White Sox select Colson Montgomery in first round of 2021 MLB Draft

9:08 PM CDT on July 11, 2021

Whether you wanted the White Sox to select Colson Montgomery, or whether you wanted the team to pursue another course, nobody can say they're surprised by the outcome.

The shortstop out of Southridge High School in Huntingburg, Ind., the consensus mock draft selection for weeks, made it all the way to 22nd pick. Just about every evaluator said that the White Sox would take Montgomery if he lasted that long, and sure enough, that's what happened.

PERTINENT: MLB Draft Watch: A look at Colson Montgomery

The White Sox hadn't selected a high school player in the first round since 2012, when Courtney Hawkins backflipped his way into America's hearts on draft night, and the less said about everything that happened afterward the better. Hopefully the White Sox have a slower rollout for Montgomery, rather than throwing him into the deep end with an A-ball assignment with no life preservers offered.

What's his game?

Montgomery is a 6-foot-4-inch, 190-pound, lefty-hitting shortstop. He had the athleticism to play football and basketball, so he's late to focusing solely on baseball. That his stock was so high despite his divided attention could offset concerns about his age. He turned 19 in February, and as a guy like Blake Rutherford can attest, it does shorten the amount of time a player has to naturally come into his own before 40-man roster concerns add their own pressure. That suppresses some of the enthusiasm when looking at the rankings.

He has a projectable build, so much so that the leading assumption is that Montgomery will have to move to third, which he has the talent to handle with aplomb. His current level of athleticism will give him every shot to prove he can stick, and the White Sox have been aggressive with up-the-middle assignments for players who had such a label, at least in the low minors.

He generates power with his long levers, but outlets are divided about how his hit tool will develop as he tries to tap into it against advanced competition.

Where does he rank?

ESPN: No. 13
MLB Pipeline: No. 25
Baseball America: No. 34
FanGraphs: No. 49
Keith Law: No. 56

What's does he look like?

Any good anagrams?

None of note, but I did appreciate his write-up in Baseball Prospectus' Name Draft:

*Extremely Daniel Craig’s character in Knives Out voice*
Ah-well now, what a ah-pahcuuuliar set of circumstances whee have ah-here-ah. Ah-here-ah whee find the team representing this very Nation’s capital. Bereft of young talent, but awash with options. In aye-uh, draft positively teeming with potential. And yet ah-whooo do they select? Awhyy one Col-son Montgomery. Not ah-Jackson Jobe. Not ah-Hunter Goodman. Not even uh-Thatchuh Hurd. Just Col-son Montgomery. I find that to be an oddity...