Braden Montgomery hits walk-off homer in MLB debut, White Sox win

Braden Montgomery turned his first major league game into a night the White Sox can build around. The 23-year-old switch-hitter, recalled from Triple-A Charlotte earlier in the day, hit a two-run walk-off homer in the 10th inning to beat the Atlanta Braves 6-5 at Rate Field, with Andrew Benintendi crossing the plate ahead of him and the South Side crowd erupting.

The swing came off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias on an 0-1 changeup with two outs, capping a Chicago comeback from a 4-0 hole. Montgomery had already helped claw the White Sox back with an RBI single in the fourth inning, and he finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs, adding his first career hit and first career home run in the same debut. The win lifted Chicago to 35-31, kept the White Sox within a half-game of first place in the AL Central and pushed their home record to 21-11.

The homer also put Montgomery in rare company. MLB said he became only the fifth player since 1900 to hit a walk-off home run in his MLB debut, joining Billy Parker, Josh Bard, Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Perez. For a White Sox club that has spent the past year reshaping its roster, the moment carried more than novelty value. It gave Chicago a first look at the player it acquired as part of the December 11, 2024 Garrett Crochet trade, when the White Sox landed Montgomery, Kyle Teel, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman González, all four of whom were rated among Boston’s top 15 prospects at the time.

Montgomery entered the majors with a prospect résumé that made the call-up feel overdue rather than accidental. Boston took him 12th overall in the 2024 draft out of Texas A&M, and his 2026 numbers at Double-A and Triple-A forced the issue: a .314 batting average, .422 on-base percentage, .548 slugging percentage, 10 home runs and a strong walk rate. ESPN listed him as 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, a switch-hitter who throws right-handed, born April 16, 2003, in Des Moines, Iowa.

The White Sox do not need Montgomery to solve the rebuild in one swing. They need him to turn that bat speed and strike-zone control into steady production over a full season, especially if Chicago is going to stay in the race it has created with a 35-31 record. For one night, though, Montgomery looked like more than a prospect. He looked like a possible cornerstone.