SEATTLE — In spring training, the discussion about prized shortstop prospect Colson Montgomery was about when, not if, he would be called up to the White Sox this season.
Midseason seemed a good bet. Shortstop Paul DeJong, signed to an inexpensive one-year, $1.75 million deal after he struggled the last two seasons, was viewed as a placeholder for Montgomery, the Sox’ top prospect and baseball’s No. 10 per MLB Pipeline.
Montgomery, though, is batting .226/.340/.377 for Triple-A Charlotte with a .714 OPS that was exactly 100 points lower than his four-year minor-league OPS. Playing in the hitter-friendly confines of Charlotte’s ballpark, he has one home run in his last 27 games. While plate discipline is the 6-3, 225-pound Montgomery’s calling card, the Sox were hoping for more production during a healthy season coming off oblique and back issues the last two years.
“Offensively, relative to his skill set, he’s off to a little bit of a slow start,” Sox first-year farm director Paul Janish said in a recent conversation with the Sun-Times. “I’m a big fan of the kid. When you’re talking about this kind of player and you’re expecting to see him do these kind of things, you look past the physical skill set. It’s a little bit the mental makeup and ability to endure adversity, which, to be honest, this is the first time — and we won’t even call this adversity — but he’s handling it extremely well.”
Often compared to Corey Seager because of his left-handed bat that sprays the ball to all fields and his size, the question hanging over Montgomery since he was drafted 22nd overall in 2021 is whether he will stick at shortstop.
Montgomery has insisted all along it’s his spot. The Sox are saying it is until proven otherwise.
“He’s playing shortstop right now, that’s what he’s going to get the opportunity to do and it’s like anything else, you give somebody the opportunity to do it until they show you that they can’t,” Janish said.
In Cactus League games with the Sox this spring, Montgomery was 3-for-20. Sox infield coach Eddie Rodriguez has worked with him during the last two spring camps.
“He has a really high ceiling,” Rodriguez said. “The thing about his size, the same things were said about A-Rod and Cal [Ripken]. But from what I’ve seen, with the work he does and the passion he has, he can be a major-league shortstop.
“He works hard. And he has an idea. He knows himself. It’s just maturity. Play more, get more reps.”
Rodriguez noted that third baseman Bryan Ramos, who came up from Double-A Birmingham for a brief stay with encouraging but mixed results and is now playing next to Montgomery on the left side of Charlotte’s infield, put a valuable experience in his pocket.
“It will be about getting to know the league, understanding what it takes to be a major-league shortstop on a daily basis,” Rodriguez said. “He has that aptitude.”
DeJong, meanwhile, has turned himself into a potential trade chip for the 17-51 Sox, an unexpected development after batting .189/.253/.330 with 20 homers between three teams the last three seasons. DeJong was batting .240/.290/.490 with a team-high 13 homers, tied for second with Seager among shortstops.
If DeJong is dealt and Montgomery is held back, Nicky Lopez, Danny Mendick and Lenyn Sosa all have shortstop experience. With his skill set and makeup, though, Montgomery could be close to taking a step forward.
“To be honest, he’s just not on fire right now, which is what he’s been his entire minor-league career,” Janish said. “I don’t know if it’s anything specific, he’s fouling off some of the pitches he typically would hit. He’s not necessarily chasing a ton, it’s just dealing with not being totally locked in, which is OK.
“He’s still a young guy relative to the level. We think a lot of him and we’re going to look back and this will have been a very good piece of the puzzle for him.”
