By Salem Chicago News Staff
CHICAGO — White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery said Sunday he is eager to move past a difficult stretch and focus on the postseason after setting the MLB single-season strikeout record with 225.
Montgomery, 24, had a strong first half that included an All-Star-caliber start. But since the break, he has slashed .166/.257/.309 with eight home runs and 104 strikeouts over 61 games. His September was especially rough: a .104 average with just two home runs and 40 strikeouts.
“Everything that’s kind of happened the past couple of days, it’s definitely something that you don’t want your name to be a part of,” Montgomery said before Sunday’s regular-season finale. “But at the end of the day, you can’t be looking at so much of the negative stuff.”
The shortstop surpassed Mark Reynolds’ previous MLB record of 223 strikeouts, set in 2009. But Montgomery also clubbed 31 home runs and drove in 87 runs over his first full big-league season, production the White Sox will need in their Wild Card Series against the Astros.
Montgomery did not start Saturday night’s 9-6 loss to the Rockies. When he entered as a pinch-hitter in the sixth, he struck out. In the eighth, with runners on first and third, he grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Despite those late-season struggles, Montgomery pointed to the bigger picture.
“I’ve looked at a lot of the stuff we’ve all done this year, and me personally, and felt like it’s been a lot of positives,” he said. “For me to really go into the dumps about what just happened and for me to be so upset about it and not try to get better in the position we’re at as a team right now, I feel would be selfish.”
Manager Will Venable has been a steady presence guiding his young shortstop through the highs and lows.
“As I’ve spoken to him through this year and through the good and the bad, Colson has handled things really well,” Venable said. “He understands the good things that he’s done and all the things he’s done to impact us and put us in this spot. I’m sure he doesn’t want to have broken the strikeout record. But he locked in on the positive things, so I feel like he’s in a good spot.”
Montgomery said his biggest lesson from 2026 has been about emotional consistency.
“You can’t ride the highs and you can’t stay in the lows for very long,” he said. “If you do, it’s just the rollercoaster effect of it’s just going to be hard for you to try to stay consistent.”
With Game 1 against the Astros set for Tuesday at 4 p.m. CT at Daikin Park in Houston, Montgomery views the postseason as a blank slate.
“Once the day’s over, who cares?” he said. “Some guys in here, you could not be playing good, and you go off in the postseason, and then it’s like nothing else happened. It’s just kind of like turn the page.”
Source: MLB.com — White Sox News
