For a 23-year-old who only spent one full season in the minors, White Sox rookie right fielder Braden Montgomery is holding his own.
He’s an above-average defender at a spot that’s been a revolving door for the franchise for over a decade, highlighted by his howitzer of a throwing arm which provided a key outfield assist in Wednesday’s Sox victory at Wrigley Field. Scouts worried about the swing-and-miss in Montgomery’s game as a prospect, but his strikeout rate (22.3%) is almost league average and his pitch selection is an early strength. Switch-hitters like Montgomery are always developing two different swings and his right-handed cut isn’t producing yet (.554 OPS), but it worked fine for a game-breaking two-run double in the Crosstown finale.
“He’s figuring this out and we’re just trying to win a baseball game, he’s doing everything he can to contribute to do that,” said manager Will Venable. “But I think there’s a version of him which is exciting, in which he’s going to be pulling the ball hard in the air, and doing some damage.”
Venable used the word “cerebral” to describe the young outfielder in spring, and Montgomery agreed it fits. As such, he’s plenty aware of the duality of his current state. Montgomery is a productive starter on a playoff hopeful Sox team, and his .265/.349/.400 line swinging as a lefty has him batting middle of the order against opposing right-handed starters. Simultaneously, four home runs in 60 games does not reflect the power potential offered by his quick hands and NFL free safety-like build.
“I’m just trying to find the balance of doing everything now that I can and focusing on that,” Montgomery told the Sun-Times. “How to win the games in the moment, while also not being satisfied with where I’m currently at and using my training to take those steps forward and try to get to where I want to be.”
Montgomery discusses tweaks to his swing as mere pit stops on a never-ending road of self-improvement, rarely romanticizing any one adjustment. But he’s noticeably more upright in his stance these days, a move aimed at allowing Montgomery more space to explode forward in his stride.
Sox hitting coaches see Montgomery’s 59.9% ground ball rate, which would lead MLB if he had enough plate appearances to qualify, as a product of not catching pitches out in front. They view MLB’s Statcast measuring his bat speed out as a below-average 69.6 mph as evidence that his readily apparent physical gifts have yet to be maximized.
They also see it as par for the course.
“It’s not just [velocity], it’s [pitchers releasing the ball with] seven feet of extension [from the pitching rubber],” said Sox hitting director Ryan Fuller. “They just do not see that in the minor leagues. For Braden and all the guys, when you’re able to hit the ball hard on a line in the air, you’re catching it in a good contact point. His contact points when he’s a little bit late, get a little bit too deep. Once he understands ‘This is when I need to start my swing, it was never that early in the minor leagues, but I’m going to have to make the adjustment to start even earlier,’ he’s going to be able to get to those spots and hit really productive balls.”
In managing to provide roughly average offense and good right field defense as a rookie, Montgomery is a little like the 2026 White Sox; not bad at all, but more exciting for what it implies about better days ahead. Such is his potential, the Sox would probably keep playing him even if he were actively struggling. Such is Montgomery’s nature that few traces of satisfaction are evident.
“With a game like baseball, every day is a clean slate,” Montgomery said. “You just let things be as they are, and that’s when subconscious changes happen and bad habits set in.”