Prospects Noah Schultz and Braden Montgomery prepare to represent the Chicago White Sox in the MLB Futures Game

Chicago Tribune

09-07-2025

Braden Montgomery got a taste of the All-Star festivities in 2024 while attending the MLB draft.
'I was able to watch the Futures Game, the skill showcase that they did as well as the All-Star Game,' Montgomery said during a video conference call last week. 'I love everything that has to do with the All-Star weekend.'
The outfielder will go from viewing to participating after earning a spot on the American League roster for the 2025 MLB All-Star Futures Game, which is Saturday in Atlanta.
Montgomery and pitcher Noah Schultz are the two players representing the Chicago White Sox at the event that brings together some of baseball's top prospects.
'I love being around baseball and the more talent I can be around, the better I feel it makes me,' Montgomery said. 'So I'm excited to meet those guys and to see what they are like, see what kind of process they go through.'
Montgomery entered Tuesday with a .261/.344/.444 slash line with 18 doubles, 10 home runs and 49 RBIs in 76 games between Single-A Kannapolis and High-A Winston-Salem. He is the No. 3 prospect in the Sox organization according to MLB.com.
'We have one of our coordinators that says it takes a long time to have a good season and a long time to have a bad season,' Montgomery said. 'You've got to figure it out and not give up on yourself and keep thinking through it.'
The Boston Red Sox selected Montgomery in the first round of the 2024 draft and he was acquired by the White Sox as part of the Garrett Crochet trade in December.
'I'd say so far my season has been OK,' Montgomery said. 'I'm really, really excited to get the chance to go to the Futures Game. Outside of that, I would say it's been just all right.
'One of the areas I definitely want to continue to stay conscious about is swing decisions. I feel like as I've gotten to pro ball, I just kind of wanted to figure it out, go straight into it, see what pitches I can hit and which pitches I can't hit. From there we'll iron out the process and the approach and continue to take steps forward.'
Montgomery, 22, is in his first professional season. He spent 2024 recovering from a broken right ankle suffered in the NCAA Super Regional with Texas A&M. Asked why he described his 2025 as 'just all right,' Montgomery added, 'Just because I've got high expectations for myself and I know what I'm capable of.'
'Pro ball is a completely new experience for me, it's different from college,' he said. 'So just wanting to go in there, and you'll see a whole lot of failure because it's baseball. But I want to iron out that and iron out my process to where I'm eliminating some of those failures.'
Montgomery is enjoying the growing process.
'I feel like we've got a really good staff from top to bottom,' Montgomery said. 'I'm glad to be working with them and I'm looking forward to what the future holds as I get more accustomed to professional baseball.'
Schultz has spent time at Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte during this year, his third professional season. The left-hander, an Oswego East product who the Sox selected in the first round of the 2022 draft, entered Tuesday 4-4 with a 4.76 ERA in 15 starts. Schultz has 71 strikeouts in 68 innings.
'It's been a big adjustment, changing to shorter schedules and going deeper in games,' Schultz said of his 2025 during a video conference call last week. 'There's been a lot of things I've been working on. I'm really happy with how my body feels and how I've been able to stay healthy throughout the year. I'm looking forward to continuing that.
'There have been some growing pains and some struggles I've had, but there's also been moments I'm happy with. There's a lot I can point out, but the only way to go forward with it is to look at the good things I've done and try to replicate those the rest of the year.'
Schultz, 21, said the positives include staying strong and staying with velocity throughout games.
'This year, I've gone to the fifth, sixth inning multiple times,' he said. 'I'm happy, at the beginning of the year it was almost my velocity was going up deeper into games.
'There's a bunch of little pieces you've got to put together, but that was one of the first things I noticed was I was throwing harder later into games which showed the stuff I'm doing behind the scenes, the strength stuff, it's been working. But it's making sure I'm putting everything together.'
MLB.com ranks Schultz as the top prospect in the Sox system. This will be his second Futures Game after participating last season in Arlington, Texas.
'It's an honor,' Schultz said. 'It's something I had a great experience at last year and the opportunity to be able to go back at a different field is awesome and I'm really excited.'
The Sox reinstated Luis Robert Jr. from the 10-day injured list on Tuesday. The center fielder went on the IL retroactive to June 26, missing time with a left hamstring strain.
'He's ready to go,' manager Will Venable said before Tuesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rate Field. 'He wanted to be in a spot where he could go and be himself and run around the field like we're used to seeing him do. So no limitations from his end. And for me, there won't be any limitations either.'
In the corresponding move, the Sox optioned infielder Tristan Gray to Charlotte.