Despite actual games played by Major League Baseball along with postseason action from both the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League, this sports week is dominated by the National Football League as their draft begins tomorrow. Especially in Chicago, with the Bears having the number one overall pick (hello, Caleb Williams), and we’ll see what they do with the ninth pick. This particular draft has dominated radio airwaves, social media, and digital columns since January. I’m sure the draft aftermath discussion will still be number one going into June. It’s a football world right now, everyone else is living in it.
To hang on football’s coat tails, you’ll see other baseball outlets start releasing their MLB 2024 Mock Drafts, and Sox Machine will follow suit. Tomorrow, I’ll do my best at guessing how the upcoming draft could shake out. For a historically bad White Sox team that can’t have a Top 5 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, this particular draft carries great importance.
Good news for the White Sox and other teams drafting in the Top 10 picks: The college bats continue their tremendous momentum posting incredible numbers.
2024 MLB Draft Hitting Leaderboard
| Player | School | Pos. | AVG/OBP/SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB% | K% | wRC+ |
| Charlie Condon | Georgia | 3B | .477/.583/1.097 | 16 | 1 | 26 | 56 | 17.6 | 15.2 | 254 |
| Travis Bazzana | Oregon State | 2B | .432/.591/.964 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 49 | 25.4 | 8.8 | 232 |
| Jac Caglianone | Florida | 1B / LHP | .410/.503/.888 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 46 | 12.6 | 7.3 | 203 |
| Braden Montgomery | Texas A&M | RF | .370/.510/.890 | 12 | 1 | 22 | 68 | 20.5 | 16.0 | 201 |
| Nick Kurtz | Wake Forest | 1B | .314/.500/.822 | 7 | 1 | 17 | 42 | 26.2 | 14.6 | 184 |
On the starting pitching front, it’s still a debate between Hagen Smith and Chase Burns as to who is the best in this class. What is interesting is how well East Carolina’s Trey Yesavage has thrown in 2024. Yesavage was considered a preseason late first round talent that pitched well enough to be considered in the Top 10. Meanwhile, Iowa’s Brody Brecht is still fighting a projected reliever profile with his 2024 campaign.
2024 MLB Draft Pitching Leaderboard
| Player | School | W | L | ERA | GS | IP | H | R | ER | BB% | K% | BA |
| Hagen Smith | Arkansas | 8 | 0 | 1.53 | 10 | 53 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 10.60% | 48.30% | 0.136 |
| Trey Yesavage | East Carolina | 8 | 1 | 1.92 | 10 | 61 | 33 | 13 | 13 | 8.10% | 42.80% | 0.157 |
| Chase Burns | Wake Forest | 7 | 1 | 3.19 | 10 | 62 | 40 | 23 | 22 | 7.80% | 46.30% | 0.182 |
| Brody Brecht | Iowa | 1 | 2 | 4.12 | 10 | 48 | 35 | 28 | 22 | 15.60% | 37.30% | 0.194 |
Braden Montgomery Draft Stock Rising
There was a lot of intrigue about Braden Montgomery when he transferred from Stanford to Texas A&M. Touted as a two-way player, Montgomery impressed offensively with his switch-hitting power by bashing 35 home runs throughout two seasons spanning 125 games. A switch-hitter, Montgomery posted a .957 OPS as a freshman and bumped that up to 1.072 OPS his sophomore season. The red flag offensively was his plate discipline.
| Season | K% | BB% |
| Freshman (2022) | 26.6 | 6.6 |
| Sophomore (2023) | 20.6 | 16.5 |
| Junior (2024) | 15.4 | 21.0 |
Montgomery struck out four times more than he walked in 2022 and did a good job of narrowing that gap last year with a 1.25 K-to-BB ratio. However, with moving from the Pac-12 to the SEC, there was some concern that Montgomery’s issue with striking out would carry over.
As a pitcher, and I use that term loosely, Montgomery has a big arm with little to no command. Bless Stanford’s heart because they tried with Montgomery, who pitched over 30 innings in two seasons. While Montgomery punched out 43 batters, he also walked 32.
Ranked 11th in the Sox Machine Top 100 preseason list, I didn’t give much thought to Montgomery being an option for the Chicago White Sox at pick 5. There were more polished hitters in front of Montgomery, and there was apprehension about how he would handle the SEC transition. Not only has Montgomery made a giant leap in his development, but there are whispers he has entered the conversation of going first overall in the 2024 MLB Draft.
As I wrote in my previous 2024 MLB Draft Report, I would watch Montgomery and Texas A&M face Vanderbilt. It didn’t take Montgomery long to make a great first impression.
Facing Bryce Cunningham, Montgomery swung out of his shoes, whiffing on an outside fastball. Vanderbilt decided to test Montgomery again with heat, and that ended up being a big mistake. As a locomotive was passing by the stadium, Montgomery pulled his hands through and crushed the fastball for a solo home run. The deep fly traveled 400 feet with an exit velocity of 106 mph. There is no word if the home run actually landed a ride with the train.
Next time up, Cunningham was in a jam. Already down 3-0, A&M had runners on first and second for Montgomery. Starting with a backdoor slider that missed wide of the zone, Cunningham went with a changeup on the outer half. Montgomery offered and hit a high fly ball that continued to carry until it hit the batter’s eye in center field. On TV replay, the flags are blowing pretty steadily out to center. So, while I think Montgomery’s home run was wind-aided, according to TrackMan, it had an exit velocity of 106 mph and a total distance of 430 feet.
Montgomery takes big cuts at the plate. He doesn’t cheat himself with the "A" swing, as he has a slight leg kick to help whip his hips through the zone. So when contact is made, opposing pitchers need to watch out. In 2024, Montgomery cut his strikeout rate considerably to 15 percent while walking 21 percent of the time. His plate discipline has improved, and Montgomery’s 22 home runs put him in the chase with Charlie Condon and Jac Caglianone to lead the nation.
What makes Montgomery stand out is his defensive ability. I don’t think he has the range to play center field, but I saw Montgomery do a very good job of chasing down fly balls into the gap. While the pitching dream is dead, I give Montgomery’s throwing arm at least a 60-grade (if not better) in right field.
This means that, unlike Condon and Caglianone, Montgomery is not a future first baseman. There’s going to be additional defensive value to his game, which is why Montgomery is in the mix to go first overall to Cleveland. It’s still a long shot, especially with the early word about how much Cleveland loves Travis Bazzana, but Montgomery’s name is now attached to all teams in the Top 5.
For a long time, I figured that the White Sox decision with their first-round pick would be between the top college pitchers, Hagen Smith and Chase Burns, or going against the early trend by going prep with Konnor Griffin. There's no doubt the White Sox need help everywhere, but there’s a particular need for more impact bats in this farm system. If Montgomery is still on the board on Draft Day, I would love to be a fly on the wall for that debate.
| 2024 NCBWA DIVISION I POLL (APRIL 22) | ||||
| Rk. | School | Conference | Record | Pvs. |
| 1 | Texas A&M | SEC | 35-5 | 1 |
| 2 | Arkansas | SEC | 34-6 | 3 |
| 3 | Tennessee | SEC | 33-7 | 2 |
| 4 | Clemson | ACC | 32-7 | 6 |
| 5 | Duke | ACC | 29-11 | 8 |
| 6 | Kentucky | SEC | 32-7 | 4 |
| 7 | East Carolina | American Athletic | 31-8 | 9 |
| 8 | Florida State | ACC | 31-8 | 7 |
| 9 | Wake Forest | ACC | 26-13 | 12 |
| 10 | Vanderbilt | SEC | 29-11 | 13 |
| 11 | Oregon State | Pac-12 | 30-9 | 5 |
| 12 | Virginia | ACC | 30-11 | 10 |
| 13 | Coastal Carolina | Sun Belt | 27-12 | 19 |
| 14 | North Carolina | ACC | 30-10 | 11 |
| 15 | UC Irvine | Big West | 28-8 | 18 |
| 16 | Louisiana | Sun Belt | 31-11 | 16 |
| 17 | Arizona | Pac-12 | 24-14 | 25 |
| 18 | Oregon | Pac-12 | 27-12 | 14 |
| 19 | South Carolina | SEC | 27-13 | 20 |
| 20 | Oklahoma | Big 12 | 24-14 | RV |
| 21 | Georgia | SEC | 29-10 | 24 |
| 22 | Indiana State | MVC | 29-8 | 22 |
| 23 | Alabama | SEC | 25-15 | 15 |
| 24 | NC State | ACC | 22-15 | RV |
| 25 | Oklahoma State | Big 12 | 26-14 | 17 |
Games I'm Watching This Weekend
No. 21 Georgia vs. No. 1 Texas A&M
Friday: 6:00 PM CT - SEC Network+
Saturday: 2:00 PM CT - SEC Network+
Sunday: 1:00 PM CT - SEC Network+
Charlie Condon vs. Braden Montgomery. If that doesn't get you hyped . . .
Florida vs. No. 2 Arkansas
Friday: 7:00 PM CT - SEC Network
Jac Caglianone vs. Hagen Smith. Oh yeah, this is going to be a good weekend of college baseball.
