Braden Montgomery's power surge arrives at High-A with first 2-HR game

Before Braden Montgomery rounded third base for Texas A&M in the first inning on June 8, 2024, his name was ballied about at the top of Draft projections. Immediately after he slid into home, that future was in question as he needed an air cast placed on his broken right ankle.

It’s been less than a calendar year and any ill long-term effects stemming from the injury have been firmly quelched. Montgomery, MLB’s No. 49 prospect, delivered his first multihomer game as a pro Tuesday in High-A Winston-Salem’s 7-5 win over Bowling Green at Truist Stadium.

Montgomery, who eventually went 12th overall to the Red Sox, firmly established himself as one of the most advanced bats in the nation for Texas A&M in 2024, crushing 27 homers to go along with an 1.187 OPS. Hitters who put up those marks often don’t miss pitches in the center of the plate, as Bowling Green right-handed starter Gary Gill Hill (TB No. 12) found out the hard way.

A blockbuster offseason trade later involving former White Sox ace Garrett Crochet and Montgomery is now Chicago’s No. 5 prospect, one who has proven to be a dynamic offensive threat in a short span.

And he’s not merely a pull-side slugger either. Entering play Tuesday, Montgomery put 40.3 percent of his balls in play to the opposite field, the exact same rate at which he had pulled pitches. So it seems fitting that his first-inning roundtripper was a frozen rope to left-center, while his tater in the third was a gargantuan tape-measure shot out to right.

Montgomery has been on an extra-base hit warpath since arriving with the Dash, collecting a double in four consecutive contests from Wednesday through Sunday. He hit his way out of Single-A after producing a 141 wRC+ with 21 hits and 19 RBIs in 18 games for Single-A Kannapolis. Through seven games at High-A, the switch-hitting 22-year-old is slashing .360/.467/.760 with 17 total bases.

The White Sox have already begun to see the fruits of the Crochet deal at the big league level: No. 8 prospect Chase Meidroth debuted on April 11 and has carved out an everyday spot when healthy. Kyle Teel (MLB’s No. 27 prospect) is a first-round selection in his own right and earned International League Player of the Week honors in late March. Wikelman González (CWS No. 17) earned a bump to Triple-A Charlotte last week and has held opposing batters to a .197 average across two levels this year without yielding a home run (18 1/3 innings).

But it's Montgomery and his tantalizing power potential that could serve as the jewel of the trade, giving the White Sox that homegrown impact bat they seek.