BASEBALL: Colson Montgomery hasn't cooled off for White Sox, who go for split at Guardians

It has been quite a 12-month stretch for Colson Montgomery.

The Chicago White Sox shortstop made his major league debut on July 4, 2025, and has impressed ever since. He put up 21 home runs in 71 games as a rookie, and exactly one year after his first appearance, he surpassed that total with his 22nd mash of the season -- delivering the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of Chicago's 3-1 win against the host Cleveland Guardians on Saturday.

His 43 homers in 155 games are tied for fourth most in the majors since his debut, trailing only Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (60 in 160 games), Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero (50 in 159) and Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz (44 in 156), and tied with Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani (43 in 153).

Montgomery and his teammates will look to keep it going as they go for the split in the finale of a four-game set against the Guardians on Sunday.

"I've just narrowed down the things I need to do on a day-to-day basis, what my body needs to get ready for the game," Montgomery said. "Coming up here, last year as a new guy, I felt like I needed to do everything, be everywhere."

Montgomery's home run total leads the White Sox, is fifth in the American League and is tied for eighth in the majors.

"I see the work he puts in," said White Sox pitcher Sean Burke, his good friend and housemate. "We work out together every single day. I see how he is as a person hanging out, just chilling at the house in the offseason. ... I'm not surprised at any of this. He's that special of a player."

Right-hander Burke was stellar in his start Saturday, notching a career-high 11 strikeouts without a walk in six innings while holding Cleveland to one run on seven hits as the White Sox pulled even with their division rivals atop the AL Central.

Chris Murphy (2-0, 3.79 ERA) will get the nod for Chicago on Sunday. It'll be the second career start against the Guardians for the left-hander, who is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in five career appearances, allowing two hits and striking out 10 in eight innings.

The Guardians will counter with Tanner Bibee (2-9, 3.69). The righty enjoyed a stellar June, going 2-2 with a 1.89 ERA in five starts, with opponents batting a mere .150 against him.

It's a turnaround from the month prior, when he went 0-3 with a 5.08 ERA and hitters connecting at a .248 clip.

"He's really learning to command (his sinker) and use it as a weapon," Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said.

Bibee, who is 4-0 with a 3.41 ERA in six career starts against the White Sox, had one of his worst starts of the season against the Washington Nationals on May 25. He gave up seven runs on eight hits -- five of which were home runs -- in just three innings.

In his six starts since that outing? A 2.29 ERA in 39 1/3 innings.

"It's been pretty exciting to see a guy who's had a lot of success in his big league career so far kind of make an adjustment and see the fruit of it," said two-time Gold Glove catcher Patrick Bailey, who has been behind the plate for eight of Bibee's 10 starts since the former was acquired on May 9. "I think the ceiling is a lot higher than what we've seen so far."

-Field Level Media/Reuters