If only the White Sox’ top-ranked prospect, shortstop Colson Montgomery, were forcing his way onto the major-league roster right now. Or had done so a month ago.
The Sox added a new infielder to the mix Tuesday, and it wasn’t Montgomery, the No. 28 prospect per MLB Pipeline and the Sox’ second-ranked behind Double-A Birmingham left-hander Noah Schultz.
Welcome to the active roster, waiver claim Jacob Amaya, 25.
Having Montgomery locked and loaded for his big-league debut about now would have applied a salve to this open wound of a Sox season, knowing their first-round draft pick from three years ago was coming to the rescue bearing hope for the future, which is what an organization ripping through consecutive 100-loss seasons badly needs.
Montgomery, though, is batting just .210/.328/.375 with a .702 OPS and 14 homers in a career-high 106 games through Monday during his first Triple-A season, a deflating development as the Sox tumble their way toward record-breaking losses with a month left in the season.
First-year farm director Paul Janish acknowledges it while clinging to the value of Montgomery getting to experience the inevitable struggles that baseball brings and putting that in his development backpack, and Montgomery’s health, too, which has been good after periods of time on the injured list in previous seasons.
And while Montgomery’s defense — specifically the question of whether he can stick at shortstop — has always been something of a question mark, Janish says the glove is good.
“I give him a lot of credit for the defense he’s played this year despite struggling offensively, he’s played a good defensive shortstop,” Janish said. “At some point we’ll ask him to come to Chicago and play the shortstop position, which is a big deal.
“He struggled a little offensively but Colson is still very open about the fact he hasn’t performed as well as he can and he’s still very intent on being a very good major-league player. We’re expecting that.”
That would be a good thing.
But as of now, a September call-up during spring training thought to be the latest possible arrival, is now in question.
“He’s proven he can hit and do some things offensively, so we’ll continue to get him going in the right direction, finishing the season healthy,” Janish said. “We’re not done with the season, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility he gets hot and has the ability to play in the major leagues this year, right? All that said, we want to be really intentional about not being in a big rush with Colson. We need to do what is best for Colson and that’s not black and white.
“But he’s unique because we want him to be part of the White Sox for a long period of time and not just September.”
Montgomery posted a .940 OPS between Rookie, Advanced-A and Double-A levels in 2023, and in 2022, he had a 50-game on-base streak, so there’s something there.
“He knows he’s a good player,” Janish said.
On the pitching side of the farm system, Schultz (15) and No. 5 overall draft pick Hagen Smith (32) are Pipeline’s top two ranked lefty prospects. Smith struck out four in three scoreless innings in his debut for High-A Winston Salem on Saturday.
“It was fun to see him bring his electric arm into professional baseball and throw well,” Sox senior advisor to pitching Brian Bannister said.
The farm system is as high as eighth by ESPN in post draft and trade-deadline rankings, so there’s that. At 31-101 after Tuesday’s suspended game against the Rangers, the Sox need all the balm they can apply. Interim manager Grady Sizemore remained upbeat.
“This is a blast,” Sizemore said. “I love it. I love competing, I love working with these guys. Having fun out there. We’re grinding, we’re trying to get wins.
“We have to pull something out of every day. Every day we’re trying to get better. And not get too caught up in the wins and losses and try to improve and build for next year.”