Braden Montgomery, the White Sox’ top prospect, suffered a small fracture in his right foot when he was hit by pitch Saturday in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and likely will miss the rest of the season for Double-A Birmingham.
The Sox said Montgomery still is expected to play in the Arizona Fall League when he’s healed. Montgomery suffered a broken right ankle in 2024 when he was playing for Texas A&M in their Super Regional series against Oregon.
Montgomery, whom the Sox acquired from the Red Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade, has had a stellar season. His success at Single-A Kannapolis led to a promotion to Birmingham, where he continued to impress, batting .272/.464/.416 in 34 games. Montgomery said he wanted to play in the AFL to prepare for spring training next season.
‘‘[I] 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,’’ he said. ‘‘I just want to continue to keep moving the needle overall, and I get to see some more really good competition as I’m [moving] up these levels.’’
Comeback falls short
Mild-mannered Sox manager Will Venable doesn’t get irate often. But he was fed up with plate umpire Vic Carapazza in the sixth inning Tuesday after he called a second strike on Lenyn Sosa despite Statcast showing the pitch should have been a ball.
Venable voiced his displeasure, leading to the third ejection of his managerial career.
‘‘There was some frustration building on our side [and] probably on their side, too,’’ Venable said. ‘‘Just one of those nights.’’
The Sox’ comeback attempt came up short after Tristan Gray hit a solo home run in the seventh to break a tie in the Rays’ 5-4 victory.
Right-hander Adrian Houser, whom the Sox dealt to the Rays at the trade deadline, allowed three earned runs and four hits and struck out nine in 5„ innings against his former team.
Venable thought the offense’s performance — failing to draw a walk and striking out 13 times — was more of a one-off and said he wasn’t too concerned.
‘‘Gotta give Adrian some credit,’’ Venable said. ‘‘We’ve obviously seen him here and what he’s been able to do. [Houser] found some spots in the zone that he could attack and made it really tough on us.’’
Draft picks visit Rate Field
In addition to playing shortstop, rookie Colson Montgomery has served as the Sox’ unofficial host.
He reached out to draft picks Billy Carlson (No. 10) and Jaden Fauske (No. 44) when they were drafted in July, and Carlson said Montgomery told him, ‘‘I’m here when you need me,’’ which was reassuring.
Montgomery has taken it upon himself to be a leader for the players in the minors.
‘‘Talking to Colson, he said he remembered being in our shoes when he was doing this tour after he was drafted,’’ Fauske said. ‘‘Hopefully, in a couple of years, we’re in the same spot, talking to the new guys who just got drafted.’’
Fauske and Carlson are playing in the bridge league, which serves as extended spring training for minor-leaguers in Arizona.