White Sox Shortstop Colson Montgomery Is Finding His Swing Again

There's been a lot of attention on Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery as of late, and sometimes it's been for all the wrong reasons.

Montgomery has remarkable potential, which he showcased from the moment he debuted in Major League Baseball in 2025 and has continued to display through his impressive power in 2026. Just earlier this week, Montgomery launched his 50th career home run in a game against the Houston Astros. That made him the sixth-fastest left-handed hitter in MLB history to reach 50 career home runs.

With one more long ball, Montgomery will reach 30 home runs for the 2026 season, and he can continue adding to that total as a 24-year-old shortstop who also plays elite defense. Montgomery has recorded 10 outs above average in 2026. That's a pretty rare combination.

But there are also some fairly obvious concerns with Montgomery's game, and those have only been heightened by the White Sox sitting in first place in the AL Central and looking to close out a division title. On a rebuilding team, Montgomery's cold stretches can be chalked up as learning experiences that will benefit his long-term development. But on a first-place ballclub, the pressure is on to produce.

When he fails to do so, the noise gets even louder.

While Montgomery still has the makings of a future star and possesses enormous potential, we can't ignore some of the brutal stretches he's endured in 2026. From July 20 to August 14, he hit just .145 with a .444 OPS. Montgomery had only three extra-base hits in those 83 at-bats and struck out 33 times.

The White Sox still have 24 games remaining on the schedule, and Montgomery sits with an AL-worst 187 strikeouts this season. That's just 36 shy of the all-time record of 223, set by Mark Reynolds.

A hitter like Kyle Schwarber provides annual proof that strikeouts by themselves don't matter much. For a young player like Montgomery, though, it's about what the strikeouts represent: poor situational hitting and an overall lack of comfort at the plate.

There have undeniably been stretches of the 2026 season when Montgomery has seemed to be in his own head, lacked a feel for his timing or struggled to understand how opposing pitchers are attacking him. He has the worst whiff rate, strikeout rate, and squared up percentage in all of baseball.

That's a difficult thing for the White Sox to deal with because, again, this is a first-place ballclub. That means Montgomery has been counted on to do damage and be a dangerous bat in the heart of the order. 

But don't look now...Colson Montgomery might be finding his swing again.

With another two-hit effort against the Houston Astros on Tuesday night, Montgomery is now batting .333 with a .455 on-base percentage and a 1.232 OPS over his last five games. He has two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs during that stretch.

Over Montgomery's last 15 appearances, he's batting .268 with an .849 OPS, four doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs. That's the middle-of-the-order run producer the White Sox are counting on him to be.

“I'm feeling confidence. I'm very confident at the plate. I think that's one of the biggest things in this game, feeling confident in yourself and your plan,” Montgomery told Brooke Fletcher after the White Sox win on Tuesday.

That's something you can see in each of his at-bats.

Montgomery has been better about not expanding the strike zone. He's swinging with confidence and driving the ball with authority. Damage is the name of his game, and for the first time in a long time, it feels like Montgomery is prepared to do damage every time he steps into the batter's box.

It's a massive development for the White Sox, not just in the current pennant race, but also for the future of the organization. Though if he stays hot, this is a completely different White Sox lineup that could make some real noise in October.