Braden Montgomery courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics

2024 MLB Draft Profile: Braden Montgomery (OF)

By / / 2024 MLB Draft, Minors

NAME: Braden Montgomery
SCHOOL: Texas A&M University
POSITION: OF
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6-2/220 Pounds
B/T: S/R
D.O.B: 4/26/2003

Scouting Report

Coming out high school, Braden Montgomery went undrafted due to a Stanford commitment and has now put himself firmly into top 10 consideration in the 2024 MLB Draft. Unfortunately, he suffered a broken ankle in the early rounds of the College World Series tournament which has taken away some of the hype surrounding him leading up to the draft. However, it has been revealed that it’s a clean break and he already underwent successful surgery on the ankle.

Montgomery entered college as a potential two-way player after dominating the Mississippi high school circuit, but clearly became an outfielder once arriving at Stanford. He tapped into his power on another level in his first two collegiate seasons with Stanford which allowed him to transfer to Texas A&M for his third and final college season. The switch-hitting outfielder turned in a dominant season in his sole year playing in the SEC as he homered 27 times after doing so a combined 35 times in two years at Stanford.

He finished this past season with a slash line of .322/.454/.733 as he remained one of the most consistent hitters throughout the 2024 season. As strong athletic player with ample power, Montgomery profiles perfectly in right field with a 70-grade arm without quite the speed to play in center field. With chase rates still being a tad higher than ideal, he’s a power-over-hit type of player but has improved his discipline year-by-year in college. He walked just 18 times his freshman year but finished this year with 53 walks and only 59 strikeouts while maintaining elite offensive output.

Throughout his young career, Montgomery has succeeded more from the left side of the plate but his ability to hit at a high-level from both sides should benefit him at the professional level. He enters the 2024 MLB Draft as the eighth ranked draft prospect by MLB Pipeline and the fifth ranked by Baseball America which puts him firmly in play for Chicago at the 5th overall pick.

Why Would The White Sox Draft Braden Montgomery?

When examining the rapidly-improving farm system in Chicago, it has become clear that the pitching depth is significantly ahead of the hitting at this current time. While some hitters have taken steps forward this season, the fifth overall selection feels highly likely to be used on a bat given the circumstances. Furthermore, the future of the infield is currently much clearer for the White Sox as well with recent first round picks Colson Montgomery and Jacob Gonzales among others on the way soon. The outfield beyond Luis Robert, who could end up being traded in the near future, is a lot less fleshed out than other aspects of the future roster.

As an advanced collegiate hitter, Montgomery would potentially be able to rise through Minor League Baseball quickly and potentially reach the MLB level by 2026. He would instantly become the top-ranked outfield prospect in the farm system and one of the most intriguing hitters that fits the timeline of many core prospects.

Draft
Mike Shirley via White Sox Zoom

While Montgomery would seemingly be around appropriate value at the fifth pick, the recent injury could lead to him being a potential under slot at the White Sox pick if they were to go this direction. The slot value for the first round selection is $7,763,700 and the White Sox will likely to try stay under that and save money for high upside players in subsequent rounds.

The organization has been inclined to go after projectable high school players in recent years under Mike Shirley, but they went with Gonzalez last year and could go the college route again with Montgomery if he’s willing to take under the slot value as he works his way back from surgery.

Mock Draft Outcomes

In our FutureSox Mock Draft 2.0, James Fox projected Montgomery to be taken ninth overall by the Pirates. Projections for Montgomery do vary some but most have him within the top 10 picks in the draft. He’s as high as fourth overall in MLB Pipeline’s latest mock draft by Jonathan Mayo. The other MLB Pipeline mock from Jim Callis also featured Montgomery heading to the A’s with the fourth pick. In ESPN’s mock draft by Kiley McDaniel, he’s projected to go sixth overall to the in-division Royals who also lack projectable outfield prospects. He was also mocked to the Royals with the sixth pick in Aram Leighton’s mock draft for Just Baseball.

Video courtesy of Prospect’s Live

Most publications have him in the four-to-eight range which means he’ll definitely be in consideration for the White Sox pick, although current indications make it seem more likely that the organization will go the high school route with a potentially cheaper option.