'He's Special': Ryan Fuller Impressed After Up-Close Look At Braden Montgomery

CHICAGO –– As the White Sox director of hitting, Ryan Fuller spends time with all levels of the organization. He compared the trajectory of Braden Montgomery's first professional season to a video game, one in which he's already reached Level 3.

After posting an .886 OPS, it took Montgomery just 18 games in Single-A Kannapolis to earn his first promotion. It took a bit longer to metaphorically defeat the High-A Winston-Salem level, but he exceeded nonetheless, hitting eight home runs and slugging .445 in 69 games.

Now in Double-A Birmingham, the step up in competition hasn't deterred Montgomery, who's slashing .303/.382/.450/.832 with one home run, 10 RBIs, 12 walks and 34 strikeouts in 123 plate appearances. On Monday, Montgomery was named White Sox Minor League Player of the Month for August, as voted by a panel of Chicago-area media members.

The White Sox are seeing progress as they track Montgomery's development, with the end goal of reaching the Major Leagues –– the "final boss" in this video game comparison. Still just 22 years old, he's off to a fast start.

"Going through three levels speaks to him being competitive, dedicated to knowing the skills that scale," Fuller said. "Excited to see him continue to beat levels."

The White Sox acquired Montgomery in December as part of the Garrett Crochet trade with the Boston Red Sox, who also sent Kyle Teel, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman Gonzalez to Chicago. The Red Sox selected Montgomery with the 12th overall pick

Teel was the top-ranked prospect at the time –– ranked No. 25 by MLB Pipeline –– but Montgomery is close to catching him in that respect, now ranked No. 33 overall and No. 1 among White Sox prospects.

Fuller "got a really good look" at Montgomery, a switch-hitting outfielder, last week in Birmingham and lefe with several positive takeaways.

"He's special," 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."

"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."