset with Fuller in Arizona) overshadowed his dependability at shortstop that quelled questions about whether his long-range future was at third base.
Venable relishes defensively versatility but expects Montgomery to play short at least 90 percent of the time.
Montgomery’s more direct path to fielding grounders was a pleasant improvement – especially to scouts who saw him take a slightly circular route in the Arizona Fall League in 2023-24, instead of fielding them directly in line with his right throwing shoulder and requiring less time to throw.
Montgomery was credited with seven defensive runs saved last year, and he credited infield coach Justin Jirschele with pregame preparation and helping his internal clock on grounders.
“Reading how hard the ball is hit to you and doing your scouting on the runner is one of the first things that Jirsch tells us,” Montgomery said.
“(If) there’s a guy that really gets out of the box well, you only have one or two shuffles, and you got to get rid of the ball. That’s (why) I prioritize is the inner clock. I feel like if I catch the ball and I get rid of it as soon as I can, it doesn’t matter how hard I throw the ball.”