White Sox Calling!
Director of Amateur Scouting Mike Shirley called first-round pick Colson Montgomery after the selection. pic.twitter.com/maPjTZ0blV
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 12, 2021
Well, we know the next first-rounder to play for the White Sox — probably later this season!
That’s just a joke, of course, as 6´4´´, 190-pound Indiana prep shortstop Colson Montgomery on Sunday became the first high-schooler selected by the White Sox in the first round since the 2012 draft. By definition, there is no chance he joins the several first-rounders currently on the team, including 2020 top pick Garrett Crochet.
The Southridge High School three-sport star (baseball, basketball, football) had plans to play both baseball and basketball at Indiana University, but this first-round selection by a team that has long coveted him likely dashes that. The No. 22 draft slot is tagged with a $3.03 million bonus.
Batting left and throwing right, Montgomery has a build and power at the plate that draws comparisons to Corey Seager. He has played for the White Sox Area Code team. He’s an Indiana high-schooler, a favorite target area for White Sox scouts. In short, Montgomery was somewhat of a no-brainer pick for the South Siders; he was picked by South Side Sox in the first round of the SBN Mock Draft this weekend, James Fox tabbed him for the White Sox over at Future Sox back in May, and experts such as Jim Callis saw the fit as well.
MLB Pipeline issued the following grades to Montgomery, who it ranked as the No. 48 talent in the draft class:
Hit 50
Run 45
Field 50
Power 55
Arm 55
Overall 50
Baseball America slotted Montgomery at No. 43 in the 2021 class.
Montgomery actually profiles along the lines of some of the top talent currently at Low-A Kannapolis, including players like José Rodríguez, DJ Gladney and Bryan Ramos. As a tremendous athlete and star basketball player, Montgomery also sounds like someone else, someone you might be familiar with … current White Sox shortstop, All-Star Tim Anderson.
On the Zoom conference after the draft, director of amateur scouting Mike Shirley was beside himself with excitement, telling the media, “We feel lucky. We feel like we got the right guy. We’re very excited to have this young man … We feel like this was the piece of the puzzle that was going to be a difference-maker for us.”
