Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery established a major league record Friday night when he struck out for the 224th time this season.
Montgomery broke the previous single-season mark of 223 set by Mark Reynolds with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009.
The record came during the fifth inning against Colorado Rockies right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano. Montgomery worked the count full before watching a 93.3 mph fastball cross the middle of the plate for strike three.
The 24-year-old had matched Reynolds’ record Thursday during Chicago’s 9-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals, a win that also secured the White Sox’s first postseason berth since 2021.
Strikeouts have been the downside of an otherwise productive power season for Montgomery.
After going 0-for-3 on Friday, he is batting .199 with 31 home runs and 87 RBIs over 151 games. He has a .285 on-base percentage and a .407 slugging percentage. His strikeout rate is 35.4%, the second-highest mark in the majors behind the 35.5% of teammate Munetaka Murakami.
Reynolds similarly offset his record-setting strikeout total with substantial power in 2009, when he belted 44 home runs and drove in 102 runs for Arizona. Reynolds had a .260 batting average and a .349 on-base percentage that year.
