Chicago White Sox Top Prospect Placed On Injured List

Chicago White Sox No. 1 prospect Braden Montgomery suffered a small fracture in his right foot when hit by pitch on Saturday in Chattanooga, Tenn. during his first at-bat in the second inning while playing for the Double-A Birmingham Barons.

The outfielder is likely to miss the rest of the regular season and postseason, but he's still expected to participate in the Arizona Fall League when healed, according to the team. He was placed on the seven-day injured list Monday.

The White Sox acquired Montgomery –– as well as Kyle Teel, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman Gonzalez –– in a December trade with the Boston Red Sox for ace pitcher Garrett Crochet. At No. 25 overall by MLB Pipeline, Teel was the highest-rated prospect at the time of the trade, and he's had a productive rookie season, slashing .286/.386/.427/.813.

But by the time he reaches the big leagues, Montgomery could push to be considered an even better prospect by some. Now at the tail end of his first professional season, the outfielder is ranked No. 32 overall and No. 1 among White Sox prospects, per MLB Pipeline.

After posting an .886 OPS, it took Montgomery just 18 games in Single-A Kannapolis to earn his first promotion. At High-A Winston-Salem, hitting eight home runs and slugging .445 in 69 games led to a second promotion.

Prior to his injury, Montgomery slashed .272/.364/.416/.780 with one home run, 13 doubles, 11 RBIs, three stolen bases,15 walks and 41 strikeouts.

"He's special," White Sox director of hitting Ryan Fuller said. "It's what we talked about with Colson [Montgomery]: the damage ability, the ability to change the game with one swing. He is up there with anybody in the minor leagues right now. He's going to have a really good skill set. This is his first year of professional baseball, we can't forget that. He's jumped through Kannapolis, Winston. He's in Birmingham, they're going to try to win a championship here in the next couple of weeks."

"That experience alone –– three levels, producing at each one –– you can nitpick going through, but this is a really productive player who's going to make adjustments. And we're going to see those three skills: obviously, damage is one, but the contact is going to improve, really good swing decisions. He's going to be one that's going to be really fun to watch."