Colson Montgomery's historic power production, elite defense, and remarkable consistency over his first 141 games with the WhiteSox are putting him in rare MLB company.
Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery has become a bit of a Yankee killer.
With two home runs in Wednesday night's game and another on Thursday to open the scoring, Montgomery has now played six games at Yankee Stadium in his MLB career. In those six games, he is 9-for-20 at the plate with four home runs and a 1.650 OPS.
His home run on Thursday was also Montgomery's 20th of the season, making the White Sox the only team in baseball with multiple 20+ home run hitters this year. But more than anything, this week has been a milestone for Montgomery and a reminder of just how special he is.
Chicago's shortstop still isn't getting the credit he deserves, both on a national scale and, at times, even locally.
Colson Montgomery Makes History
On Wednesday night, Montgomery hit the 40th home run of his MLB career in his 140th game. That made him the sixth-fastest player to reach 40 career home runs in MLB history.
He's also one of four players in Major League Baseball to hit 40+ home runs since the day he debuted on July 4, 2025, joining Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber, and Nick Kurtz.
Aaron Judge hit the 41st home run of his MLB career in his 142nd game. Montgomery did it in his 141st.
Montgomery is also the first player in MLB history to hit 20+ home runs within his first 275 at-bats in each of his first two seasons.
And to be quite honest, it's shocking how little Montgomery is talked about considering the fact that he's a 24-year-old shortstop playing in Chicago with the number he has.
Montgomery has played less than a full season in the big leagues, appearing in just 141 games. Yet he already has 41 home runs, 100 RBIs, and 5.7 fWAR accumulated, thanks in part to the fact that he's also one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. Only Bobby Witt Jr. has more Outs Above Average among shortstops.
Add in the fact that Montgomery hits left-handed and has enough versatility to slide over to third base when needed, and the profile becomes even more impressive.
Nationally, Montgomery is viewed as an uber-talented, up-and-coming young player with a bright future ahead of him. But the resume I just gave you isn't the resume of a promising young player. That's the resume of a superstar.
As of right now, Colson Montgomery is on pace to hit 46 home runs this season as a shortstop while accumulating 6.6 fWAR. The upside player comparison for Montgomery has always been Corey Seager, but even Seager has never hit more than 33 home runs in a season, and his career high in fWAR is 6.4.
Montgomery Repeats Success
What makes me most encouraged of all is what I see when I compare 2025 Colson Montgomery to 2026 Colson Montgomery. As a rookie, it felt like Colson was simply on a tear, hitting a home run every day and dominating the competition. It was one of the best stories in baseball during the second half of the 2025 season. But even optimistic White Sox fans didn't necessarily think Montgomery would carry over that success without a few bumps in the road. It's only natural for the rest of the league to make adjustments, bringing the production back down to earth.
Yet when you look at the last two seasons of Colson Montgomery, the numbers are almost identical.
In 71 games in 2025, Montgomery hit 21 home runs with an .840 OPS. In 70 games in 2026, he has 20 home runs with an .841 OPS. Last season, his fWAR through 71 games was 2.7. This year, it's 3.0. Last year, it was 25 walks to 83 strikeouts. This year, it's 27 walks to 87 strikeouts.
So you're not just looking at a 141-game stretch of eye-popping numbers. You're looking at two 70-game sample sizes that are nearly identical and equally dominant. That should give White Sox fans plenty of optimism that this is the real Colson Montgomery and the player he'll continue to be for Chicago moving forward.
There have been plenty of critics of Montgomery recently, and there are definitely areas of his game that still need improvement. One thing I'd like to see get better is the situational hitting with runners in scoring position. That's a pretty essential trait for any middle-of-the-order bat. But when Montgomery was getting ripped a few weeks back, I threw cold water on it because I thought the general public was being largely unfair. And now we're beginning to see why.
Just like any good power hitter, hot stretches come in waves for Colson. But when he's locked in, he can carry an offense. And when the dust settles on a season, the production will speak for itself.
He belongs in the All-Star Game, and if he keeps this up, he may end up in the MVP conversation. But it's time we start having the national conversation and recognizing Colson Montgomery as one of the best young players in the entire sport. That's what the numbers say he is, despite his current underrated status.
