White Sox outfielder Braden Montgomery joined the organization after the Garrett Crochet trade and he came with a significant amount of hype. His major league debut was highly anticipated, and, to many fans, felt overdue--he was passed up for an Opening Day and didn't debut until June 9th. But he debuted in a big way, hitting a walk-off home run against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias.
BRADEN MONTGOMERY HITS A WALK-OFF HOMER IN HIS MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT! pic.twitter.com/ifxPs2t57F
— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2026
He certainly seemed ready. He had .970 OPS across 56 games before his call-up. He started the year with 27 Double-A games where he hit .313/.429/.606/1.035, and followed that with 29 in Triple-A, hitting .315/.417/.495/.912.
But, when he reached the big leagues, his production cratered. Montgomery had 365 plate appearances over 93 games with the White Sox, and he hit .226/.312/.350, resulting in a .662 OPS and an 86 OPS+ (14% below league-average). He showed flashes at times but couldn't put together sustained production.
It was a disappointing first season for a former top prospect. But despite his poor production, the Sox kept him in their everyday line-up; they played 96 games following his call-up, and Montgomery played in 93 of those. He was brought in as a substitute in six games, but he was a starter in the other 87.
And that's despite being one of baseball's worst hitters against lefties. In 103 PAs against LHPs, Montgomery hit .129/.204/.226, good for .430 OPS, with just 12 hits and 8 walks against them. For a team that's very willing to platoon players, Montgomery was given a generous runway.
He didn't really improve over time, either. I found his OPS for each month on Baseball Savant, and here are the results:
June -- .732 OPS
July -- .673 OPS
August -- .616 OPS
September -- .645 OPS
He didn't adjust with more experience, and that's troubling. But he did do some things well; his 19.7% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate were both above league average, and he didn't chase too many pitches.
Montgomery's biggest problem was just making effective contact. He had a Hard-Hit% in the 50th percentile and a Barrel% in the 19th percentile. His average exit velocity was 88.9mph, good for the 44th percentile. Minus the terrible Barrel% rate, these numbers aren't awful, but they're lower than you'd want from a power hitter.
He showed some impressive power in college, but it hasn't really come in pro ball. He hit 12 home runs in 121 minor league games last year, while smashing six in the majors this year. That was good for a .350 SLG in the big leagues. His xSLG was better (.392), but still not what you'd want.
Braden Montgomery will need to improve to keep his starting role in 2027
I understand giving Montgomery a long runway in 2026. Montgomery was tearing up Triple-A, and the Sox had been using replacement-level outfielders in right field. Even if Montgomery didn't perform much better than those players, I liked having him out there; he was a long-term part of the White Sox future, and if he was going to struggle, he might as well do it when they weren't getting much from RF anyway.
But if he's going to be in the everyday lineup next year, he'll need to improve to at least an average hitter, and hopefully an above-average one. GM Chris Getz has expressed the team's desire to upgrade in the outfield this offseason, and Montgomery's spot could be on the line.
Yes, he was a rookie, and development isn't always linear, but Tristan Peters and Sam Antonacci also just completed their rookie seasons, and they were both substantially better than Montgomery. If somebody has to get moved, or have his playing time reduced, it's hard to justify it being them.
Of the three players, Montgomery had the biggest splits between left and right handed bats (over .300 points of OPS), but a greater percentage of his PAs came against them. Drawing from Baseball Savant data, Montgomery had around 28% of his PAs against lefties, roughly league-average, while it was only about 20% for Antonacci, and Peters only had 67 PAs against lefties despite playing 156 games this year.
Montgomery is a switch-hitter, so there's technically no reason to platoon him. But if he can't lefties anyway, does it really matter what side he's batting from?
My preference is that all three of them are starters next year who play against both lefties and righties, and perform well. I don't even mind if they have splits--you improve against lefty pitchers by seeing them more.
But someone with a .662 OPS can't be in the lineup everyday, especially on a White Sox team that hopes to contend again in 2027. Montgomery has loud tools and a high-ceiling. He has impressive plate discipline, and he showed his potential in the minor leagues. But he needs to make that final jump to be a consistent major leaguer if he wants to keep getting everyday time.
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