White Sox pregame notes: Colson Montgomery’s headed back to Triple-A

In the lockout-abbreviated spring training of the 2022 season, Tanner Banks was reassigned to minor league camp on March 29. Nine days and several pitching injuries later, he was on the Opening Day roster. That he was walking around in the major league clubhouse for a few days before the roster was announced should have been a giveaway, but largely the White Sox beat had not learned what he looked like yet.

So in that vein, it's not a given that Colson Montgomery won't be the White Sox Opening Day shortstop, but the White Sox already subverted expectations by making it clear that he's not Plan A. Two weeks ahead of Opening Day, the Sox optioned their top infield prospect to Triple-A Charlotte alongside Nick Nastrini and recently claimed right-hander Owen White. Tim Elko was also reassigned and will certainly join these three with the Knights.

Montgomery went 1-for-9 with five strikeouts this Cactus League, with his only hit being a thunderous homer to dead center in the spring opener. Mostly the line reflects someone who missed a week with back spasms and is 15-20 at-bats behind other potential regulars, and that's the primary issue general manager Chris Getz cited for why Montgomery did not have the smooth ramp-up that he apparently needed to make the team.

Getz went out of his way to praise Montgomery's defense, which is an important endorsement of the long-term project of a 6-foot-5-inch player being the White Sox answer at the most crucial spot on the infield. But as Montgomery's struggles persisted through the 2024 season, the optimistic view of his offensive development path drifted from someone whose precocious plate discipline would carry him upon arrival, to a more traditional long-levered power-hitting lefty who will have to account for top-level pitching working him upstairs on a regular basis, and deal with the longer adjustment period that usually carries.

If Montgomery had been positioned to hit the ground running, his MLB Pipeline top-100 prospect status could have gifted the White Sox an extra draft pick if he took home American League Rookie of the Year honors after breaking camp with the team. But slow, partial and injury-interrupted spring has the White Sox talking up opening in Charlotte as the better option for getting Montgomery rolling offensively at the beginning of the year, with an early-season promotion to Chicago still being talked about as likely.

This route just so happens to push Montgomery's free agency by a year, but with the flaws his 2024 campaign displayed, the White Sox were always more at risk of rushing their pre-assigned solution than imprisoning someone at Triple-A who had nothing left to work on. Given how much we predicted Montgomery to win the Opening Day job on this website, this is largely a black eye for us, but Jim headlined a piece last August "The White Sox could use a savior, but Colson Montgomery could use more time," and that feels as apt as ever.

Montgomery's option certainly makes it anyone's guess who is the favorite to actual start at shortstop for the White Sox on March 27. While a back spasm seems to have harpooned Montgomery's opening day odds, Chase Meidroth left Saturday's game with cramping his calves and Jacob Amaya departed Monday's affair with left hip tightness.

Both issues seem minor enough, but usage will be the primary way to discern the organization's leaning, and Tuesday's lineup offers few clues. The social media announcement had Montgomery playing short and batting cleanup, but the lineup sent to the league had A-ball shortstop William Bergolla starting and batting ninth, with Brooks Baldwin manning center field.

Nick Nastrini had worked multiple innings in all three of his Cactus League outings, and was squarely in the category of pitchers who was nominally competing for the fifth starter slot, but was likely being assessed for a spot as a multi-inning reliever in Chicago or as a member of the Charlotte rotation. For his long-term prospects, returning to Triple-A might keep his starting dreams alive.

The 25-year-old ran a 3.52 ERA in 7.2 innings this spring, but most notably only walked two batters over that time. Nastrini was utilizing a new splitter as his changeup this spring and racked up an absurd 12 whiffs on 15 swings on his slider in his final Cactus League outing, but after more walks (36) than major league innings (35.2) last year, his delivery was the primary source of optimism.

"I just really had to work on being athletic, and making my delivery more athletic," Nastrini said. "I had been just trying to hit certain positions in my delivery, being a little bit too robotic. That's something I've struggled with in the past and it's when the fastball command would differ and I would lose it a little bit. I would try to emphasize those feels and I ended up hurting myself even more. So now I'm just being athletic and letting it rip."

First pitch: White Sox at Padres

TV: MLB.TV (Padres)

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