Colson Montgomery makes stunning catch for White Sox in memorable MLB debut

DENVER — Colson Montgomery’s roller-coaster season climbed to a new apex in the Mile High City with his major-league debut for the White Sox on the Fourth of July.

And it rose once again with a diving, over-the-shoulder catch to save a run that would prove pivotal in the Sox’ series-opening 3-2 victory Friday against the Rockies.

Not bad for the prized shortstop prospect who has been heralded as a potential franchise cornerstone since being drafted but couldn’t crack the Opening Day roster as originally expected.

A nagging back injury and a sluggish bat in spring training gave way to an even worse first month at Triple-A Charlotte, prompting Sox brass to yank Montgomery from the field altogether and ship him to Arizona to get back to the basics on his swing.

None of that was on the 23-year-old Holland, Indiana, native’s mind as he got ready to realize his boyhood dream, running onto Coors Field for the first time as a big-leaguer.

Montgomery said he was trying to channel the zen approach that helped him rip four home runs during a 12-for-29 tear over his last seven games at Charlotte to force the Sox’ hand to give him his first taste of the bright lights.

“I just was out there, being free with the boys, hanging out,” Montgomery said in the dugout before his debut. “I was just playing really free.”

He got his first defensive assist out of the way to get the Sox’ first out in the first, cleanly fielding a 104-mph grounder off the bat of Rockies outfielder Tyler Freeman.

His debut would have been memorable enough for the quirkiness of his first plate appearance, when Montgomery worked the count to 3-2 before breaking his bat on a soft grounder — and being granted first base on catcher’s interference.

But then the supposedly bat-first shortstop sprinted out to left field to track down a two-out looping fly ball from his Colorado counterpart, Ryan Ritter. Montgomery made the surefire ESPN web gem with a diving catch to strand a runner at third.

“Honestly, I kind of slipped,” Montgomery said after the game. “Then I tried just doing a normal kind of over-the-shoulder catch, but then ... I don’t even know how I caught it, to be honest.”

He finished 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout, all of it marking a full circle back to Denver, where Montgomery was drafted No. 22 by the Sox in 2021.

Montgomery made it look free and easy during his first big-league batting-practice session, sending ball after ball through the thin Rocky Mountain air into the evergreens past the 415-foot marker in straight-away center field.

Sox manager Will Venable said he wants to see the 6-3, 230-pound Montgomery bring that punishing pop to an anemic offense.

But Montgomery knows better than anyone that such streaks can be fleeting. He came back strong from his desert sabbatical in May, but he looked lost at the plate again by mid-June.

“A lot of players don’t wanna say that they’ve struggled, but I’ve gone through some struggles, some ups and downs. And I think that’s just gonna make me a better person and a better player,” Montgomery said.

Earlier, the Sox shared their latest hidden-camera video of a rookie getting the news from Charlotte manager Sergio Santos that he was heading to the majors.

It was the first of several tearful conversations Montgomery had in a whirlwind 24 hours that saw his immediate family members scrap vacation plans to get to Denver for his big moment.

For now, he’s focused on that moment — and not the idea of being the face of the Sox’ rebuild.

“To single out one person, that can put a lot of pressure on somebody,” Montgomery said. “I’ve been told that by some people. But there’s more to it than just one guy.”