{"id":518676,"date":"2026-03-12T07:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/518676\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T07:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:48:16","slug":"white-sox-shortstop-colson-montgomery-is-a-hot-shot-but-not-a-hot-hitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/518676\/","title":{"rendered":"White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery is a hot shot but not a hot hitter"},"content":{"rendered":"

GLENDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Infielder Colson Montgomery won the three-point shooting contest among his fellow White Sox<\/a> teammates outside the team\u2019s training facility Wednesday, which shouldn\u2019t surprise anyone.<\/p>\n

Growing up in small-town Indiana \u2014 Holland, population 619 \u2014 Montgomery was as proficient in basketball as he now is in baseball. Hoosiers basketball, of course, runs in the blood.<\/p>\n

Montgomery defeated Mike Vasil, Ryan Borucki and Zach Franklin by making 12 of 20 shots. That\u2019s 60%, much better than the average from three-point range in the NBA right now of between 36% and 37%.<\/p>\n

By contrast, he\u2019s batting .185 this spring after hitting .239 in 71 games last season after being called up from the minors July 4.<\/p>\n

Despite all that, manager Will Venable said before the Sox played the Angels at Camelback Ranch that Montgomery will be on the Opening Day roster and will be at shortstop March 26 in Milwaukee. He\u2019ll bounce between short and third base.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018He\u2019s been having a good spring,\u2019\u2019 Venable said of Montgomery. \u2018\u2018The pregame work has been great. There have been some barrels there recently. He\u2019s still coming along, trying to find his way at the plate. But the defensive stuff, the running stuff we\u2019ve asked him to do, he\u2019s been outstanding.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

It was a dream of Montgomery\u2019s as a kid to be out there on Opening Day, and this will be his first one in the majors.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018I think it\u2019s a dream of everyone,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

Baseball can be a killer with its large doses of failure.<\/p>\n

As Bulls legend Michael Jordan discovered in his aborted transition from basketball to baseball, hitting a ball is perhaps the hardest thing to do in sports. Jordan\u2019s career shooting percentage in the NBA was 49.7%. His batting average in 1994 during one season playing for Birmingham was .202. And that was at Double-A.<\/p>\n

Montgomery, 24, is like many of the young Sox players: a work in progress. He\u2019s 5-for-27 with two home runs, three RBI and eight strikeouts this spring.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the dog days of camp, for sure.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018When you get to this time of the spring, the days seem the same and start getting a little stagnant,\u2019\u2019 Montgomery said after smacking a hit in four at-bats Tuesday against the A\u2019s in Mesa. \u2018\u2018You just have to keep being process-oriented. Just come in and do the work you need to do to play 162.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Montgomery had to make the choice between basketball and baseball early in his amateur career. He was recruited by Purdue and Louisville to play basketball, but he chose baseball out of high school when the Sox selected him with the 22nd pick in the 2021 draft. At 6-3, he\u2019s the all-time leading scorer in Southridge High School basketball history with 1,966 points.<\/p>\n

The Sox, however, gave him a $3 million signing bonus, which made his decision pretty easy.<\/p>\n

Montgomery now is playing for Venable, who had to make a similar decision between baseball and basketball, albeit at Princeton University, where he excelled at both sports.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018I always liked basketball better until I made baseball my profession,\u2019\u2019 Venable said.<\/p>\n

And for good reason. Venable averaged 10 points for Princeton in basketball and hit .344 in his first season playing baseball, earning All-Ivy League honorable mention.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018I was always a basketball guy but learned later in high school and early in college that playing it after college was really not my path,\u2019\u2019 Venable said.<\/p>\n

Montgomery made a similar decision, and now he\u2019s following his own path.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018My goal every day is just to get everything out of each day,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u2018\u2018Just show up and try to be the best person [and] the best player I can every single day. If I do that, everything is going to fall in place. It\u2019s a building block every day. That\u2019s the way I look at it. Baseball is such a tough game.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, he fell back on his other sport. Swish.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sox general manager Chris Getz said it\u2019s likely Teel will starts the season on the injured list. <\/p>\n

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The Athletics pounded him for five runs on five hits, two homers and four walks in a bifurcated 3 2\/3 innings. He threw 70 pitches and whiffed two.<\/p>\n

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With Jerry Reinsdorf about to begin his 46th season as team owner, the big question for loyal Sox fans is: Where is this all going long term?<\/p>\n

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Right-handers Wikelman Gonzalez and David Sandlin and infielder Tanner Murray were sent to Triple-A Charlotte.<\/p>\n

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