{"id":624653,"date":"2026-03-15T06:31:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T06:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/624653\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T06:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T06:31:33","slug":"chicago-white-sox-ss-eager-for-1st-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/624653\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago White Sox SS eager for 1st opening day"},"content":{"rendered":"

GLENDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery experienced a number of major-league firsts last season. His first game was on July 4<\/a>. His first hit came the next day<\/a>. And his first home run<\/a> occurred on July 22.<\/p>\n

He is eager to add another first to that list soon \u2014 opening day.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see it all over TV all the time, how big they make opening day,\u201d Montgomery said Tuesday at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. \u201cIt will be really cool to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chicago White Sox catcher Kyle Teel focuses on return from injury after \u2018unbelievable experience\u2019 at WBC<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Montgomery, 24, continues working on every aspect of his game as he gears up for the start of the season, which is March 26 in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

\u201c(I\u2019m) feeling pretty good,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cEach day just trying to improve as much as I can, go over some film with some of the hitting coaches from the day prior. And not really try to think too much about the swing or the results or things like that. Because I feel if you get your body in a really good position to hit and you know you\u2019re sticking to your process and your plan, results come.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust still trying to be process-oriented right now and not really too focused on results or anything like that. More just trying to stay healthy, keep my body healthy and just keep building until opening day.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Montgomery isn\u2019t concentrating on the results, his power has been on display recently.<\/p>\n

He hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning Sunday against the Kansas City Royals at Camelback Ranch and a solo shot in the third inning Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels.<\/p>\n

The home run against the Royals went 430 feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the things we\u2019ve been saying \u2014 if you just get your body in the right position and you\u2019re committed to your plan and your process, the results will come and they\u2019ll show,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cHitting homers and things like that give you a good reminder that you can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoWhite Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery hits a two-run home run against the Twins on Aug. 22, 2025, at Rate Field. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Montgomery hit 21 home runs in 71 games<\/a> for the Sox in 2025 after being called up from Triple-A Charlotte on July 4. He entered Saturday tied for the team lead with three home runs this spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe continues to work really hard,\u201d manager Will Venable said Tuesday. \u201cHis work in our workouts has been outstanding. He\u2019s paying attention to details. He\u2019s one of the leaders in our drills. He\u2019s a guy setting really good examples for guys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s been some good at-bats, and hasn\u2019t really found the barrel until (the game against the Royals). But really good signs, even in some at-bats before controlling the zone and doing some of the things you like to see. Glad to see him get some results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montgomery has a hit in each of his last five games, going 6-for-17 (.353) with two home runs, three RBIs and a 1.059 OPS during the stretch.<\/p>\n

General manager Chris Getz said Montgomery is \u201cin a good spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s had pretty good at-bats here recently,\u201d Getz said Wednesday at Camelback Ranch. \u201cHe\u2019s taking good passes at the ball and his defense has been solid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WhiteWhite Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery, left, works with third-base coach Justin Jirschele during spring training at Camelback Ranch on Feb. 18, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Montgomery also likes how everything is coming along defensively.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and (infield coach Justin Jirschele) have a thing, dominate the 20 ground balls or 15, or however many I do,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cIn spring training you get so many ground balls. Your workload goes through the roof. It\u2019s quality over quantity right now as we keep getting closer to the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montgomery is focused on everyday goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is just get everything that I can out of each day,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cJust show up and try to be the best person, best player that I can every single day. I just feel like if I do that every single day, things results-wise should come out pretty positive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how I think about every day. Just because baseball is such a tough game too. You start thinking about days ahead or at-bats that haven\u2019t even happened or ground balls that haven\u2019t even happened, you can get away from being in the present and being in the moment of what you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this moment, Montgomery wants to be as ready as he can for opening day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cJust take these days (in camp), do whatever I can right now to kind of fine-tune things the best that I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Vasil exits Cactus League game<\/p>\n

Vasil exited Saturday\u2019s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers with right elbow soreness. He will undergo further evaluation, the Sox said.<\/p>\n

Vasil allowed two hits, struck out three and walked two in 3 2\/3 scoreless innings Saturday at Camelback Ranch. He has a 1.64 ERA in four outings (two starts) this spring while competing for a rotation spot, allowing two runs in 11 innings with nine strikeouts and eight walks.<\/p>\n

He had a 2.50 ERA in 47 appearances (three starts) in 2025.<\/p>\n

Sean Newcomb to work out of the bullpen<\/p>\n

The Sox are working through options for their rotation. Venable said Saturday that Newcomb, who signed a one-year deal in the offseason, will work out of the bullpen.<\/p>\n

The left-hander went 2-5 with a 2.73 ERA, two saves, four holds and 91 strikeouts in 92 1\/3 innings during 48 combined appearances (five starts) with the Boston Red Sox and Athletics last season. He has allowed six earned runs in 11 innings with 11 strikeouts and three walks in four outings (two starts) this spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLENDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery experienced a number of major-league firsts last season. His…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[5,138,49,2561,4071,10448,4,1406,751,151,396,2562,998],"class_list":["post-624653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-white-sox","tag-baseball","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-chicagowhitesox","tag-chris-getz","tag-colson-montgomery","tag-mlb","tag-opening-day","tag-sean-newcomb","tag-spring-training","tag-white-sox","tag-whitesox","tag-will-venable"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116231792249716095","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}