200 K's, but that's not Montgomery's identity for White Sox

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. LOUIS -- When it comes to addressing an abundance of strikeouts during the 2026 season, Colson Montgomery views those swings and misses much like Shaquille O’Neal.

It was a salient reference made by Montgomery prior to Friday’s series opener at Busch Stadium, so stay with us.

“I was told this by someone really close, that I know, is they asked me: 'Did Shaquille O’Neal care about his free-throw percentage? Probably not,'” Montgomery said. “He’s just going out there and doing the things he knows he’s really good at and that’s dominating his craft. It’s what I’m trying to do. Try not to think about it at all.”

The White Sox have 14 games remaining, and Montgomery figures to play in all of them. This young squad’s top talent needs to be on hand at almost every moment with the season and the postseason on the line.

Montgomery exited Friday’s contest with 202 strikeouts, making him the third person in franchise history to surpass 200 in a single season. Adam Dunn holds the White Sox and American League record at 222 from 2012, while Yoan Moncada ranks second at 217 from 2018.

No player on offense targets this sort of dubious honor. It’s a potential mark to which Montgomery isn’t giving any thought.

“That’s the first time I ever heard about some sort of record,” Montgomery said. “So, I have nothing to say about it because I don’t want to think about it or anything like that.

“I’m going to go out there and do whatever I can to help the team win. I’m working every single day to try to help perfect my craft.”

Viewing strikeouts as a singular statistic would be the wrong way, the unfair way, to judge a player’s numbers. For example, Dunn won the AL Comeback Player of the Year in ’12 with 41 home runs, 96 RBIs and 105 walks in leading a surprise division-leading team for much of that campaign.

Kris Bryant fanned 199 times on his way to the 2015 National League Rookie of the Year with the Cubs, and Mike Trout featured 184 K's in capturing the ’14 AL Most Valuable Player. It’s what a player can do around those frequent moments of failure, ultimately making a difference.

“In Colson’s case, he doesn’t like the strikeout, but I also don’t see him going up there just trying not to strike out or the idea of a strikeout is consuming him or taking away from his approach and aggressiveness,” White Sox manager Will Venable told me during a recent interview. “He’s making his adjustments to make more contact. But it’s not the fear of the strikeout or this shadow of striking out.”

“Our goal is to never strike out,” White Sox director of hitting Ryan Fuller told me during the last homestand. “The goal for Colson, he knows, the first two pitches I want to get one over the heart of the zone and put a good swing on it and move it forward. So, we could look at strikeouts but also look at it’s his sophomore year in the big leagues.”

Fuller also mentioned the “unbelievable year playing shortstop” being turned in by Montgomery. He takes as much pride in his defense as clearing the fences 31 times and launching 52 homers for his career.

Don’t disregard Fuller’s comments about the relative inexperience of Montgomery, who turns 25 in February. He has the ability to be a game-changer with one swing of the bat, as he showed in breaking up Jared Jones’ no-hitter in Thursday’s 2-0 setback, and he’s only going to get better.

“You look at, 'How’s my daily preparation, how’s my training?' When I go into the box, am I thinking about the result or locking in on the process? How are your movements?” Fuller said. “Is your swing in a spot where you can cover a lot of different pitches? All of those adjustments he’s going to make in the years to come, it’s really exciting.”

“I’ve seen guys who were so scared of striking out that they turned themselves into guys who didn’t hit the ball hard,” Venable said. “And some guys want to take their shots on some stuff out front, and they hit a lot of homers, but they are just fine with striking out. Everyone has their own relationship with strikeouts.”

As far as Montgomery’s relationship with strikeouts, it’s one of present coexistence with the rest of his impact game.

“So, this is how I think about it: You see guys who strike out a lot. What do they also do? They hit a lot of homers and drive a lot of guys in,” Montgomery said. “It’s one of those things where striking out sucks.

“Everyone doesn’t want to strike out. But sometimes you have to accept it because you are not going to change the way you play. All the guys who have crazy, extreme power and stuff like that, that’s their gift.”