Chicago White Sox Prospect Returns To Triple-A Lineup After Being Hit By Pitch

Colson Montgomery's up-and-down season took another turn on Thursday when a pitch hit his hand. He missed four games, but managed to avoid a stint on the injured list as he returned to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights' lineup for Wednesday's game against the Durham Bulls, batting second and playing shortstop.

"X-rays were negative. There's some soreness in there because he got hit pretty good," White Sox general manager Chris Getz said Friday in Chicago. "We're glad that he dodged a bullet there, so to speak. ... Unfortunately, he did get hit, but he looks to be in a good spot. We hope to minimize the swelling and hope to get him back in the lineup."

On the same night as his injury, Montgomery slugged two home runs for the second time in an eight-game stretch. That's been part of a resurgence of sorts from the White Sox 2021 first-round draft pick, who was sent to Arizona in late April to work on his swing with director of hitting Ryan Fuller.

Following that two-week reset, Montgomery is s 16-for-58 (.276) with five doubles, four home runs, 10 RBI, seven walks and 15 strikeouts. As for when the White Sox No. 5 prospect may make his major league debut, Getz is considering several factors.

"It's really about getting him in the position where we feel like he can have quality at-bats up here," Getz said Friday. "There's different ways to measure that. It's how he's handling the zone, how his bat path is traveling through the zone. Much less than just results, the surface level results. Obviously you look at how hard a player is hitting the ball and last night was an example of putting together some effective swings."

"Overall you want them to make good decisions, you do, and swing at pitches he's supposed to and lay off pitches he shouldn't be swinging at. Obviously the major league level is much different than the minor league level. Players, when you get up here, sometimes you can get exposed quickly and we want to minimize that, we do, and put him in a good position. But I can speak for his confidence level and I know it's growing on a daily basis."