Braden Montgomery wasted no time making his presence felt, launching a three-run homer in his Double-A debut as the White Sox’s top prospect looks to fast-track his way to Chicago.
The Birmingham Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, have won back-to-back Southern League championships.
They kicked off the 2026 season on Friday night looking to make it three in a row, and they’ll have some of the top prospects in the organization helping them chase that goal.
Outfielder Braden Montgomery is one of the most exciting names to watch in Birmingham this season. The 12th overall pick by the Boston Red Sox in the 2024 MLB Draft is currently the No. 1 prospect in the White Sox organization and ranked No. 33 in all of baseball.
Montgomery spent 34 games in Birmingham last season, playing at three different levels of minor league baseball in total, and continued to show why he’s such a highly regarded prospect. He's a do-it-all outfielder with developing tools that could make him one of the more valuable players on a big league roster.
He's a switch hitter with solid on-base skills, strong bat-to-ball ability, and developing power. He can drive the ball to all fields and runs well enough to swipe the occasional base.
And given how dire the White Sox outfield situation looks to be right now, there’s even more excitement than usual surrounding Montgomery’s development—and the possibility of his arrival in the major leagues at some point during the 2026 season.
White Sox fans want him called up. But before that happens, Montgomery will need to prove he’s ready. 2026 is big season for him to mature his game.
Friday night's season opener was a really strong first step.
Montgomery opened the season by going 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs, and a walk. After tallying 50 extra-base hits in his first professional season, he wasted no time making an impact, launching a three-run homer to give the Barons an early lead.
One of the biggest areas I’d like to see Montgomery improve this season is turning some of those hard-hit doubles into home runs. If he can optimize his launch angle, there’s legitimate 25 or 30 home run power here. It's one of the reasons he was such an attractive draft prospect out of Texas A&M.
A big season in the minors, and potentially even an impact at the MLB level later this year, could allow Montgomery to change the trajectory of the White Sox rebuild and give the fanbase something to rally around sooner rather than later.
It’s a great sign to see him making that kind of impact right out of the gate.