Montgomery feeling good, ready to 'earn' starting spot?

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Colson Montgomery returned to Cactus League action on Sunday afternoon from a bout with back spasms, resuming his case to open the season as the White Sox starting shortstop.

Montgomery went hitless in two at-bats against the Guardians at Goodyear Ballpark in a 1-0 loss, but he looked comfortable and smooth at short, making a pair of solid plays before being removed in the fifth inning. Just getting back on the field was a positive development for Montgomery and the White Sox.

“I honestly felt like I didn’t miss any time,” Montgomery said. “We did a good job ramping up with backfield games and live at-bats. I felt like I did pretty good. I felt maybe I was a tick slow with timing because you got to get used to it again, but I felt really good.”

Montgomery, baseball’s No. 39-ranked prospect and No. 4 overall in the White Sox system, was scratched from the starting lineup on Feb. 27 with back spasms after appearing in three games to begin the spring.

Given a clear runway to seize a starting role with Chicago, Montgomery said, “I have to go earn it” with a strong Cactus League showing. He has seemingly flashed his top-prospect abilities at every level of the Minor Leagues to this point.

In four professional seasons, Montgomery owns a .253/.376/.414 slash line with 37 home runs, 59 doubles, 154 RBIs and 192 walks over 316 games.

“I was thankful and grateful that I felt really good building up to [Sunday],” Montgomery said. “But going out here, it’s just a totally different volume, you’re swinging with more intent, you’re playing the game 100 percent. I feel really good right now.”

Clevinger debuts with sights set on closer role

When Chicago brought Mike Clevinger back on a Minor League contract with the idea of deploying him out of the bullpen -- and potentially as its closer -- he said he was up for the challenge.

The White Sox got their first look at Clevinger out of the ‘pen against the Guardians. He struck out a pair and induced a weak groundout in a 1-2-3 fourth inning, whiffing Bo Naylor and Jhonkensy Noel on sliders.

“It wasn’t as alien as I thought it was going to be,” Clevinger said. “I’m used to having a really long routine. An hour and a half, do this, long toss 400 feet, get on the mound, throw 30 pitches, go into the game. Just shortening up and finding what I do need to be ready every day. I think it was pretty good today.”

After a solid debut campaign with the White Sox in 2023, Clevinger was unable to carry things over into last season, when he made just four starts and posted a 6.75 ERA before receiving season-ending disk replacement surgery on his neck.

Clevinger reported to camp feeling good after his procedure, and he hopes to turn in a convincing performance worthy of a spot in the White Sox Opening Day bullpen when the team breaks camp later this month.

“There’s a possibility for anything at this point,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “We’re still very much evaluating, but we’re going to see where he’s at, and he’s got to make the club, right? So with him, just like everyone else, we’re just in evaluation mode and certainly would hope that if everything works out that he would be somebody that we can use in the back end.”

Taylor among latest cuts

Grant Taylor, the White Sox No. 7 prospect, was reassigned to Minor League camp Sunday after an impressive showing over the past few weeks.

In three Cactus League outings, Taylor allowed only one hit in four scoreless innings and struck out nine batters, six of which came in a two-inning appearance against the Dodgers. Taylor has wowed throughout the spring with his stuff, particularly his triple-digit fastball, which drew plenty of buzz earlier in camp.

“Really exciting,” Venable said of Taylor’s spring. “I think yesterday was a really good example, too, of a guy that throws 100-plus mph -- but I think he threw just a couple [fastballs] in the zone and went right to the offspeed stuff. It just shows you how much feel he has for pitching and how good his offspeed stuff is, too.

“Just really excited about his stuff and looking forward to him having a good year and continuing to develop.”