But the 23-year-old slugging shortstop is one of the young talents sparking hope for the future on the South Side.

Montgomery explained in a one-on-one interview with CBS News Chicago how he made up his mind to live up to the first-round pick hype. He was the No. 22 overall pick in the 2021 Draft, though he only made his first Major League appearance recently.

“I feel like when I go up there and I try to do what I want to do, things usually — I’m a lot more comfortable up there than when you go up there and you’re thinking about, what’s his best pitch? What does he want to do to me?” he said. “So I think it’s pretty much just doing what I want to do at the plate.”

Montgomery made the jump to the Big Leagues this year. In April, Montgomery was sent to the White Sox facility in Arizona for two weeks, and then returned to Triple-A Charlotte Knights before the White Sox recalled him in July. He said the adversity and struggles this season have all been a learning experience.

“It’s like I’ve told some people before — I’m not going to sit here and, you know, throw a little pity party about everything I had to go through, and feel sorry for me, because you know, I needed to go through that, you know?” he said. “Early in my career in the lower levels, I had a lot of success, so I kind of got punched in the mouth, and I feel like you can really respond two ways, you know? You can go in hiding, or you can kind of try to do whatever you can to get out of it, and I had a lot of support with the White Sox really believing in me, and that was kind of one of the big things that helped me.”

Montgomery made his Major League debut with the White Sox on July 4, and has taken off in the weeks since. He made an impressive diving, over-the-shoulder catch in the second inning in that game — which the Sox won 3-2 — and hit a 452-foot home run when the Sox took on the Cleveland Guardians last weekend.

He was asked what his favorite moment in his short time in the Majors has been.

“I think one of the best moments is just when we’re winning. You know, my first series in Colorado — being able to win that series — that was pretty special. And then coming out of All-Star break — first sweep in the Big Leagues, you know, with the Pirates,” Montgomery said. “So I think just all the moments with these guys in winning I think are the best.”

Montgomery also said he is sticking “100%” with torpedo bats,

Torpedo bats

Sticking with 100%

“It’s like a thing as a hitter, you know? Once you — it’s like certain batting gloves, certain bats you just feel most comfortable in, and that’s one of the biggest things in the boxes—just feel as comfortable as you can — and I don’t know, when I feel like I have any kind of bat in my hand, I feel like I’m dangerous, you know?” he said. “But I don’t know, I like the torpedo, and I guess it likes me too.”

• Chicago White Sox