2 The Bigs

By Sal Corso: May 13th, 2025

It’s been awhile since we’ve done a prospect profile. But this kid has been tearing it up, and I felt the need to dive deeper into him & his performance. I’m sure you remember this winter when Garrett Crochet was dealt from one Sox team (White) to the other (Red). My first instinct when I saw the deal was “Wow, the Red Sox didn’t even give up one of the big name prospects”. Of course, I was referring to Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Meyer. However, that can be true AND what also can be true is that the White Sox got a haul for the potential Cy Young pitcher.

The White Sox ended up with a package of: C Kyle Teel, INF Chase Meidroth (BOS No. 11 prospect), Wikelman Gonzalez and….OF Braden Montgomery.

I’ve liked Teel, and was very stern on the White Sox bringing him up early. Here was my bold prediction for Teel in 2025 before Edgar Quero ended up getting the call to catch instead:

Chase Meidroth is now a starting middle-infielder utility type for the White Sox who’s making an impact at a young age.

And finally, there’s Braden Montgomery. Braden was the 12th overall pick in the 2024 draft. A switch hitter who spent three years in college between Stanford and Texas A&M. Montgomery is one of those unique high-average, high-strikeout guys. And that’s because his contact is top tier. The 32% hard-hit rate is top-15 across A+ batters with at least 100 plate appearances. The .980 OPS is 3rd amongst that same class and top-20 across all levels of minor league baseball.

His power tool was never really a question. With those hard-hit rates, he also does a great job of getting loft on the ball. He gets about 60% of his contact in the air, which has led to 6 HR in 30 games, along with 10 doubles (which is also top-10 across A/A+ ball). Fangraphs calls him a “toolsy switch hitter with a ton of raw power and a potentially problematic strikeout rate”. Well he’s keeping that K-rate at a solid level, right at that 20% mark. Given he’s a 3-year collegiate hitter in High-A, we’d like to see that down a bit more. However, with the way he’s hitting (.342/.425/.595), he’ll likely have a chance to work on that at the Double-A level soon.

For a strong, high-power, 6-foot-2 bat – he’s not very pull heavy, see below.

And what’s more impressive, is that he’s maintained a 1.000+ OPS from both sides of the plate at High-A. However, he’s about 30% stronger (in terms of OPS) as a right-handed batter so far. That’s ironic, because out of college he was so much more effective as a lefty that he almost gave up hitting from the right side as a whole.

He’s got a tight, quick swing (as shown above). One I think will transition well to the upper levels. So much so, I think his K-rate will drop as he’s fairly disciplined at the plate. The Sox just need to work on getting his contact up on pitches in the zone.

Overall, Braden is a strong switch-hitter who can hit for average and will be a threat anytime he puts the ball in play. The ceiling is there, so is the floor. As a 22-year-old who just made his pro debut and was recently called up to High-A, the biggest question will be the jump to AA. If the K-rate doesn’t jump with him, I’m buying Braden stock all day. I’m going to give him a high All-Star caliber Upside Score (79), but will keep that likeliness at LOW until he proves that contact ability in AA. If he does, he can be a sure-fire fast riser among ours, and others prospect rankings.

Braden Montgomery (79) [LOW]