Colson Montgomery Is Not a One-Hit Wonder

Look, I love Ozzie. I think he’s a national treasure and is wildly entertaining when he does studio work with Our Chuck for CHSN. Ozzie also has a great baseball mind. But there are times when he says things that are simply too old-school for me and devoid of a full, modern context. This rant is one such example. Again, Ozzie, you’re my boy, but there needs to be some perspective here.

The idea that Colson Montgomery is some “one-hit wonder” is just completely off-base. If you compare his numbers this season to his rookie call-up, there is a very modest difference in outcomes to this point.

As it stands right now, Montgomery’s numbers in 2026 are not indicative of a player who is a “one-year wonder.” Are there some things that need to be addressed going forward, without question (and I’ll touch on those shortly), but to act as if this is a player that is not a major part of the early-season success for the Sox is just flat out wrong.

Recency bias has a tendency to make us make some wild proclamations, and I will admit I’m guilty of this myself at times. And when you have a player that goes 0-13 with seven strikeouts in a 3-game series against your biggest division rival, the hot takes can be in full force. But there needs to be an understanding of the bigger picture with full context. And that context is this: Colson Montgomery is having a good season thus far. He ranks 6th among all shortstops in the sport with 2.3 fWAR. This is not a player who is some light-hitting, black hole in the lineup.

Situation Dependent

Ok, we’ve looked at the bigger picture on Colson Montgomery’s performance so far. As I mentioned above, there are aspects of his game that do need to improve. His strikeout rate ranks 15th in all of baseball right now at 30.5%, and I will agree that the number is too high. Particularly in some very pivotal situations where this team will need Montgomery to come through, especially in the absence of Munetaka Murikama. Monty has so far led all of baseball with 83 PAs with RISP, and the results have not been positive; they must improve if this team is to stay afloat in the absence of their most impactful bat.

There’s a really interesting contrast in Colson’s numbers from last season to this season when comparing by the situation. In his rookie campaign, his walks and strikeouts peaked with no one on base, showing steep declines in both categories with runners on base as the game situations became more pressing. So far in 2026, we are seeing an inverse pattern: his walks and strikeouts are spiking when he enters the batter’s box in higher-leverage situations. The elevated strikeout rates in the highest-pressure plate appearances are the most troubling aspect of the above data. Simply put, Colson has to be better in these positions and give himself an opportunity to be impactful in the batter’s box; otherwise, Will Venable will need to look at some different lineup constructions.

To this point, Colson has led all of baseball in plate appearances with runners in scoring position, and the output has been, well, not good. This team has been able to overcome it thus far, but without Murakami’s bat in the lineup for the foreseeable future, if Monty doesn’t show improvement, opposing pitchers will surely start to attack this lineup very differently. Striking out in close to 40% of your plate appearances with runners in scoring position is not a recipe for success as your cleanup hitter.

Swing Factors

So, what is the driving force behind Colson Montgomery’s issues at the plate in his more impactful plate appearances? I think there are a couple of things at play here. His swing decisions and bat path are both playing a role, in my opinion. Now, let me be clear: I’m not a hitting coach, I’ve never pretended to be, nor will I ever pretend to be. I was a scrub pitcher, as most of you know, so can I break down a player’s swing with great detail and provide key insight? No, I cannot. That is Derek Shoman’s job, and I’m hopeful that some of the things I’m about to discuss are being evaluated so the Sox can get the most out of their talented shortstop.

Monty is swinging the bat more so far in 2026 than he did during his rookie campaign. The increase in O-Swing% (swings on pitches outside the strike zone) is less than ideal, obviously. But I do like the idea of seeing an increase in swinging at pitches in the strike zone, particularly if they are ones he believes he can do damage on. It wasn’t that long ago we were all lamenting a certain highly touted 3B prospect that often let hittable pitches in the zone pass by without trying to inflict damage upon them, so Monty’s decisions to be more aggressive in the strike zone are not a bad approach in my opinion.

However, what is concerning is the decline in his ability to put the bat on the ball when he is swinging the bat. The scouting report from the time he was drafted was that there was a high level of swing-and-miss in his game, and that was tolerable when he had a SLG% that started with a 5. But as the strikeouts are mounting and the power output is retreating a bit, it is something that does need attention.

We’re seeing Monty swing that bat more, in general, at pitches in and out of the zone and making contact less in both scenarios. That, once again, is not a recipe for success from your cleanup hitter. To me, an untrained hitting observer, it seems emblematic of a player who is perhaps trying to do too much when he is in the box. If Colson is able to get back to making better swing decisions at pitches he can do damage on, I would believe that his production levels would get back to the levels they were a year ago.

However, it isn’t just the swing decisions themselves that are making an impact at the moment. Monty’s swing, in general, has undergone some slight changes so far in 2026. And I think this could be more of a contributing factor to some of the issues, particularly the decline in contact rates.

Whether this is a conscious decision or not, Colson’s swing has had a steeper uppercut to the pull side this year. Generally speaking, if you’re trying to elevate pitches to the pull side that are on the outer portion of the plate, that won’t lead to positive outcomes. Recently, the shortstop opined that he isn’t overly concerned about strikeouts in general, but there needs to be a balance here. In a situation where no one is on base, sure, I can accept the argument that it’s just another out. But when you come to the plate with RISP, especially with less than two outs, strikeouts can be very detrimental to the team’s ability to put runs on the board. Perhaps in his quest to be a traditional thumper in the cleanup spot, Montgomery is swinging at pitches he shouldn’t be while trying to hit them over that fencing that gets set up prior to the game. I’m not in his head, so I can’t say for certain that is the case, but it does make me wonder a little bit when analyzing the data (and we all know, without the data, we are nothing).

Look, Colson Montgomery is still a good baseball player. He is still a very important part of the White Sox present and future as this team looks to stay in contention this season and to be more serious players going forward. He isn’t without his faults, though. He absolutely does need to find a way to limit the strikeouts, particularly in key situations. He had a bad series in Minnesota, which goes without question. But that doesn’t diminish the success he has had to this point, and it doesn’t make him a flash in the pan. If Miguel Vargas can go from being the worst hitter in the sport in 2024 to an All-Star caliber player this year, a player like Montgomery that has had a modicum of success in less than a full season can certainly make tweaks to his game to continue his upward trajectory.