White Sox amateur scouting director Mike Shirley’s second draft at the helm is underway. The club has been known for focusing on collegiate players in the first round. However, Shirley has put an emphasis on prep picks since taking over. Tonight, Shirley showed he was ready to breakaway from tradition by selecting Indiana prep shortstop, Colson Montgomery in the first round.
The pick marks the first time the White Sox have selected a prep player in the first round since 2012. Montgomery, a superb athlete from Southridge High School, excelled in both baseball and basketball throughout his prep career. While some felt like basketball would be a successful future for him, his potential on the diamond seems to be even brighter.
At 6’4″, 190-lbs Colson Montgomery has a projectible frame that should fill out well as he develops. He draws comparisons to Corey Seager in the sense that they have similar frames at this point in their careers. While Seager has stuck at shortstop in the big leagues, scouts feel as if Montgomery is destined for third base when he outgrows the shortstop position.
If he does switch positions eventually, Montgomery has a strong arm and can move well enough to be successful at the hot corner. According to Perfect Game, Montogmery’s infield velocity topped out at 84 mph, which was above the class average of 80 mph. Montgomery, however, believes he has the athletic ability to stick at short. And so does Mike Shirley who spoke to Montgomery over the phone tonight.
Offensively, Colson Montgomery has a simple swing from the left-side of the plate. He owns impressive strength and bat speed that should lead to the ability to hit for both average and power as a professional. Perfect Game has Montgomery’s exit velocity topping out at 95 mph, placing him in the 94th percentile for his class. His max barrel speed tops out at 76.9 mph, which places him in the 95th percentile for his class.
The White Sox full slot amount for the 22nd pick is $3,027,000. Montgomery gained some steam as a potential top ten pick after the MLB Draft Combine and while that didn’t come to fruition, Montgomery is most likely not going to come with a discount. The full bonus pool the White Sox have to use this year is $6,618,900.
This is an exciting pick for the White Sox. Aside from the organization doing something that they normally don’t, there continues to be an influx of youth added to the farm system in recent years. In 2019 and 2020, the focus was on pitchers with the likes of Matthew Thompson, Andrew Dalquist and Jared Kelley. Now there has been a shift to the position player side with the addition of Montgomery.
The White Sox spent all their picks in a shortened draft on pitchers last season, so it’s exciting to see them add a position player to the mix with the offensive potential like Montgomery. The team’s contention window is open now and it would’ve been easy for the club to add someone that can contribute sooner rather than later. With that being said, the team will also need replacements for down the line and Colson Montgomery is a great addition to that mix.
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Excellent pick, keep going with the drafting of position players to replinish the system preferably infielders and catcher.