Thought to stand a good chance of making the Opening Day roster, the shortstop’s major league debut will have to wait.

PEORIA, Ariz. — Shortstop prospect Colson Montgomery’s major league debut will have to wait.

It won’t come on Opening Day as the White Sox’ 2021 first-round draft pick was aiming for. Or as fans, looking for something to get excited about for the future. The Sox optioned the 23-year-old to Triple-A Charlotte Tuesday along with right-handers Nick Nastrini and Owen White.

First baseman Tim Elko was reassigned to minor league camp, where the others will operate from before their regular seasons begin.

Montgomery was 1-for-9 with a home run this spring and handled shortstop without incident, but the 6-4 left-handed hitter missed 10 days of game action due to back spasms, returning Sunday to play four innings against the Reds. He was 0-for-2 with his fifth strikeout in that game.

“You make decisions like this in the best interests of Colson and the Chicago White Sox,” general manager Chris Getz told reporters Tuesday.

“Most importantly we want the front end of the year to be really productive and lock in on what he’s working on.”

On Monday, manager Will Venable said the time Montgomery missed wouldn’t hinder his chances of making the team, but the Sox aren’t convinced Montgomery will hit the ground running. Venable said to look for Montgomery in a Sox uniform this summer, maybe a wise move considering 40-man roster juggling and how cold March, April and May weather could bark at a balky back.

“This is as important an on-boarding to the big leagues as we might have and we want to just handle it the right way,’’ Venable said Tuesday.

Getz said Montgomery handled his bad-news conversation “like a pro.”

“We explained to him how important he is to the organization and the future of the White Sox,” Getz said.

“He had a hiccup with health that maybe made spring training less smooth than he would have liked, but he’s working really hard. I was impressed with his defense. He was great with the routine play. Minor league camp is in full go, he can get consistent at-bats. I look forward to watching the rest of spring play out for him. We all know he’ll be in Chicago before we know it.”

Shortstop options mentioned by Getz were Josh Rojas, Chase Meidroth and Jacob Amaya, no obvious option among them which was one reason why it looked like Montgomery’s job to lose. Rojas and Meidroth might be best suited for third base and second base, respectively. Amaya is the best fielder, but the weakest hitter.

“Someone that can handle the position, make the routine plays,” Getz said of the criteria he’s looking for. “Is a well-rounded player. The beauty of it is that we have versatility.”

But Montgomery is out of the mix. At least for now.

“It’s our duty, it’s my duty, to put our players in the best position for success and when you are talking about any young player, yeah there’s a lot of different variables,” Getz said. “Most importantly I want to make sure he’s in a very good spot offensively, defensively, baserunning, his mental space in general, before we put him in the big leagues. It’s a challenge they haven’t been faced with before.

“He’s got the makings of someone who will be able to handle that. It’s our duty to make sure that he’s ready to go from Day 1.”

Montgomery was unavailable for comment but was expected to talk Wednesday.

With the moves, the Sox have 54 players left in camp, including 15 infielders.