As Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery watched a 93 mph fastball cross the middle of the strike zone in the fifth inning on Friday, he found his way into the record books.
That strikeout was Montgomery’s 224th of the season, setting a new MLB record. Former Arizona Diamondbacks corner infielder Mark Reynolds previously held the record when he struck out 223 times in 2009.
Montgomery went on an impressive strikeout binge over his previous 32 games to put himself into position to set the record. He struck out 59 times in his 130 plate appearances in that span, posting a miserable .134/.254/.304 batting line with five homers and four doubles.
Strikeout record adds to strange season for Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery
Montgomery has put together a strange season with the White Sox. He has posted a .199/.285/.407 batting line in his 632 plate appearances after Friday’s 6-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies, hitting 31 homers and 24 doubles. Although he has been a power threat in the middle of the White Sox lineup, his .692 OPS ranked 1581st among the 1583 players to hit 30+ home runs in a major league season, better than Dave Kingman (.686 in 1987) and Rougned Odor (.649 in 2017).
Montgomery has value for the White Sox beyond his power. He has been a solid defensive shortstop, although defensive metrics are mixed about his impact (FanGraphs lists Montgomery as having cost the White Sox five runs while Baseball-Reference considers him as saving one run). He has drawn walks at a league-average 8.6% rate. Montgomery can still be a dangerous hitter.
The biggest question going forward will be whether or not Montgomery can improve his ability to make contact. If not, the former consensus top-100 prospect may fail to live up to expectations.