A Red Sox farm system that is already loaded with premium talent on the position-player side added another big piece on Sunday night with the selection of switch-hitting outfielder Braden Montgomery with the 12th pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. Boston also selected TCU left-hander Payton Tolle with its No. 50 pick.
Montgomery, a Texas A&M product, sustained a broken right ankle while playing in the NCAA Super Regional against Oregon, and that might be the reason he slipped to the Red Sox. Montgomery was the No. 8 prospect heading into the Draft, per MLB Pipeline.
Evidence of that injury was on full display Sunday night, as Montgomery, who was at Draft headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, rode around on a knee scooter while wearing a white Red Sox jersey.
But that didn’t slow him down, as he bounced around the Cowtown Coliseum with excitement after being picked by an organization with the rich history of the Red Sox.
“It was joy,” Montgomery said. “To be picked by anybody today means a lot to me and my family. For it to be the Red Sox means a whole lot, so I’m excited to get to work.”
“There’s always surprises in the Draft and the way it works in baseball, and we were really excited that he was there for us and happy we were able to make it work,” said Red Sox director of amateur scouting Devin Pearson. “And we just couldn’t be more fired up to bring him into the organization.”
The Red Sox tracked Montgomery going back to his days at Madison Central High School in Mississippi, with area scout Danny Watkins leading the charge then.
“We were enamored by him then, and then got to follow his career to Stanford and [then Texas A&M],” said Pearson. “He had a huge year in the SEC, and we believe he has even more development left. His skill set fits perfectly into what we are trying to do here.”
And what are the strong points of that skill set?
“We see a really athletic outfielder with the ability to drive the ball out of the ballpark from both sides,” said Pearson. “Elite swing decisions and a guy that really fits our development philosophies, and with a chance to continue to develop with all the things that we do at the Minor League level.”
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