Top prospect Montgomery on White Sox roster spot: 'I have to go earn it'

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Let¡¯s talk about Colson Montgomery. Let¡¯s talk about Will Venable.

And let¡¯s talk about ¡­ basketball?

Montgomery is in his third big league camp, is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 39 prospect in baseball and has a legitimate chance to break camp as Chicago's starting shortstop, while Venable works amid his first Spring Training as White Sox manager. It¡¯s basketball, though, that's sort of galvanizing the two.

Venable averaged 9.3 points per game, 2.3 assists per game and 1.4 steals over 109 games covering four seasons at Princeton, including a contest at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Jan. 5, 2005, when he matched Duke¡¯s JJ Redick with 21 points. Montgomery produced 1,966 career points as the all-time leading scorer for Southridge High School in basketball-crazy Indiana.

So during a recent interview with MLB.com, the logical question for Montgomery was: Who is the better of the two on the hardwood courts?

¡°Well, I would say him, because he went to college and played basketball,¡± Montgomery said with a laugh. ¡°I didn¡¯t do that. I only played high school basketball. I¡¯ll show my respect to him.

¡°Once you are born [in Indiana], that¡¯s the first thing you do is play basketball. Even if you don¡¯t want to play basketball, your parents make you play basketball. In history class, they make you watch 'Hoosiers.' It¡¯s funny that everybody talks about it, and it¡¯s true. Everything I say about it is true. Everything is about basketball.¡±

If Montgomery had gone to Indiana University, where he committed to play baseball, he also was going to be a walk-on with the men¡¯s basketball team. That dream was altered when the White Sox selected Montgomery in the first round of the 2021 Draft.

He¡¯s now trying to join Hall of Famer Scott Rolen and Don Mattingly on the list of top-notch Major Leaguers who came from Indiana, although reaching the big leagues clearly would be the first step. When forming that Indiana baseball representation, Montgomery added some young guys from Northern Indiana who just got drafted and some players from the Hoosiers.

There¡¯s a great level of comfort coming from Montgomery, even after the 22-year-old dealt with his first career struggles for most of the 2024 season with Triple-A Charlotte. Then again, comfort is not a feeling Montgomery wants to project.

¡°You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable, but at the same time, I know what to expect with a lot of things,¡± Montgomery said. ¡°I know how things are going to be run, and I know I can do my routines. You still get some rookie treatment with the veterans, but that¡¯s all fun and games with those guys.

¡°I really cracked down on my routines and things like that. I had a lot of big leaguers and veterans help me with that stuff.¡±

What exactly changed? Montgomery admitted to going through ¡°a lot of mental games¡± because it was the first time he failed for a long stretch.

¡°It took me a little bit to finally get out of my head and get back to doing what I do, and that¡¯s just playing the game how I play -- natural, free and easy and don¡¯t put any pressure on myself,¡± Montgomery said. ¡°Go out and try to win the game.

¡°Once the last two months of the season [played out], then the Fall League, I really just focused on my routines, what I need to do, non-negotiables. I have to do these every single day, and then go on to the game trying to win. Once I started doing those things, I was trying to stack days.¡±

Some media pundits have picked Montgomery to start the 2025 season at shortstop for Chicago, causing Montgomery to laugh and thank those scribes for believing in him. But much like Montgomery¡¯s basketball career, he¡¯s embracing the competition.

¡°Whoever gets the job, we are going to show all of our respect because you earned it,¡± Montgomery said. ¡°I keep getting asked, ¡®Oh, yeah, Opening Day.¡¯ I always say I have to go earn it. Nothing is given. I don¡¯t want anything given to me either. I¡¯m going to do whatever I can to help us bring wins. That¡¯s the ultimate goal.

¡°I¡¯ve done my time, just really learning about myself as a person and as a baseball player in the Minor Leagues with the ups and the downs. I finally did my downs last year, and I got out of it and I¡¯m feeling really good. I just feel like my time is coming, but at the end of the day, still not my decision. There¡¯s always a reason for everything. I¡¯ll respect whatever they do.¡±