With a full-count take on a 93 mph Tomoyuki Sugano fastball down the middle, White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery set a new MLB single-season record for strikeouts with 224 on Friday night, passing the record Mark Reynolds set in 2009.
A long-levered power hitter, strikeouts have been and will be part of Montgomery’s game. The larger problem is his overall fall-off in production. Montgomery has 31 home runs and 87 RBI while playing solid defense at shortstop, but entered Friday with a .615 OPS and a 39% strikeout rate since June 1.
“Strikeouts have created some frustration for him,” said general manager Chris Getz. “But he can still help. He’s been very consistent on the defensive side. Obviously he’s come through with some big hits and some big home runs. But he’s still continuing to grow.”
While Sox leadership has backed Montgomery, he’s gone from a middle of the lineup mainstay to batting eighth on Friday night. If there’s a solace for the 24-year-old’s new place in history, it’s that individual numbers feel a lot less relevant after the Sox clinched a playoff spot on Thursday.
“Ws are all that matters,” Montgomery said on Thursday. “Whatever I can do to help the team, that’s all I care about. Anything else, especially right now, I don’t give a [expletive] about it.”
Meidroth dealing with sore hamstring
His sore left wrist is public knowledge, but White Sox second baseman Chase Meidroth is known for playing through so many maladies that Will Venable had to specify what prompted his early exit on Thursday.
“Sore left hamstring,” Venable said. “Him against the [left-handed starters Saturday and Sunday] is really important. Wanted to give him a little bit of a blow [Friday]. He’ll be available off the bench.”
Only Miguel Vargas has more plate appearances or produced–per wins above replacement (WAR)–more value on the Sox this year than Meidroth. To Venable’s point, Meidroth has hit .346/.428/.583 against left-handers this season. If his hamstring only allows him to play two games this weekend, matchups against Rockies southpaws Jose Quintana and Kyle Freeland on Saturday and Sunday are worth prioritizing.
Brazoban back in form?
Just when it seemed the White Sox were getting nothing from trade deadline acquisitions, Brenton Doyle entered Friday with an .800 OPS in September, and Huascar Brazoban has returned from the injured list with three consecutive scoreless appearances.
Acquired from the Mets for two prospects, the 36-year-old right-hander yielded runs in five of his last six appearances before being sidelined with a left lat strain in late-August. It might sound weird for a right-handed pitcher to miss time for an injury to his left arm, but Brazoban’s command struggles were the result of trying to pitch through it.
“The left arm is important for me too, because it’s how you point where your pitches are going,” Brazoban told the Sun-Times via interpreter. “I tried to fight through that, but I reached a point where I couldn’t. I was wasting opportunities for my team, and I didn’t want to do that.”
Now healthy, the nasty changeup the Sox acquired Brazoban for is back on display, as he struck out a pair of hitters with it in a scoreless inning of work on Thursday.
“Every one of us that is in the major leagues has a little magic,” Brazoban said via interpreter. “Mine is that.”