It’s not that there was anything wrong with the regular bats Colson Montgomery used for the first 14 games of his White Sox career. Most teams would be happy to see their prized rookie swinging them to a respectable .262 average with six RBI, a double and a triple over his first few weeks.
But the Sox weren’t seeing what they need most from their 2021 first-round draft pick: power, and lots of it.
So last week in Tampa, they did what a lot of teams across baseball are doing with their young sluggers these days: they put a torpedo bat into Montgomery’s hands.
“First at-bat, I hit a homer with it, so I thought I’d just keep doing it,” Montgomery said in the dugout before the Sox’ 6-3 loss to the Phillies. He went hitless but had an RBI groundout to start a ninth-inning Sox rally that fell short.
Still, it’s been a solid second-half strategy for the 23-year-old infielder, who homered for three straight games after firing up the torpedo and has gone yard four times total in the past week.
The oblong stick that took the league by storm after an early-season power surge from the New York Yankees has rejuvenated Montgomery’s bat to an .857 OPS with 15 RBI since the All-Star break.
The torpedo shape gets his lengthy 6-foot-3 frame in better position to swing through the zone as soon as possible, Montgomery says.
“My goal, even for the regular bat, is trying to get the head out and trying to be as early as I can, and I just felt like I wasn’t really getting the bat around as quick as I normally do,” he said. “So they just told me to try it. I tried it in [batting practice] and I kind of liked it and then took it to the game.”
Colson Montgomery hits a two-run home run Monday.
So far it’s helped him show flashes as the potential franchise cornerstone the Sox desperately need him to be. Montgomery is hitting .257 with an .802 OPS since his July 4 debut.
“At the plate, he continues to take quality at-bats. Really good swing decisions, driving the ball to all fields,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “It’s as good a start as we could have asked for for Colson.”
Certainly a better one than Montgomery had at Triple-A Charlotte after failing to crack the Opening Day roster. He was relegated to the Sox’ Arizona training facility to settle his head after scuffling to a .149 batting average over his first 23 games.
“He’s had that top prospect status for a long time, and that comes with a lot of pressure,” Sox starter Jonathan Cannon said. “To get sent to Arizona and not let it just deflate his whole season, speaks to the kind of guy he is, because that’s really impressive.”
While Montgomery has long been held up as the Sox’ shortstop of the future, Venable’s lineup cards might hint at where the front office sees the rookie lining up for the long haul. Tuesday’s game marked his 11th game at third base, surpassing the 10 he’s played at short.
Venable said it’ll come down to who else is starting on a rebuilding roster that has seen rookie second base/shortstop Chase Meidroth emerge as a long-term, top-of-the-order fixture alongside Miguel Vargas, 25, a natural third baseman who has served as the everyday first baseman.
“If [Josh] Rojas is in there, we could see Colson at short. If [Lenyn] Sosa’s in at second, we’ve seen him at third here now for a little bit,” Venable said. “So as the infield makeup changes, Colson’s responsibilities will change.
In the meantime, don’t expect Montgomery’s approach at the plate — or the bat in his hands — to change anytime soon. Montgomery’s got more of his new weapon of choice on order, he said.
“Yeah, I’m using the torpedo every at-bat.”
Tyler Alexander allowed a walk-off three-run homer to Taylor Ward
His timing wasn’t great. Entering the series finale Sunday against the Angels, Vargas was hitting .296 (16-for-54) with an .874 OPS, three homers, three doubles and nine RBI in his last 13 games.
Kyle Teel’s RBI single in the fourth provided the game’s only run.
Two gems that resulted in outs at third base were key to the Sox’ victory.
