{"id":140997,"date":"2025-08-13T00:22:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T00:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/140997\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T00:22:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T00:22:15","slug":"colson-montgomery-fueling-second-half-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/140997\/","title":{"rendered":"Colson Montgomery fueling second-half offense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colson Montgomery focused on line drives as part of his one-on-one sessions with Chicago White Sox director of hitting Ryan Fuller during the couple of weeks in late April\/early May while at the team\u2019s Arizona complex<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst thing we kind of went to, we wanted to practice trying to keep the ball kind of low to the ground, line drives and things like that,\u201d Montgomery said Monday. \u201cSome of my cues in the cage, I\u2019m trying to hit a low line drive to the shortstop. Keeps me tighter to the ball. Not really a normal home run swing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like a lot of the hitters can tell you, if they tried doing home run swings, it\u2019s probably not going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shortstop\u2019s approach has been working at the big-league level. Montgomery homered to right field in the fifth inning of Monday\u2019s 2-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers<\/a> at Rate Field. It was his 10th home run since being called up from Triple-A Charlotte on July 4. All 10 home runs have come since the All-Star break.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s having fun,\u201d Sox hitting coach Marcus Thames said last week in Seattle. \u201cWhen he got here, we\u2019re doing the same routine he was doing when he was in Triple A. And now it\u2019s just a game-planning part of things, of him learning what pitchers are trying to do to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done a heck of a job, he has. And he\u2019s just got to keep working, just knowing that the opposing team is going to make adjustments and that he\u2019s got to make adjustments. That\u2019s just part of the game. But I like where he\u2019s at right now. He\u2019s holding his own on both sides of the baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thames recently discussed some of the second-half production for the Sox.<\/p>\n

Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero became the sixth pair of catchers in major-league history to record four hits in back-to-back games. Teel accomplished the feat on July 23 against the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Quero followed on July 25 against the Chicago Cubs<\/a> at Rate Field.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Rate Field on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Teel, who had two hits Monday, entered Tuesday hitting .260 with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 41 games. The switch-hitting Quero is batting .268 \u2014 .374 against left-handed pitchers \u2014 with three home runs and 26 RBIs in 74 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those guys being young guys (and) their first time up here, being able to handle a pitching staff and on the offensive side of things, I think they\u2019re wise beyond their years,\u201d Thames said. \u201cBoth of them have always hit, even in the minor leagues they hit. Nothing has really changed for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth of them bring something really positive to the ballclub. Offensively, they\u2019re not afraid. And that\u2019s what I like about them. Even in our meetings, usually you get younger guys and in our hitters\u2019 meeting, they don\u2019t say much. But these guys, they speak up, and they talk about what they\u2019ve seen, and I think that\u2019s kudos to those guys with where they\u2019re at in their career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Infielder Curtis Mead<\/a> is in a new stage of his career after being traded to the Sox from the Rays at the trade deadline on July 31. The first steps from Thames with the new addition included asking questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive me a couple cues that make you tick,\u201d Thames said. \u201cAnd make sure we\u2019re watching that. And then if we see something, we\u2019ll let him know. But we want guys to be themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, watching stuff when he was in Tampa and when he was in the minor leagues. He can use the whole field. But usually just try to work off of him and then if we see something, we\u2019ll address it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Center fielder Luis Robert Jr. did not get dealt at the trade deadline<\/a> and continued a 23-game on-base streak, which ended on Friday. He slashed .359\/.427\/.577 with five home runs, 15 RBIs and 19 runs during the stretch.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago White Sox’s Edgar Quero rounds the bases in the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Rate Field in Chicago on July 29, 2025. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Luis is staying inside the baseball and driving the ball to the big part of the field, that\u2019s when he\u2019s at his best,\u201d Thames said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he\u2019s sticking with it. His timing is better. And I think that\u2019s why we\u2019re seeing some success with Luis. He\u2019s a talented player. I said that even when he was struggling, it was just a matter of time for him getting going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sox as a whole are going in the right direction from a power perspective. The team leads the majors with 41 home runs since the All-Star break. Thames sees a group that\u2019s been on the attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeams that slug, they swing,\u201d Thames said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be on the attack and be ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miguel Vargas returns from the IL<\/p>\n

The Sox reinstated infielder Miguel Vargas from the 10-day injured list, one of four roster moves announced Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The team also designated outfielder Corey Julks for assignment, selected the contract of pitcher Yoendrys G\u00f3mez from Charlotte and optioned pitcher Elvis Peguero to Charlotte.<\/p>\n

Vargas retroactively went on the injured list on Aug. 2 with a left oblique strain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just been solid for us all year, somebody that you trust offensively, constructing good at-bats, defensively, on the bases,\u201d manager Will Venable said on Tuesday. \u201cHe\u2019s a team leader, somebody that we\u2019ve missed and excited to have back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally Published: August 12, 2025 at 6:47 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Colson Montgomery focused on line drives as part of his one-on-one sessions with Chicago White Sox director of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":140998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,1274,29987,84131,5386,1818,16077,84132,27038,5391,13250],"class_list":{"0":"post-140997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-chicago-white-sox","10":"tag-colson-montgomery","11":"tag-edgar-quiero","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-illinois","14":"tag-kyle-teel","15":"tag-marcus-thames","16":"tag-miguel-vargas","17":"tag-rate-field","18":"tag-will-venable"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115018606234189258","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}