Double-A Birmingham outfielder Braden Montgomery lined a single to left field to lead off the second inning of an Aug. 10 game against Chattanooga.
It was the beginning of a 14-game hitting streak for the top-rated prospect in the Chicago White Sox organization.
“I made it happen pitch by pitch,” Montgomery said during a video conference call last week. “Everything was coming together. Every day, I tried to take a little bit of a step forward and I was locked in and seeing the pitches I needed to see. Getting up there and not missing them.
“I feel like sometimes when days aren’t going as hot, you are missing the fastball or the ball in the middle of the plate you need to hit. I feel like in that stretch, the pitch I needed to put a good swing on, I was able to make that happen.”
Montgomery slashed .392/.492/.627 during the 14-game stretch, going 20-for-51 with 12 doubles, eight RBIs, eight walks and a 1.119 OPS.
Montgomery, 22, was locked in all August, earning Sox minor-league player of the month honors. The organization’s minor-league pitcher of the month award went to High-A Winston-Salem left-hander Christian Oppor, who had a 1.93 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 31 strikeouts over six August starts.
Chicago White Sox outfielder Braden Montgomery hits in the batting cage during spring training at Camelback Ranch on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz.(Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Montgomery likely will be unavailable for the rest of the regular season and postseason after suffering a small fracture in his right foot when he was hit by a pitch during the second inning Saturday at Chattanooga, the Sox announced on Tuesday.
Before the setback, Montgomery said that his season had been “good as of late.”
“I feel like the culmination of all the failures in the early season and leading up to that midway point, the Futures Game, kind of prepared me to be able to go into the second half and do a lot better,” Montgomery said. “A consistent process with a consistency, even in the failures in between. It’s been awesome, day by day, getting a little bit better.”
During 26 games in August, Montgomery slashed 323/.404/.490 with 13 doubles, one home run, 10 RBIs, 11 walks, 12 runs and a .894 OPS. Overall, he’s slashing .270/.360/.444 with 12 home runs and 68 RBIs in 121 games for Single-A Kannapolis, Winston-Salem and Birmingham.
“He’s special,” Sox director of hitting Ryan Fuller recently said. “It’s (like) what we talked about with (Sox shortstop) Colson (Montgomery): the damage ability, the ability to change the game with one swing. He is up there with anybody in the minor leagues right now.
“He’s going to have a really good skill set.”
The Sox acquired Braden Montgomery, who is no relation to Colson Montgomery, as part of the trade that sent pitcher Garrett Crochet to the Boston Red Sox in December. The three other players the White Sox received in the deal — catcher Kyle Teel, infielder Chase Meidroth and pitcher Wikelman González — are currently with the big-league club.
A first-round pick in 2024, Montgomery did not have the chance to play professionally last season after suffering a broken right ankle in the NCAA Super Regional with Texas A&M. He’s made up for it, playing 18 games at Kannapolis, 69 at Winston-Salem and 34 at Birmingham this year.
“That experience alone — three levels, producing at each one — you can nitpick going through, but this is a really productive player who’s going to make adjustments,” Fuller said. “And we’re going to see those three skills: obviously, damage is one, but the contact is going to improve, really good swing decisions. He’s going to be one that’s going to be really fun to watch.
“Each level it’s like a video game. You beat Kannapolis, you get to go to Winston. You beat Winston, you get to go to Birmingham. It’s obviously still a short period of time in Birmingham. Double-A baseball is a higher level obviously than those two for good reason. Him going through, we have obviously targets for him and we’re tracking him and seeing the progress. Going through three levels speaks to him being competitive, dedicated to knowing the skills that scale and excited to see him continue to beat levels.”
While his season with the Barons might be over, Montgomery is still expected to participate in the Arizona Fall League after healing.
“Just want to get some more experience and continue to build out whatever approach I believe could help prepare me for whatever is next for me going into next season,” Montgomery said of the potential AFL opportunity. “I just want to continue to keep moving the needle overall and I get to see some more really good competition as I move up these levels, seeing better and better players that I’ve never come in contact with. I’m rounding out the approach even more as I get there.
“I’m hoping to gain even more experience from that, and prepare for going into 2026.”