ATLANTA — Colson Montgomery did not play Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves as he recovered from left side soreness.
The Chicago White Sox shortstop preferred to be in the lineup, but he made the most of the day off.
“These times where you can have maybe a day or two, you definitely go back and look at when you were rolling, when you were feeling good,” Montgomery said Tuesday. “You’re not trying to try something new, you are trying to re-create. You want to be as consistent as you can.
“I still feel pretty good. I think it’s ‘Angry August’ for a reason. A lot of guys are feeling a little tired. But it’s no excuse. It’s a time where you can sit back and reflect on some things.”
Montgomery was back in the lineup for Wednesday’s series finale at Truist Park.
“Excited to have him back out there,” manager Will Venable said before Wednesday’s game. “Really just happy that this wasn’t a major issue, and he was back feeling good.”
Montgomery suffered the setback in the sixth inning of Monday’s game, exiting shortly thereafter.
“Everything was precautionary (Monday),” Montgomery said. “I don’t know if it’s something to do with the heat going on. It felt like a little cramp in the side. They weren’t going to take the risk.”
Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery, right, completes a double play after forcing the Phillies’ Otto Kemp at second base on July 30, 2025, at Rate Field. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
He went 0-for-3 with a walk before leaving Monday’s 13-9 win.
While the rookie entered Wednesday tied for sixth in majors since the All-Star break in RBIs (26) and home runs (10), he went 2-for-16 in the first four games during the road trip with a double, two runs and a walk.
“With his year, and he’d probably be transparent about it, with his early struggles (in the minors) and his ability to make adjustments and go through that — I think he’s well positioned to be here,” Venable said. “And now, having cooled off, to figure out what he needs to do to get back to performing at the level that he knows he can.”
Over the final month-plus of the season, Montgomery is focusing on his health and staying as consistent as he can with his at-bats.
“Sometimes you show you can do damage (at the plate), they will try to see if you chase and things like that,” Montgomery said. “Sticking more to my plan and my approach rather than what they want to do to me. That’s the difference in sometimes you going into an at-bat and you know what they are going to do, but you have to know what you want to do.
“I think that’s been my thing. Sometimes I go in there and I know they are going to try to do something and so I get away from what I want to do.”
Montgomery has noticed opponents pitching him backward.
“(They) start offspeed and try to steal strikes with fastballs late in the count,” Montgomery said. “(And) try to change my eye level with a lot of things. The biggest thing for me is just trying to stay tall, stay to center field, left-center, kind of think line drive through the shortstop.”
Adjustments, as Montgomery is well aware, are part of the game.
“He started (hitting) fastballs in the zone right away, and I think that they pretty quickly got off of that, and we’ve seen a lot of changeups, a lot of sliders below the zone,” Venable said. “We’ve seen maybe a little more chase, and I think also, with where he was out with his swing, maybe missing some of those fastballs early in the count, and then having to deal with offspeed stuff later, it’s been a little bit of an adjustment.
“But that’s what it is. We know that you come up in this league, you’ve got a couple of days to sneak attack some people, and then they start figuring you out, and then it’s your turn to make an adjustment. And it’s not going to stop for the next 12 years or however long he plays.”
Montgomery had a .220/.285/.492 slash line with 10 home runs and 28 RBIs in 38 games coming into Wednesday. He said the experiences since being called up on July 4 have “been awesome.”
“Definitely experienced a lot of things from the highs and the lows, from winning to losing,” Montgomery said. “I always keep saying, you just have to learn from each experience.
“It’s all just going to help in the future.”
Sox place pitcher Elvis Peguero on the IL
Chicago White Sox pitcher Elvis Peguero delivers in the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
The Sox placed right-handed pitcher Elvis Peguero on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow strain, the team announced Wednesday. He allowed two runs on one hit with two walks in one-third of an inning during Tuesday’s 11-10 loss to the Braves.
In Wednesday’s corresponding move, the Sox recalled right-hander Wikelman González from Triple-A Charlotte. He has a 2.25 ERA and six strikeouts in five relief appearances over three stints with the Sox this season.
Originally Published: August 20, 2025 at 6:15 PM CDT