A day after the Chicago White Sox general manager predicted Montgomery is going to make his major league debut this year, the 6-foot-3 shortstop sounded as if he was ready to go.

“Him saying that, it just kind of gives me a little more motivation and confidence,” Montgomery said Friday. “But at the end of the day, it´s not going to be given, so I got to go out there and I got to earn it.”

Montgomery is going to get every opportunity to do just that. He might be the most closely watched player for Chicago when the team begins spring training in Arizona next month.

Picking up the pieces after a 41-121 season – the worst record in modern major league history – the White Sox have an opening at shortstop, and putting the homegrown Montgomery in the lineup on opening day would be a nice moment for a rebuilding franchise counting on its player development staff to make the most of its suddenly rich farm system.

But Getz is ready if Montgomery needs more time in the minors. Josh Rojas could step in after signing a $3.5 million, one-year contract in January, and the White Sox also have Chase Meidroth and Brooks Baldwin.

“Everyone here is hungry and everything like that,” said Montgomery, who turns 23 on Feb. 27.

Meidroth was acquired in the Garrett Crochet trade with the Boston Red Sox in December. The 23-year-old Meidroth, a fourth-round pick in the 2022 amateur draft, hit .293 with seven homers and 57 RBIs in 122 games for Triple-A Worcester last year.

Asked about his playing style, Meidroth described himself as “always the underdog.”

“I´m going to scrap my way every day and I´m going to come and bring energy,” he said, “and I play the game where my jersey´s usually the dirtiest one on the field after every game.”

Montgomery has been one of Chicago’s top prospects since he was selected by the team in the first round of the 2021 draft out of an Indiana high school.

He appeared to be on his way to a big league debut last season, but he had a tough year with Triple-A Charlotte. He batted .214 with 18 homers and 63 RBIs, striking out 164 times in 130 games.

“It was definitely the first time I´ve ever kind of struggled a little bit,” Montgomery said ahead of the team’s winter fan festival. “But I mean I look back and I said I was happy I kind of went through that all because it´s not like I´m going to be perfect my whole life and my whole career.”

Montgomery felt he got too wrapped up in the possibility of joining the White Sox.

“It kind of took me away of just being in the moment and worrying about 7 o’clock in Charlotte when I needed to play,” he said. “So I felt like I kind of learned a lot about that, that one day at a time in this game is very important.”

After the season was over, Montgomery went to the Arizona Fall League for the second time. He hit .313 with three homers and 11 RBIs in 11 games with the Glendale Desert Dogs.

Montgomery, who was added to Chicago’s 40-man roster in November, said he used an attacking approach at the plate in the AFL that worked out well for him.

“It was just a little bit more of a mindset change for me. … I had to put a lot of pride and ego aside, going back again. But, in the end, I think it was a really good decision,” he said.