Colson Montgomery struck out more times in 2026 than any player ever in a single season.
The White Sox’s 24-year-old shortstop held an .841 OPS on June 18. That mark is higher than Fernando Tatis Jr. and Matt Olson’s right now. Yet as the season concludes, he’s batting under .200 with a .690 OPS and a record he’d like to forget.
On September 25, Montgomery recorded the 224th strikeout of his season against the Rockies. In the fifth inning, Tomoyuki Sugano froze Montgomery in a 3-2 count with a fastball down the middle. The punchout landed him above Mark Reynolds, who struck out 223 times in 2009 with the Diamondbacks.
Reynolds’ 2009 season was actually a very productive campaign. He mashed 44 home runs and posted an .892 OPS, over .200 points better than Montgomery’s 2026 campaign. The third baseman made it work in his career, striking out nearly 2000 times but homering nearly 300 times over 13 seasons.
Montgomery is only in his first full MLB season. He thrived through 71 games in 2025, collecting 21 home runs despite his .239 batting average. This year the power is still there, but it’s arguably not prominent enough to make up for his severe on-base woes. Montgomery is one of 22 players with 30+ home runs in 2026, but is the only player of that bunch with an OPS below the league average.
Basically, this means that a 30-homer season is “good,” as long as the player doesn’t set a new strikeout record. He’s earned his place as one of the extremes, alongside players like Kyle Schwarber and his teammate Munetaka Murakami.
What’s in store for his future?
Colson Montgomery looked like a breakout star for the first two and a half months of 2026. For the last three and a half, he’s been somewhat of a joke to the national audience, and a stagnant bat in the White Sox order. So with the Postseason looming, what can we expect out of a player like Montgomery?
Lightning in a bottle is the academic answer. He won’t just “pull his weight” in the Postseason. He’ll either come up big, or come off as one of the reasons Chicago doesn’t get much going offensively.
As a team, the White Sox hold the sixth-lowest team batting average in the Major Leagues. They do walk a lot, but a strong pitching staff that keeps the ball in the zone could spell trouble if the Sox can’t slug. Chicago hits the fifth-most homers in baseball, so the all-or-nothing approach could go either way in October.
Nobody embodies all-or-nothing like Colson Montgomery. He historically embodies the go-big-or-go-home mentality.
As for his future, it’s not as dark as some may think. Several superstar hitters strike out a lot, and make it work. The aforementioned Kyle Schwarber is an example, as well as James Wood, Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Goodman, among others.
Montgomery strikes out 35.5% of the time right now. If he cuts that down to 30%, his batting average probably jumps .015-.020 points. He’ll probably hit a few more homers too. The difference between .199 with 31 homers and .220 with 35 homers is much bigger than you’d think.
Most importantly, he’s 24 years old with plenty of time and opportunity to figure things out. While he won’t be the star in Chicago, he’ll be a fun follow for baseball fans around the league. Can he make the jump towards Schwarber territory? Or will he fall farther down the slope?
