The 2025 White Sox closed with a rough tally, but a bright youth wave took shape. Colson Montgomery’s 21 homers in 70 games and a 3.3 WAR signal a franchise cornerstone, while Kyle Teel’s June debut added 2.0 WAR and a promising catcher of the present. Rule 5 rookie Shane Smith and steady arms like Davis Martin and Jonathan Cannon supplied hope for 2026. Birmingham Barons’ back-to-back Southern League titles underline the depth, with Quero, Sosa, Baldwin, Elko, Vargas, and Meidroth looming. Michael A. Taylor retires; 2026 looks brighter.

Colson Montgomery capped a breakout rookie season with a record-setting run at short for the White Sox, belting 21 homers in his first 70 games and posting 2.9 WAR despite a compressed debut calendar. A slow start at Triple-A gave way to a polished approach, defensively and mentally, turning into a clubhouse cornerstone.

He closed strong with clutch power, including a ninth-inning homer vs Washington, and his defensive flexibility—including 12 games at third—has Chicago dreaming big about a durable core. Montgomery’s rise reshapes expectations for 2026 and beyond as the Sox lean into youth and upside.

Colson Montgomery delivered a clutch two-run homer in the ninth, lifting the Chicago White Sox to a 10-9 win at Nationals Park and snapping a five-game skid in the opener of their final series. Washington slugged six homers, led by Luis García Jr., but Chicago rallied late to steal the victory.

Lenyn Sosa supplied early offense with an RBI single, a solo homer, and an RBI double as the Sox sprinted to an 8-1 lead. Yoendrys Gómez battled through six innings, giving up four homers, yet a ninth-inning sequence—Teel reached on Ferrer’s error and Montgomery’s go-ahead blast—sealed the dramatic finish for Chicago.