Braden Montgomery has long been a tantalizing baseball prospect.
After spending his first two collegiate seasons with Stanford, Montgomery transferred to Texas A&M for his junior year. The 21-year-old has dominated the SEC this season and was selected by the Red Sox at No. 12 overall in the 2024 MLB Draft. Here's what you need to know about the Aggies' slugger.
FAST FACTS
Position: OF
Ht/Wt: 6-foot-2, 220 lbs.
B/T: Switch/right
DOB: April 26, 2003
College: Texas A&M
High school: Madison Central (Madison, Miss.)
Born: Madison, Miss.
MLB Pipeline ranking: No. 8
MLB Draft selection: No. 12 (Red Sox)
He's a switch-hitter ... who also pitches
Montgomery likely went undrafted out of high school because teams knew he had a strong commitment to Stanford -- where he attempted to both hit and pitch. Montgomery slugged 35 home runs in 126 games across two seasons with the Cardinal, and as a sophomore in 2023, he slashed .336/.461/.611 while drastically increasing his walk rate.
His time on the mound, however, didn't go quite as well. While Montgomery did strike out 47 batters in 32 2/3 innings, he also walked 32 and posted an 8.54 ERA, including 12.21 as a sophomore.
After transferring to Texas A&M, pitching was more or less put on the back burner, but he still appeared in two games for the Aggies (allowing four runs in two innings). He was drafted as an outfielder, but even there, his arm strength -- a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale -- can make an impact.
Even if Montgomery isn't on the mound much these days, he says that joining the Aggies has helped make him more well rounded at the plate, where scouting reports have pegged him as doing more damage from the left side of the plate.
¡°Something I was really excited to come to A&M and experience was, we've got a lot of lefties,¡± Montgomery told the MLB Pipeline Podcast. ¡°So in all of our inner squads, I was able to take a lot of right-handed at-bats.
¡°It was really helpful to see all those pitchers in preparation for the season. And at that time, I was in a really good spot right-handed, so I'm excited to see more of that.¡±
His power bat is for real
Power is Montgomery's true calling card, as MLB Pipeline gives him a 60 grade on MLB Pipeline's 20-80 scale. That type of pop has produced big flies measured at upwards of 450 feet, and makes him a 30-home run threat in the future as he heads toward pro ball.
For the Aggies this season, Montgomery flashed that muscle by driving the ball out of the yard to all fields. That helped him blow past the 20-homer mark for the first time in his college career and rank in the top 10 in Division I in that category with 27 on the year.
He's already hit a grand slam in a big league ballpark
Mere months after Adolis Garc¨ªa and Corey Seager hit franchise-altering home runs for the Rangers in their World Series run at Globe Life Field, Montgomery had the opportunity for his fireworks at the ballpark.
When the Aggies faced off against the Arizona State Sun Devils on March 3 at Globe Life Field, he crushed a grand slam that was the pivotal moment in a 10-5 win.
It was just the first of many big home runs -- and multiple grand slams -- this season.
He became the highest-drafted A&M position player
The highest-drafted position player in Aggies history was previously Tyler Naquin, who was selected 15th overall in the 2012 Draft by Cleveland. Montgomery surpassed that by three picks.
Montgomery also has the chance to become one of the best position players from Texas A&M. Roy McMillan, Chuck Knoblauch, Wally Moon and Davey Johnson are the only A&M players to play in more than 1,000 big league games. Those same four are the only players with 1,000 hits, while Moon and Johnson are the only two to clear 100 home runs.
It's putting a lot on a player with no professional games under his belt, but Montgomery has the chance to make Texas A&M proud.
Mississippi's latest Gatorade Player of the Year to reach the Majors?
Mississippi might not be the most notable hotbed for baseball talent, but the state has done quite well recently in producing quality big leaguers. Most notably, Montgomery is the third recent winner of Mississippi's Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year award who could make it to The Show.
Star third baseman Austin Riley of the Braves won the 2013-14 award while playing for Southaven's DeSoto High School. Tigers rookie Colt Keith, meanwhile, won the award in 2018-19 for Biloxi High School.
Montgomery took home honors in 2020-21 when he batted .479 with seven homers at the plate and a 9-0 record with a 0.74 ERA and 116 strikeouts as a pitcher for Madison Central High School.
Family history of collegiate sports
Montgomery's father Mason played one season of college football at Iowa in 1995, recording one interception as a linebacker in 10 games.
Richard Willock, Montgomery's stepfather, also played football at Iowa from 1995-97, catching 16 passes for 243 yards and scoring four touchdowns.
Montgomery's mother Gretchen Willock ran track at Iowa, while his uncle Larry played one season as a running back at Arizona State.
Montgomery bucked the family trend of college football and track, becoming a baseball star and top Draft pick instead.