3 keys for the White Sox’s AL wild-card series against Houston

HOUSTON — Colson Montgomery’s pro career was just getting underway the last time the White Sox reached the postseason.

“I remember when I got drafted (in 2021), that was the last time we were in the playoffs,” the shortstop said Sunday at Rate Field. “First we were high on top of the world being in the playoffs, and then down years.

“For us, (the) second half of last year was a huge step in the right direction. We talked about that a lot. That’s what led into this year. I think Davis (Martin) or someone said we started off 6-13 (this season), and that definitely could have been a time where you’re like, ‘Well, here we go again.’ But it’s just not the mindset that we had. We all had belief and belief in ourselves.”

That belief has the Sox in an American League wild-card series against the Houston Astros beginning Tuesday at Daikin Park (4 p.m., NBCSN, Peacock).

Here are three keys to the best-of-three matchup.

1. Which star hitter will rise to the occasion?

The Sox know how dangerous the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez can be at the plate.

“You give him as much attention as you can, understanding how he can impact you,” Sox manager Will Venable said Monday, “but also knowing that offering a free base can hurt you, too, with the quality of hitters that they have behind him.”

Alvarez finished the season first in the AL in batting average (.316), tied for second in home runs (42) and second in RBIs (106).

“You think about what he did for (the) 162(-game) season. We couldn’t be in this position without him,” Astros manager Joe Espada said Monday, also noting Isaac Paredes’ season (25 home runs, 94 RBIs). “The year (Alvarez) had and what he brings to our team, having him on our side, he’s a game changer.”

The Astros had five players hit at least 20 home runs this year. The Sox have three 30-homer hitters in Munetaka Murakami (35), Miguel Vargas (33) and Montgomery (31).

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to help the team win,” Murakami said through an interpreter Monday.

Montgomery is looking forward to a reset after setting a major-league record with 227 strikeouts.

“It’s definitely something that you don’t want your name to be a part of,” he said. “But you can’t be looking at so much of the negative stuff. I’ve looked at a lot of the stuff we’ve all done this year, and me personally, and felt like it’s been a lot of positives.

“Especially right now, I feel like for me to go into the dumps about what just happened and to be so upset about it and not try to get better in the position we’re at as a team right now would be selfish. That’s where my head is at.”

2. How will both managers handle the pitching in Game 1?

Tuesday will be a battle of the bullpens.

“Depending on how some guys feel,” Venable said, “and as we are trying to match up availability with how these guys are feeling, we’ll map it out with more certainty after these guys throw (during Monday’s workout). But you can expect more of a bullpen-type game from us.”

The Sox later announced left-hander Hagen Smith will start. The Astros will counter with right-hander AJ Blubaugh.

Earlier, Espada said they were “working through” their pitching options for Tuesday.

“(It) will be a bullpen day,” he said.

As for who will follow Smith, Venable said the Sox could go in many possible ways.

“I would anticipate less of a traditional bulk guy in there, although guys who you might have seen in bulk may pitch in shorter stints,” he said. “There’s a lot on the table, but having a traditional opener followed by a three- or four-inning bulk guy is probably not how we’re going to go about it.”

3. What will be the X-factor?

Chase Meidroth rested two of the final three regular-season games as he recovered from a sore left hamstring. Venable said the second baseman is “in a really good spot.”

“We’re pretty confident that he’s going to be, maybe not 100%, but as close to a normal version of Chase as we can get right now,” Venable said.

That’s one possible X-factor.

Meidroth hit .304 (7-for-23) in the seven regular-season games against the Astros. But the Sox went 2-5 in those meetings — including losing three of four Aug. 31-Sept. 3 at Daikin Park.

“The time that we last played the Astros, not sure we were quite clicking on all cylinders there,” Venable said. “Feel a lot better about where our offense is coming into this one. At the same time, they beat us. It wasn’t like we were making a bunch of errors all over the place and giving them extra bases. Sure, there was some of that, but they just beat us because they’re a good team and they played better than us.

“We’re going to have to find a way. It starts with our pitching and trying to get some outs, especially early. Then we’re going to have to find ways to score — and I think that we’re in a better spot to do both of those things than we were the last time — but we’ll see. Astros are a really good team.”