It was a magical Tuesday night in the Southside for the Chicago White Sox and rookie outfielder Braden Montgomery. Making his MLB debut, Montgomery wrapped up the game with a walk-off home run to send the Atlanta Braves home as losers.
The home run itself would not be the first hit of Montgomery’s young career. It would be the first home run, though, and it came at the most important possible time.
For Montgomery, this was more than his first career home run. It was even more than just that for the White Sox themselves. This home run added Montgomery to an exclusive list of players who have hit home runs in their debuts.
Only five players have ever accomplished this feat. That includes Montgomery. Per Sarah Langs, the other four are Billy Parker in 1971 for the California Angels, Josh Bard in 2002 for the Cleveland Indians, Miguel Cabrera in 2003 for the Florida Marlins, and Carlos Perez in 2015 for the Los Angeles Angels.
Braden Montgomery Looks Like a Future Star for the Chicago White Sox
GettyChicago White Sox OF Braden Montgomery
At 23 years old, Braden Montgomery is the second-ranked prospect in the Chicago White Sox system. So, even without his debut walk-off, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the future for Montgomery.
“Scouts considered Montgomery more of a hit-over-power guy when he was a Mississippi prepster, but he now is most notable for his plus-plus raw power, the product of lightning-fast bat speed. A switch-hitter who was far more effective from the left side in college, he tightened his righty stroke and posted an .875 OPS against southpaws last year. He doesn’t chase pitches out of the zone excessively, but the next step will be to improve his selectivity and thus his quality of contact after generating twice as many ground balls than flyballs in 2025,” MLB.com wrote about him.
“Montgomery can use his average speed to swipe an occasional base. Solely a right fielder in college, he’s a solid defender there and can get the job done in center, where he spent the slight majority of his time last summer and will remain going forward. His arm strength is as impressive as his raw pop, and he pushed his fastball up to 96 mph when he pitched in college.”
While in college at Stanford and later Texas A&M, Montgomery was a two-way star. However, with the Aggies, Montgomery dropped pitching to focus on hitting. There, he’d thrive and go on to become a first-round pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2024.
Montgomery was only briefly with the Red Sox, though. In December of 2024, the Red Sox sent Kyle Teel, Chase Meidroth, Wikelman González, and Montgomery to the White Sox for Garrett Crochet.
The White Sox are Poised to make a Playoff Push
GettyChicago White Sox OF Braden Montgomery celebrates his walk-off home run in MLB debut
In 2025, the Chicago White Sox had one of the worst teams in MLB, finishing 60-102. Still, that was better than a year before that, when at 41-121, the White Sox suffered their worst season in franchise history and had the most losses any single team suffered in one season in modern MLB history.
Now, in 2026, the White Sox are 35-31 and just 0.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for first place in the AL Central. It’s also currently good for the second Wild Card spot in the AL at this point in the season.
This has come with a young crop of talent coming up to the majors and starting to step into new roles. Montgomery is very much included in that group. In some cases, that crop of talent is even coming from overseas, with Munetaka Murakami having an explosion of power in his first season. There are some injuries to overcome, but the White Sox are very much in the playoff hunt.
Chicago White Sox Rookie Braden Montgomery Makes Historic List in Debut