White Sox hungry for Colson Montgomery, Munetaka Murakami to get cooking at the plate in final month — Chicago Sun-Times

RESOLVING THE LEDGER

White Sox hungry for Colson Montgomery, Munetaka Murakami to get cooking at the plate in final month — Chicago Sun-Times | AIPROPX

MINNEAPOLIS — The American League’s highest-scoring offense has been doing it lately without much help from two of their biggest sluggers.

The White Sox got a three-run bomb from shortstop Colson Montgomery in their series opener against the Twins, but he was still clawing his way out of a monthlong funk entering play Sunday, with a .197/.264/.325 line over his past 30 games, including 53 strikeouts in 117 at-bats.

Rookie first baseman Munetaka Murakami hasn’t fared much better, slashing .156/.302/.365 in August with 44 strikeouts and going 10 games without a home run.

“With Mune, we can't forget all the new that goes into it,” Sox hitting director Ryan Fuller said. “His first year. It's August, we're closing in on September. There's a lot that goes into it and we know the preparation with Mune is always there — always good at-bats, and the work that he's putting in in the cage is great. So it's only a matter of time before he gets back to doing what he's going to do.”

Fuller’s been down this road before with Montgomery, following last year’s mid-season sabbatical in the desert to help the tall infielder rediscover his stroke.

“A lot of guys have ebbs and flows in that sophomore year, and he's doing a good job of maintaining and understanding what he needs to do to be successful,” Fuller said. “Looking forward to having him be a contributing factor down the stretch because we know he can be a game changer.”

Montgomery felt he was turning a corner in Minneapolis, too.

“The past couple games, my decision making and my process and approach at the plate has been a little more consistent,” he said. “I should be driving in more runs, or just a little better situational hitting. But I don't know, it's just baseball, you know?”

Colson Montgomery sent that one outta here! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/h7gcDIT2Hb

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 29, 2026

Between those sluggers’ streaks in the heart of the order has been third baseman Miguel Vargas’ remarkably consistent bat , with a .979 OPS in August and a hitting approach that’s marking the organizational checkboxes of decisions, contact and damage.

“For Vargy in the past, it was great decisions, good contact, damage a little bit below average,” Fuller said. “This year, it's all three skills. One of the best decision-makers in MLB. Above-average contact rates, and now this year, with his body, his swing, improved bat speed — there's a lot of things we can point to.”

And picking up some historic slack lately has been Savannah Banana-turned-All-Star rookie Tristan Peters , who ended a second-half drought at the plate by raining home runs for five straight games, tying a franchise record. He’s carrying an absurd 1.235 OPS over his last 15 games.

“To see him have the stretch that he's on is incredible,” Fuller said. “But really more than anything, to learn those lessons and to be able to provide himself confidence when he does have a few bad days, of, 'I'll get it back,' is really encouraging.”

Just as incredible is the Sox’ position leading the AL with 651 runs scored, more than two dozen ahead of the next closest offense (Minnesota, 624), a year after scraping the bottom of the ranks in most offensive categories en route to a third straight triple-digit loss season.

Now firmly controlling their own destiny toward a division title, the Sox are second in their league in home runs (180) and OPS (.728).

“To go from 14th in runs per game in the AL to first — I mean, I’d be lying if I said that I thought it was going to be where we are right now,” Fuller said.

“Last year, the first year of the new hitting program, that was selling the vision of what could be. And now it's pointing to the players at the big-league level who are actually doing it,” he added. “So what it means to be a White Sox hitter now, we have tangible ways of showing them what we value. It's been a ton of fun… A lot to celebrate, and now looking to be able to do it into October.”