Braden Montgomery collects two hits in extra-inning loss

It’s not a bad idea to give the 23-year-old rookie a night off with star southpaw Tarik Skubal toeing the slab for the Tigers. Montgomery has hit just .194 (6-for-31) with a homer, four RBI and a 10/1 K/BB ratio over 32 plate appearances in his first eight games with the White Sox. Junior Perez will start in his place in right field and bat sixth for the White Sox on Friday evening in Motown.

It was always going to be difficult for Montgomery to follow up his magic debut from Tuesday where he hit a walk-off home run. He did a decent job though with two doubles – each hit at least 98 mph – and the first of which came off Chris Sale. He looks like an exciting young player who could hit his way into a big league role for the foreseeable future.

Montgomery also had an RBI single in the fourth, but obviously that’s not the headline. The 23-year-old came to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the tenth and the White Sox trailing by one, and he connected on his first MLB roundtripper to give Chicago the walk-off win. Montgomery is one of the best outfield prospects in the sport, and while fantasy managers have to be prepared for ups and downs from the outfielder in his rookie campaign, the talent is obvious. He’s absolutely worthy of roster consideration right now.

Montgomery will be making his MLB debut Tuesday against the Braves. The 12th pick of the 2023 draft, Montgomery was acquired in the Garret Crochet blockbuster, and the 23-year-old has a chance to be a contributor in several fantasy categories. He’s worth roster consideration for those who need the outfield help.

Matt Snyder of CBS Sports was the first to report the promotion, and it’s since been confirmed by every White Sox writer since. Montgomery is the 31st-ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, and the 23-year-old hit .313/.429/.606 in 27 games at Double-A this season with six home runs and two steals before getting promoted to Triple-A, where he has hit .315/.417/.495 with four home runs, 32 runs scored, 19 RBI, and three steals in 29 games. He’s not on the 40-man roster, so the White Sox will need to make a few roster moves to call him up, but Montgomery could be added over guys like Henry Bolte and Ryan Waldschmidt if he were to be called up.

Montgomery is the 31st-ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, and came to the White Sox from the Red Sox as part of the Garrett Crochet trade. The 23-year-old is hitting .313/.429/.606 in 27 games at Double-A this season with six home runs and two steals. He also has 32 strikeouts, which is a bit more than you’d like to see, but 21 walks will also help to counteract that a little bit. Montgomery is an advanced prospect and could debut for the White Sox towards the end of the season.

Montgomery has his first homer of the spring, and that’s already the second triple for one of the top hitting prospects in the Chicago system. There’s a chance that the 12th pick of the 2024 draft could join the White Sox in 2026, but a 2027 debut seems a little more realistic.

McGonigle has been sizzling-hot in the desert recently, batting .462 (6-for-13) with three homers and seven RBI over his last three games. The 21-year-old prodigy is batting .385/.494/.754 with five round-trippers and three steals across 17 games this fall. He’ll enter next season as one of the top prospects in the fantasy landscape and should reach Detroit at some point soon. Here’s the full lineup: McGonigle (SS), Braden Montgomery (CF), Max Anderson (3B), Jonny Farmelo (LF), Blake Mitchell (C), Tommy White (1B), Sam Antonacci (2B), Raudi Rodriguez (DH), Enrique Bradfield Jr. (RF) and Luis De Leon (P).

Montgomery is continuing to recover from a small fracture in his right foot that he suffered when he was hit by a pitch in early September while playing for Double-A Birmingham. The 22-year-old top prospect came over from the Red Sox in last offseason’s Garrett Crochet blockbuster and finished his professional debut batting .270/.360/.444 with 12 homers and 14 steals over 121 games across three levels in Chicago’s system. He’s a top-10 range outfield prospect and a surefire top 50 overall prospect for dynasty purposes heading into next season.

Montgomery was hurt when he was hit by a pitch Saturday. The White Sox are hoping he’ll still be able to play in the Arizona Fall League next month. The 2024 first-round pick finishes his first minor league season at .270/.360/.444 with 12 homers and 14 steals in 121 games between three levels.