Report: Montas moving up to White Sox

Frankie Montas is reportedly bringing up some serious heat to the South Side. 

The No. 2 White Sox prospect is joining the Major League club from Double-A Birmingham for its doubleheader with the Royals at home Friday, according to a tweet by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. Clubs are allowed to have a 26th player on their active roster for doubleheaders, so Montas, who was added to Chicago's 40-man roster last November, would likely fill that role for the twinbill.

The 22-year-old right-hander was acquired from the Red Sox in the deal that sent Jake Peavy to Boston and Jose Iglesias to Detroit back in July 2013 and has thrived in his first two full seasons in the White Sox system. Although he missed time due to surgery on both knees, he went 5-0 with a 1.44 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 80 strikeouts and 22 walks in 81 innings across three levels in 2014. He was sent to the Arizona Fall League to pick up some of his missed innings and posted a 3.52 ERA while fanning 19 in 23 frames for Glendale in the autumn.

This season at Double-A Birmingham, Montas is 2-1 with a 2.47 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 62 strikeouts and 29 walks in 73 innings. He threw a seven-inning no-hitter for the Barons on June 9. His performance helped him earn trips to the Southern League All-Star Game and last Sunday's All-Star Futures Game in Cincinnati. (The latter recognition was Montas' second straight invitation to represent the World at the prospect showcase. He did not play due to the knee injury last year.)

In this year's Futures Game, Montas allowed three earned runs on four hits in just 2/3 of an inning but grabbed headlines -- not to mentions "oohs" and "aahs" -- for his trademark heater. The 6-foot-2 hurler hit triple-digits three times, including on back-to-back 101 mph offerings, and threw nine of his 15 pitches at 98 mph or above. MLB.com gave his fastball a 70 grade last offseason on the 20-80 scale to go with a 60 slider and a 50 changeup.

The White Sox have yet to officially announce a post-All-Star break rotation, so there's a possibility that Montas could be making a spot start Friday. What's more likely is that he'll be used as a bullpen arm, where he could add even more heat to his fastball in a short spurt.