Colson Montgomery made White Sox history on Monday, September 7, 2026, belting his 31st home run of the season to break the franchise record for home runs by a shortstop. The milestone marks a landmark achievement for the 2026 campaign, establishing Montgomery as the most powerful shortstop to suit up for Chicago on the South Side. For a franchise that has been searching for a cornerstone presence at short, this number — 31 — now belongs to Montgomery alone, and it arrived during the heat of the regular season stretch run.

The Number: 31 Home Runs and a Franchise Record

Thirty-one. That is the figure Montgomery put on the board to surpass every shortstop who came before him wearing a White Sox uniform. This is not a pace projection or an on-deck milestone — Montgomery has crossed the threshold. The record is his. No White Sox shortstop in franchise history had reached this mark before Monday, and that covers a long line of players who manned the position at Guaranteed Rate Field and at every ballpark the organization has called home before it.

Breaking a positional franchise record is a specific kind of achievement. It does not require a hot week or a favorable schedule — it requires consistency across an entire season, the kind of at-bat quality that compounds over 130-plus games. Montgomery has delivered exactly that in 2026.

The Context: Why This Record Matters

Shortstop is one of the most demanding offensive positions to produce power from at the major-league level. The position historically skews toward contact, defense, and on-base skill, with home run totals typically lagging behind corner infield and outfield spots. Clearing 30 home runs as a shortstop puts a player in elite offensive company regardless of era or organization.

For the White Sox specifically, this record had stood as a benchmark that defined what the position could produce in a Black and Silver uniform. Montgomery erased it on Monday and pushed the new standard to 31, with regular season games still remaining on the schedule. The final number could climb higher before the season concludes.

The Why: What Montgomery's Season Looks Like

Montgomery did not stumble into this record. His 2026 season has been built on sustained power production across the full schedule. Thirty-one home runs in a season requires a hitter to show up at the plate night after night and do damage, and Montgomery has done exactly that against left-handed and right-handed pitching through the summer and into September.

The record-breaking 31st home run arriving in early September is significant from a sequencing standpoint as well. Montgomery is hitting this milestone with the regular season still live, which means the official franchise record he now holds is a floor, not a ceiling. Every at-bat remaining this year is an opportunity to extend the mark further.

What Comes Next

The immediate question is straightforward: how high does the number go? With the regular season still in progress as of Monday, September 7, Montgomery has the opportunity to push his total beyond 31 and put distance between his record and whatever comes next.

  • Montgomery broke the White Sox shortstop franchise home run record with his 31st of the 2026 season.
  • The milestone was reached on Monday, September 7, 2026.
  • Regular season games remain on the schedule, meaning the record total is not yet final.
  • No White Sox shortstop had previously reached this home run mark in a single season.

What Montgomery has done is put his name at the top of a franchise list that covers the entire history of the organization at shortstop. That is the kind of achievement that gets remembered. The number is 31. It belongs to Colson Montgomery. And the 2026 regular season is not finished yet.