Colson Montgomery entered Friday night's game in Birmingham with 12 HBPs over just 55 games this season, a sharp uptick 10 over 96 in 2022.
After Friday night, the White Sox's top prospect now has 13 over 56 games. He got clipped on the elbow with a runner on first and nobody out in the sixth inning, and it helped set a six-run outburst capped off by a Yoelqui Céspedes grand slam.
If the Biloxi Shuckers were the ones writing this account, however, they'd probably say that Montgomery's elbow pad clipped the pitch from Christian Mejias.
I was sitting next to the Shuckers dugout during this plate appearance, and the coaches and players on the rail immediately started pleading toward umpire Stephen Hodgins that the pitch was over the plate, matching the gestures by the players on the field. Hodgins heard them out as Montgomery discarded his armor (pictured), but the call stood, and the Barons seized the opportunity.
When I got back to my hotel room and looked at the video from the center-field cam, I better understood how Montgomery had a .395 OBP despite a .220 batting average with the Barons.
Durham 6, Charlotte 1
- José Rodríguez went 1-for-4, and was caught stealing.
- Adam Hackenberg, 1-for-3 with a double.
Birmingham 8, Biloxi 4
- Alsander Womack went 2-for-3 with an HBP.
- Colson Montgomery was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and an HBP.
- Bryan Ramos, 2-for-4 with a double.
- Wilfred Veras walked once and struck out thrice.
- Tim Elko went 1-for-4.
- Luis Mieses, 2-for-4 with a homer.
- Yoelqui Céspedes maxed out his 1-for-4 night with a grand slam, striking out once.
- Terrell Tatum was 0-for-3.
- Mason Adams: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
Hickory 6, Winston-Salem 2 (completion of Thursday's game)
- Loidel Chapelli went 1-for-3 with a walk, and was caught stealing.
- Brooks Baldwin wore the collar and silver sombrero.
Hickory 4, Winston-Salem 0 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Jacob Burke went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
- Brooks Baldwin, 0-for-2 with an HBP and a K.
- Wes Kath was plunked once and struck out twice.
- Juan Carela: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 2 WP, 1 HBP
Kannapolis 1, Lynchburg 0
- Rikuu Nishida went 0-for-4.
- Jordan Sprinkle, 2-for-4.
- Eddie Park was 1-for-4.
- Calvin Harris went 0-for-4.
- Tanner McDougal: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 28 of 42 pitches for strikes.
