A New Dawn on the South Side: The White Sox Are Mashing Again

The South Side Is Slugging Again — and the Young Guys Are Doing It

For a few long, quiet years, the only thing flying out of Rate Field was patience. That's over. The 2026 Chicago White Sox have hit 110 home runs, the second-most in all of baseball — more than the Dodgers, more than the Astros, behind only the Yankees. A rebuild that felt like it would never end has turned into the most fun the South Side has had since the 2021 club ran away with the division. At 41-38, they're back on top of the AL Central, and they're getting there by doing the one thing that travels in any ballpark: putting the ball over the wall.

The wild part is who's doing it. This isn't a veteran-heavy roster grinding out a contender season. It's a lineup of young guys — and two of them happen to share a last name.

Two Montgomerys, One Murakami, a Whole Lot of Thump

Start with Colson Montgomery, the shortstop who has quietly become one of the scariest young power bats in the sport. He's got 20 home runs and 46 RBI already this season, but the number that really lands is the long view: since his big-league debut on July 22, 2025, only Kyle Schwarber has hit more homers than Colson in all of baseball — Schwarber 53, Montgomery 41. That's the entirety of his career, and it ranks second in the majors over that span. He reached his 40th career homer in just 140 games, the fastest any player has gotten there in White Sox history — and per MLB Network, his 41st came in 141 games, the fifth-fewest games to 41 career home runs in MLB history. The only names ahead of him are Mark McGwire (122), Pete Alonso (128), Rudy York (132), and Gary Sanchez (140); right behind him sit Aaron Judge and Nick Kurtz (142). That's the company this guy is keeping.

Then there's Munetaka Murakami, who matched Colson with 20 homers of his own and a .938 OPS in just 57 games before a hamstring sent him to the 10-day IL in late May. Here's the encouraging part: the Sox stayed second in baseball in home runs without him for a month, and he's due back any day now (projected June 29). Get his bat back in the middle of this order and the math gets ugly for opposing pitchers.

Where They Stack Up

Two of these guys are tied for sixth in the entire major leagues in home runs — and the table tells the story better than any sentence can. Here's the MLB leaderboard:

Two White Sox in the top six. And as a team, only one club in baseball has hit more bombs:

That's the credential. This isn't a hot week — it's the second-best power output in the sport, and it's being put up by a roster that's just getting started.

And for pure fun, meet the other Montgomery — Braden Montgomery, no relation, a switch-hitting outfielder who's already made the kind of first impression you don't forget.

The Debut Nobody Will Forget

If you want the single moment that captures the new energy, go back to June 9 against the Atlanta Braves. Braden Montgomery is making his MLB debut. It's the bottom of the 10th, two outs, the Sox down 5-4, season on the line in the at-bat. And the rookie does this, per the game log: "Braden Montgomery homers to left field. Andrew Benintendi scores." Walk-off. Final 6-5.

A two-run, two-out, extra-innings walk-off home run in his first big-league game. He'd already singled home a run earlier in that debut, finishing 2-for-5 with three RBI. You don't script that. Through 14 games he's hitting .250 with a couple of homers, but that one swing told you everything about the fearlessness running through this clubhouse.

Tied for First, and the Best Bat Is Still Coming

The standings are as tight as it gets — the Sox sit first in the AL Central, dead even with Cleveland, both clubs at the top of the division. That's the kind of race that makes June baseball matter again on the South Side.

And remember: they're tied for first while their leading slugger heals up. Murakami's 20 homers and .938 OPS were banked before the hamstring; he's not raking right now, he's rehabbing. The fact that Chicago held its second-in-baseball home run pace without him says more about the depth of this lineup than any single hot streak could. When he's back in the order next to Colson Montgomery, the heart of this batting order is two 20-homer bats — and one of them is 26 and the other just turned the corner from prospect to problem.

Why the Collector Should Care

There's a specific kind of joy in holding the card of a player before everyone else knows — and on RallyTabs, that joy pays. Every home run a card's player hits is worth $50 back to you. Do the quick math on the two bats anchoring this lineup: Colson Montgomery's 20 homers and Munetaka Murakami's 20 homers each turn a card into a $1,000 season — and it's only late June, with Murakami about to come off the IL and pick up where he left off.

Then there's the Braden Montgomery card. Grabbing one right now is the baseball-card version of buying Apple stock in the '90s — you're getting in on a 21-year-old who walked off his own MLB debut, before the rest of the league catches up to what the White Sox already know. Colson chasing Schwarber for the most homers in baseball since last July. A second Montgomery, no relation, already a folk hero. A Japanese star matching the homegrown shortstop bomb-for-bomb. This is a young White Sox team with a real future and a lot to be excited about — and the best version of it hasn't even taken the field together yet. New dawn on the South Side. Good time to be holding the cards.