Braden Montgomery Makes Impressive Return From Injury In Arizona Fall League

White Sox front office intrigued by Montgomery's progress

After acquiring him in December from the Boston Red Sox as part of the Garrett Crochet trade, the White Sox saw Montgomery make a rapid climb through the minor leagues. He played just 18 games with Single-A Kannapolis before earning a promotion to High-A Winston-Salem, where, after 69 games, he proved worthy of a second promotion to Double-A Birmingham.

Montgomery's numbers were fairly even across all three levels. He hit for the highest average in Single-A at .304, then displayed the most power in High-A with eight home runs. And with a .780 OPS in his first 34 games in Double-A, it made for a promising campaign.

Montgomery finished the year slashing .270/.360/.444/.804 with 12 home runs, 34 doubles, 68 RBIs, 14 stolen bases, 57 walks and 130 strikeouts across 517 plate appearances between the three levels.

White Sox director of development Paul Janish said they're looking for Montgomery to improve some of his swing decisions, but they also saw him make strides defensively and as a baserunner.

"This was a pretty dang good first full season," White Sox in September. "We all know that the potential –– the thing that sticks out about Braden even after knowing him for a year now in the house, so to speak, is just the work ethic, right. It's crazy how much he wants to be good."

"I joke about some of the guys that I had the opportunity to play with, you run across a lot of guys who were good on accident kind of thing, but I didn't run across any that were great on accident. And Braden's got that kind of makeup, right. He's got the ability."

With more performances like Tuesday's in the Arizona Fall League, plus a strong offseason and Spring Training, Montgomery could have a chance to contribute to the White Sox at some point next season.

"Yeah, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility," general manager Chris Getz said in September. "He carried an .800 OPS in his first full season, also coming to a new organization. Another guy we know is going to have a really good offseason, we’ll see how it looks come spring training next year. I can see him contributing at some point next year."