HOUSTON — The White Sox have announced their lineup for Game 1 of their Wild Card Series against the Houston Astros, and it resembles manager Will Venable’s typical attack plan against right-handed starters.
SP Hagen Smith
Right-hander AJ Blubaugh will start things off for an Astros bullpen game, and the Sox have pushed their left-handed hitters to the top of the lineup in response. It's the bottom-third of the order where the Sox are prepared to pivot. Chase Meidroth, one of the best hitters in MLB against left-handed pitching this year, is pushed to eighth to avoid Blubaugh as long as possible. If the Astros bring in a left-handed pitcher by the time Braden Montgomery's spot comes up, Venable has indicated he will likely pinch-hit with options like Randal Grichuk, Tommy Pham or Brenton Doyle.
The most notable change to Sox lineup tendencies would be the placement of Colson Montgomery. For the first time in all of 2026, Montgomery is batting ninth.
"I don't care where I'm at, as long as I'm in the lineup," Montgomery said. "Being in the lineup, that gives me the confidence that that's where they want me to be, and I'm okay with it."
It’s surprising in the sense that Montgomery clocked 31 home runs as a 24-year-old in his first full season and is often lauded as a central member of the White Sox position player core. It’s also not surprising because Montgomery hit .099/.215/.210 in September with a 45.2% strikeout rate.
"It's a choice on how you view Colson," Venable said. "You can view the fact that he now leads the league all-time in [single-season] strikeouts, or that he hit 31 homers from the shortstop position, which I'm pretty sure leads Major League Baseball, and has done incredible things to help our team get to this point."
Smith is kicking off a bullpen game for the Sox pitching staff, and is unlikely to work beyond two-to-three innings at a maximum. Setting up unfavorable matchups for lefty slugger and American League Most Valuable Player candidate Yordan Alvarez is a priority for the White Sox, and Venable said there are some situations in which he will be intentionally walked.
"I don't think that there's one way to go about attacking him or not attacking him," Venable said. "He's a real problem in the middle of a really good lineup and we'll deal with it the best we can."
Sean Burke is not officially the Game 2 starter yet, but Venable said if he doesn't start, he will have a "significant" pitching role. He won't be part of the bullpen game plan in Game 1.
"I'll kind of be that only cheerleader in the dugout for our pitchers," Burke said.
