CHICAGO — Take the 21 home runs hit by Colson Montgomery over 71 games during his rookie 2025 season and extrapolate them out over a full 162-game campaign and you get …
Before that question was asked to the White Sox shortstop during SoxFest Live on Friday at the Ramova Theatre, Montgomery cracked a broad smile.
“That would be awesome,” said Montgomery on the possibility of hitting 40-plus home runs. “It would be fun to do. But I mean, it’s just what I always say, it’s day by day.
“I just go into each day trying to have the best at-bats I can. If the first at-bat doesn’t go my way, I know I’m getting at least three more. Just taking it one at-bat at a time. I have good coaches and teammates next to me. They have a lot of insight and wisdom.”
Montgomery’s performance last season was a revelation produced by an awkward path to excellence. The left-handed hitter started with such pronounced struggles at Triple-A Charlotte that the organization sent him back to Arizona for a reset in late April.
Although the 23-year-old is just about done talking about those tough times, he knows they contributed to what he became. The White Sox strong belief in Montgomery also contributed to the turnaround, not to mention putting together a blueprint of things or a checklist each day related to his routine.
“Their belief in me from the start is kind of what kept my confidence and my belief in myself,” Montgomery said. “I had belief in myself, but if you are struggling and the organization is still high on you and still believing in you, it gives you extra motivation. Just starts with them. I’ve always thanked them for being like that.
“Once I got up here to Chicago, I just started having the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. It’s everything you’ve worked for, and once you get to the big leagues, it’s being around these guys and my teammates and the coaches we had, it was a lot of fun. Even with the losses, not saying losing is fun, but you learn from a lot of that stuff. I loved it.”
Fans were impressed by Montgomery’s power potential. So were his teammates.
“He surpassed every expectation from everybody. That was crazy,” White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas said. “That was amazing to see him every day and doing what he did. It was really amazing. Really happy to have him on our team. Hopefully he’s going to have a better year this year.”
“It was unbelievable. He’s not a fun person to face,” said reliever Grant Taylor, who also went through his rookie campaign in ‘25. “ It was pretty impressive the numbers he put up. Every single day, you see on the TV just the home runs per 162. That’s a perennial All-Star type numbers. Excited to see what he can do this year.”
Media attention centered upon Montgomery before he arrived, but really picked up once he took off in Chicago. If you homer seemingly every day in the Major Leagues, it only figures people are going to want to talk.
So, Montgomery laid low during the offseason, visiting and traveling with family and friends. The native of Indiana also made a few trips to Bloomington to take in the Hoosiers’ 16-0 run to the college football national championship. Montgomery did not attend the title game victory over Miami in Miami.
“No, I didn’t,” Montgomery said. “I debated on it so badly but then I just ended up watching it with all my buddies who graduated from Indiana. So, I liked that a lot better.”
Having Montgomery succeed in the middle of the White Sox lineup became a huge milestone for this latest rebuild. His defense at shortstop was equally impressive, a point people who weren’t named Colson Montgomery questioned, leading to speculation of a potential position change.
This change eventually might come with the White Sox featuring a plethora of solid shortstop candidates, and Montgomery is ready to do whatever he can to help the team. In ‘26, that goal is simply to build on his previous accomplishments.
Forty home runs just might be a good starting point.
“Go for it. Why not?” a smiling Taylor said. “I would like that.”
“People have asked me how I am going to do in the first couple of months with the cold and stuff,” Montgomery said. “So, I’ve kind of transitioned my mindset to embracing the cold. It doesn’t matter. You have to go up there and play through it all. I’m excited for it. I’ve done a lot this offseason to get my body ready for 162 and maybe more.”
