Colson Montgomery Joins Rare Rookie Home Run Company
Colson Montgomery has just 11 hits in his last 53 at-bats, but when seven leave the park, it’s easy to overlook the 18 strikeouts during that stretch.
Montgomery continued his power surge Monday, blasting his 10th homer in 18 games, in what turned out to be the White Sox lone run in a 2-1 loss to the Tigers. It also marked his second homer in as many nights after getting a fresh batch of torpedo bats.
The White Sox rookie has been taking the MLB by storm. He is now the third rookie since 2020 to record 10 home runs in an 18-game stretch, joining fellow rookie Nick Kurtz of the Athletics and the Giants’ Tyler Fitzgerald, who accomplished the feat in 2024.
Montgomery is also now one of just three rookies in White Sox history to hit 10 home runs in his first 32 games, along with Jose Abreu, who hit 12 in 2014, and Zeke Bonura, who also hit 10 in 1934.
The 23-year-old showed flashes of power in the minor leagues, but not to the level we have seen since he got called up to the majors. In 242 plate appearances in Triple-A Charlotte this year, he hit just two homers, which comes after he had 18 in 130 games last season.
At the time of his callup, Montgomery had just gotten his OPS above .700 while posting a near 40% strikeout rate. While his strikeout rate remains high, and he hasn’t drawn many walks, he has showcased tremendous bat speed since putting on a White Sox uniform.
All 10 of Montgomery’s homers have come off swings topping 78 mph, and his 77 mph average bat speed would rank among MLB’s best if he had enough at-bats to be considered a qualified hitter. Only 18 players in the MLB have ten homers with a bat speed over 78 mph. Montgomery is the only one to have played less than 40 games.
What has been most impressive is that Montgomery hasn’t necessarily been trying to hit homers. After getting off to a rough start in the minor leagues, Montgomery was sent to Arizona midway through the season to work with White Sox hitting coordinator Kyle Fuller. Since then, Montgomery says he has been working on hitting low line drives, which keeps him tighter to the ball.
While the change hasn’t resulted in many line drives at the big league level, it has certainly helped his power numbers with a .585 expected slugging percentage. The more compact swing has helped him get the barrel to the baseball more consistently.
His use of a torpedo bat, which he has used for eight of his ten homers, has also aided his contact point. Montgomery began using the torpedo bat on July 22nd against the Tampa Bay Rays after talking to coaches, and proceeded to hit his first career MLB homer later that night.
The tailor-made bats have weight distributed toward the barrel, with an untraditional design that places the barrel closer to the hitter’s hands and features a slimmer top end. This creates a bowling pin-shaped barrel with more wood around the sweet spot, where hitters are most likely to make solid contact with the ball. Coincidentally, Montgomery has posted a 16.2% barrel rate, which would also rank among the game’s top hitters.
Montgomery’s high strikeout and chase rate remain a concern as pitchers continue to adjust to him. However, his ability to keep a consistent swing this early into his MLB career has been a welcome sign for the White Sox, who now rank 23rd in homers after finishing dead last a season ago.