White Sox vs. Braves Lineup: Colson Montgomery Sits with Injury, A Huge Debut
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The Chicago White Sox, after an off-day and series loss, will look to get back in the win column on Tuesday against the MLB-best Atlanta Braves. They will do so, however, with a questionable lineup.
Game Info
Who: Chicago White Sox (34-31) vs. Atlanta Braves (45-21)
Where: Rate Field
When: 6:40 CT
Watch: CHSN
Listen: ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM, 107.9 La Ley
Chicago White Sox Lineup
1. Sam Antonacci, LF
2. Miguel Vargas, 3B
3. Andrew Benintendi, DH
4. Jacob Gonzalez, 1B
5. Chase Meidroth, 2B
6. Braden Montgomery, RF
7. Tristan Peters, CF
8. Luisangel Acuña, SS
9. Drew Romo, C
Will Venable is putting out a lefty-heavy lineup against right-hander Grant Holmes. As usual, the White Sox put Antonacci leading off, who has been terrific against righties.
Vargas and Benintendi will follow. Colson Montgomery will get an off-day due to some back tightness, according to James Fagen. It sounds like the expectation is that he will be back on the field tomorrow and that sitting this opener is more precautionary.
Nevertheless, where this lineup goes a bit sideways is putting Gonzalez in the cleanup spot. I understand that when Colson is out of the lineup, the power will be lacking with Munetaka Murakami already injured. Still, putting a guy with 20 career at-bats in the cleanup spot is pretty rare. While Gonzalez is slashing .333/.412/.533 against right-handed pitching in a small sample size, it just feels premature to put him in that position.
Braden Montgomery will make his MLB debut today, playing right field. The switch-hitter has been raking in the minor leagues and will finally get his chance to shine and play every day in the major leagues. We had more thoughts on his big-time call-up earlier today.
Acuña at shortstop against a right-hander is also surprising, but he might as well be the only other option when Colson is out of the lineup.
Atlanta Braves Lineup
1. Ronald Acuña Jr., RF
2. Michael Harris II, CF
3. Matt Olson, 1B
4. Ozzie Albies, 2B
5. Mauricio Dubón, SS
6. Dominic Smith, DH
7. Austin Riley, 3B
8. Mike Yastrzemski, LF
9. Austin Wynns, C
The Acuña brothers will face off for the first time with Luisangel in a Chicago uniform.
After that, it's a pretty similar lineup to the norm with the Braves. In this matchup, watch out for the elder Acuña, who has hit three career home runs against White Sox starter Erick Fedde. Riley is also a name to watch, who has hit .364 in 22 at-bats against Fedde.
On the Mound...
White Sox - Erick Fedde
Fedde will start today after five shutout innings on June 3. He has a 4.94 ERA in 58.1 innings this season.
Fedde's splits have been very lopsided. Against left-handers, the righty has a .648 OPS allowed. Against right-handers, he has allowed a .946 OPS with 11 home runs. Look for the heavy-hitting righties like Acuña and Riley to make Fedde's outing somewhat difficult.
Braves - Grant Holmes
Holmes has had a solid start to the 2026 season. In 12 games (63 innings), he's pitched to a 3.86 ERA with 57 strikeouts.
However, free passes have been an issue for Holmes with 27 walks on the season. This has contributed to a mediocre 4.17 ERA over his last seven starts. If the White Sox are going to get to any pitcher this series, it will be Holmes, who has struggled with his control.
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Matthew Singer is a contributor for White Sox on SI. Before joining SI in 2026, he worked for Heavy as an MLB contributor and Cubs on SI. Singer has a master's degree in sports journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He loves sports more than anything in the world.