MINNEAPOLIS — Colson Montgomery is quickly garnering attention around the league for his power display at the plate and rangy defense at shortstop.
“Just a baller,” Twins star Byron Buxton said of Montgomery. “It looks like he’s been in the league for a couple of years with some of the at-bats you see him take. Even when I talked to him a little bit when he’s at short, just seems like a big leaguer. He’s been one of the younger guys that is coming up. It’s going to be fun competing with him over the next few years.
“Obviously, competing [against] each other, you want to be the one on top every time, but to see success like that early – and a guy of that caliber – that’s special.”
Despite his fast start to his career — he homered in four consecutive games from Aug. 22 to Aug. 26 — Montgomery still has warts in his game to improve. He still strikes out too often (28.4%), chases at a high rate (32.8%) and hasn’t proved adept at doing more than hitting homers.
But given that Montgomery, a 2021 first-round pick, looked at risk of not making the majors, him producing is a boon for the Sox. He was the second rookie in club history to hit 10-plus homers in a month, joining Jose Abreu. Entering Wednesday, Montgomery was fourth in the majors in home runs (16) in the second half, trailing Kyle Schwarber (19), Shea Langeliers (17) and Junior Caminero (17).
Montgomery went 0-for-4 in the Sox’ 4-3 win over the Twins on Wednesday. He struck out twice on fastballs at the top of the zone. He’s still susceptible to whiffs, but his power makes him a nightly threat in the Sox lineup. Is he garnering the same attention that Buxton commands for the Twins?
“Probably already,” Buxton said, laughing. “But, yeah, he’s an athlete.”
Gomez finds the zone
Right-hander Yoendrys Gomez sorely needed his bounce-back performance in Wednesday’s win over the Twins. He threw five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) with five strikeouts and one walk.
Gomez has plus stuff, but his problem is that he doesn’t harness it and throw strikes, which leads to high pitch counts and walk rates. His 12.3% walk rate is in the fourth percentile among major-league pitchers. In Gomez’s start against the Yankees on Aug. 29, he walked six batters.
He navigated the fifth inning well. With the Twins up 2-1, Gomez allowed a leadoff triple to Buxton, Gomez was able to escape the inning without any damage done. That shutdown inning played a role in the Sox being able to grab the win after Michael A. Taylor’s two-run double with two outs in the ninth.
“That’s always the mindset when you’re on the mound, just try to keep your team in the game,” Gomez said of his approach. “Today we saw the results, the team was able to rally late and we got the win.”
Roster moves
• The Sox recalled right-hander Jonathan Cannon and lefty Tyler Gilbert from Triple-A Charlotte. The corresponding move was placing lefty reliever Bryan Hudson on the 15-day injured list (lower back strain) and designating Bryse Wilson for assignment.
The Sox have 38 players on the 40-man roster.