GLENDALE, Ariz. — White Sox right fielder Braden Montgomery wasn’t trying to come off as a cocky kid, but his confidence is obviously through the roof.
Asked Sunday by the Sun-Times if his ultimate goal is to make the White Sox this spring, Montgomery responded with this mind-bending answer:
“My overall goal is to make the Hall of Fame,” Montgomery said matter-of-factly after he homered and tripled against the Cubs at Mesa’s Sloan Park in his first taste of Chicago’s ancient baseball rivalry. “I’ll take it a game at a time, and we’ll see what happens at the end of it.”
Oh, really?
“That’s awesome to hear,” Sox manager Will Venable said Monday at Camelback Ranch when told about Montgomery’s comment. “He’s one of those guys; if that’s what he thinks and that’s what he’s working for, you just want to support him so he can do that.”
Montgomery was advised that Tony Gwynn’s goal right from the beginning of his major league career with the Padres in 1982 was to reach 3,000 hits, one hit at a time. Gwynn retired in 2001 with 3,141 hits, and a .338 batting average, the highest then since Ted Williams retired in 1960 at .344. It still is. That led to Gwynn’s 2007 induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame along with Cal Ripken Jr.
“See what happens when you’re goal oriented?” Montgomery said when told about Gwynn. “You take it a pitch at a time, a second at a time.”
MLB Pipeline’s No. 36 overall prospect leaves the yard!
Braden Montgomery has his first #SpringTraining homer 💪 pic.twitter.com/QKvgqhtPK3
— MLB (@MLB) March 1, 2026
Montgomery hasn’t played a game yet in the major leagues and is ticketed to start the regular season again in the minors. But he said being elected to Cooperstown has always been a dream of his since growing up as a kid in Des Moines, Iowa. He’s now 22, but will turn 23 on April 16. A first-round pick, and 12th overall, by the Boston Red Sox in the 2024 draft of first-year players, Montgomery was a key element for the White Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade.
“Ever since I watched Derek Jeter play I’ve wanted to be in the big leagues,” he said of the Yankees Hall of Famer. “I’d say about 10 or 11 years old I knew I wanted to be the best playing baseball. Obviously that comes with eventually donning a gold jacket. Obviously, it’s not even Day 1 of my big-league career yet. I take it day-by-day. If I do that I think the results will be something I can live with.”
His Sunday in a 5-1 White Sox win over the Cubs was obviously something he could live with. He went 2-for-3 with the homer, triple, a run scored and an RBI bringing his Cactus League batting average to .357 and his OPS to a gaudy 1.214.
His homer with two out in the second inning came off veteran Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga, one of three the Japanese hurler allowed in his 2 2/3 inning stint.
“That was super cool,” Montgomery said. “Being able to see these guys on the diamond you’ve seen on TV. To further compartmentalize it I’m part of that now. To be able to share the field with him is really cool. That’s why I put in the work every day and want to continue to share the field with them by getting results.”
The triple off Luke Little to lead off the sixth soared over right fielder Michael Conforto, who as a fading veteran, is trying to maintain a roster a spot in the big leagues in his first to tour with the Cubs.
Did Montgomery hit that triple better than the homer?
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out when we got those hitting reports,” he said. “But those triples always feel better. You get to go off to the races. It’s all eyes on you and you get to see what you can do.”
No wonder, the professed future Hall Of Famer had a perpetual smile on his face. It seems like he’s having a great time.
“I try to be the same way every because this truly is a blessing,” he said. “Playing baseball and being able to see all these fans? It’s just a beautiful thing.”