After a historic start to his MLB career, Colson Montgomery’s prolonged offensive slump has him on pace to challenge the league’s all time single season strikeout record.
Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery has made plenty of MLB history at the start of his career.
Through his first 162 games, Montgomery hit 44 home runs with 108 RBIs. Only six players in MLB history have hit more home runs over their first 162 games than the young White Sox shortstop.
Montgomery also reached 40 career home runs in 140 games, the fastest by any player in White Sox history and the second fastest by a left-handed hitter in baseball history, trailing only Cody Bellinger.
It's truly not hard to see what makes Montgomery special. Over the first calendar year of his MLB career, he hit 42 home runs and accumulated 5.1 fWAR as a shortstop. That's undeniably one of the best young players in the sport. But as the 2026 season has dragged on and Montgomery's cold streak has persisted, his poor offensive performance now has him threatening MLB history in a different way. This time, it's for all the wrong reasons.
Entering play on Tuesday, the White Sox have a 68-63 record. They've played 131 games, with 31 remaining. And after striking out three times against the Texas Rangers on Monday night, Montgomery is now sitting at an American League worst 178 strikeouts on the season.
That's an average of approximately 1.36 strikeouts per game played by the White Sox, leaving Montgomery on pace for 220 strikeouts this season. That's dangerously close to the all time record.
Mark Reynolds holds the all time mark with 223 strikeouts for the 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks. One strikeout behind him is Adam Dunn, who set the White Sox single season franchise record with 222 strikeouts in 2012.
Barring an injury or a sudden surge of confidence at the plate, Montgomery seems destined to at least come close to that record.
It's also worth noting that Reynolds and Dunn each hit more than 40 home runs during their record setting strikeout seasons. Dunn also drew 105 walks for the 2012 White Sox, while Montgomery has just 42 walks in 2026.
Now, I must clarify that Montgomery's high strikeout numbers don't mean he's doomed to have a bad career completely fall off. Kyle Schwarber has recorded more than 200 strikeouts in two different seasons and could break the record himself with 187 strikeouts in 2026. He's also managed to become one of the most dangerous power hitters of his era.
James Wood, like Montgomery, is a young player who nearly broke the record in 2025 with 221 strikeouts, falling just two shy of Reynolds. It was a major criticism of Wood's game, but he has responded with a .928 OPS and 30 home runs in 2026. He has continued to develop, primarily by taking more walks and raising his on base percentage to an NL leading .393.
That's the missing piece for Montgomery right now. If he took more walks and significantly raised his on base percentage, the White Sox could live with the strikeouts. But he just hasn't brought much of anything to the team offensively for the better part of two months.
It would be premature and a bit foolish to give up on Montgomery. But if the White Sox are going to play their best baseball to close out 2026 and ultimately win the AL Central, they'll need more from their young shortstop.
Hopefully, Colson can avoid setting an embarrassing record in the process. Nobody wants to take that crown from Reynolds.
