7 Days 'til Aggie Baseball: Montgomery enters talent-rich environment

It’s that time of year! The Texas Aggie baseball team is set to open up the 2024 season on Friday against McNeese State at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. We’re counting down the days with our 2024 Aggie Baseball Preview Series.

On a picture-perfect mid-January Thursday, Braden Montgomery put his powerful brand of versatility on full display.

During a star-studded batting practice round that included sluggers like Jace LaViolette, Gavin Grahovac and Hayden Schott, the heralded transfer crushed a home run that seemed to travel as high as it did far, clearing the Blue Bell Park scoreboard and one-hopping the neighboring Rec Center.

Perhaps more impressively, Montgomery had previously launched a missile that threatened to level the metal batter’s eye in center field.

He coolly accomplished those feats from opposite sides of the plate.

“I think I'm equal on power from both sides,” Montgomery recalled over the phone late last month. “As far as which one I’m the tougher out from, it honestly depends on the day.

“There are few things better than hitting a homer. Homers are sick.”

Sick, indeed. As is his list of accolades.

By now, you’re likely aware of his credentials.

Chris Swann, TexAgs

Montgomery is listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds and is a native of Madison, MS.

The 2022 Freshman All-American and 2023 second-team All-American elected to transfer to Texas A&M in August despite winning two Pac-12 titles and making a pair of trips to the Men’s College World Series with Stanford.

In two seasons in Palo Alto, Montgomery slashed .315/.414/.603 with 35 homers and 118 RBIs in 126 games.

But he also spends time on the mound, where his stuff has reportedly improved since he began working with A&M pitching coach Max Weiner, according to Jim Schlossnagle’s Jan. 25 press conference.

“It’s difficult to manage it all,” Montgomery explained of his two-way abilities. “You have to do everything the position players do and everything the pitchers do at different times because while you’re doing what the position players are doing, the pitchers are doing their own thing, so you’ve got to go back after hours and get that all done.

“I’m just drawn to it. It’s something I can do, and it’s something that I really enjoy doing.”

Given his versatile player profile, it’s no surprise that MLB.com lists him as its No. 10 draft-eligible prospect entering 2024.

“His biggest challenge is he needs to allow himself to have some fun,” Schlossnagle said. “That goes for every great player, especially in the year in which they’re draft-eligible.

“Just enjoy this experience. Enjoy being an Aggie. Enjoy playing in the SEC.”

This summer won’t be Montgomery’s first foray into draft discussions.

In 2021, the Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year turned down professional overtures and signed with David Esquer’s Cardinal.

Three years later, Montgomery still isn’t focusing much on the MLB Draft.

“I really only entertain it when talking to or having interviews with scouts for professional teams,” he said. “Other than that, it’s not a focus of mine, so I don’t talk about it. If people bring it up, I’ll just laugh or break it off. I don’t really care much to talk about the topic.

“Obviously, it would be nice to be drafted as high as possible, so that would probably be my only other personal goal, but I don’t really search for any specific numbers or accolades, per se.”

Instead, he’s fixated on being part of the last team standing in Omaha come June.

“I’ve been to Omaha twice but haven’t made it all the way,” Montgomery said. “I want to be a national champion. I think if that happens, then everything else will have taken care of itself.

“Yeah, I’d want any personal goals and aspirations to be met, but as long as we’re national champions, I think I could live with anything else.”

At Stanford, Montgomery was surrounded by talented players like Brett Barrera, Tommy Troy, Carter Graham, Brock Jones, Drew Bowser and Alberto Rios, just to name a few.

“What made those teams special was that guys whole-heartedly accepted and played their role. If there were guys that weren’t starting, they were completely bought into doing whatever they could from the dugout to help our team win,” Montgomery recalled. “The guys were so bought in.”

The Diamondbacks picked Troy in the first round last summer.

Jones and Rios ultimately became second-round selections in 2022 and 2023, respectively, while Barrera and Graham were top-10 rounders.

Still, if you ask Montgomery, that talent pales in comparison to what is currently in College Station.

“I honestly think we have more talent on this roster than any team I’ve been a part of,” he said of A&M’s 2024 club. “It’s a very talented roster. It’s crazy.”

Here in Aggieland, he’ll be part of a lineup that combines veteran power with elite youngsters.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Despite playing together with USA Baseball over the summer, LaViolette maintains that he did not recruit Montgomery to join him at Texas A&M.

LaViolette already has All-American credentials.

Ryan Targac led the SEC in RBIs in 2022.

Schott, Jackson Appel and Ted Burton boast more than 550 college at-bats from Columbia, Penn and Michigan, respectively.

Meanwhile, Grahovac was Perfect Game’s No. 55 overall high school prospect in the class of 2023. Fellow freshmen Jack Bell and Caden Sorrell were also highly-touted recruits.

“This is a special team,” LaViolette said, who played with Montgomery on USA Baseball’s collegiate national team last summer. “I don’t even know how to put into words what this team is like. It’s a blast to come here every single day. It was like we clicked from the moment we all got here.”

While his on-field abilities figure to steal headlines, the type of person Montgomery is in private has quickly endeared him to his new program.

“He is as invested in his teammates as any player we have,” Schlossnagle said. “He knows everybody’s name. You say that’s a simple thing, but a lot of kids don’t do that. We’re all selfish by nature. He’s selfless for sure.”

If you ask Montgomery, that’s just how he’s wired.

“No one wants to be at the field in a gloomy mood, so I just try to make it as enjoyable as possible for the guys,” he said. “I try to be high-energy and make it fun. I want them to succeed as well.”

Still, he’s aware that a player of his stature will inherently be viewed as a leader in the clubhouse.

Fortunately, Montgomery has plenty of wisdom to pass along to a program seeking a return to college baseball’s Mecca for the second time in three years.

These Aggies are certainly capable of making that happen.

A year ago, A&M fell short relative to preseason expectations, placing fifth in the SEC West with a 14-16 ledger. Still, the team finished one win shy of reaching a super regional.

After falling to Montgomery and the Cardinal last June, the Ags enter 2024 ranked No. 8 nationally by D1Baseball.com with Omaha as the obvious goal.

“The biggest thing will be attention to detail,” Montgomery said. “There is a lot of teams that have the talent to be able to make it to Omaha, so the separater is going to be the attention to detail that we bring to all of our training sessions, to approaching our arm care or rehabbing in our training, or how we approach our lifts in strength and conditioning stuff.

“It will be the little things that’ll set us apart. If we can just always make sure we’re doing everything to our standards and paying that great attention to detail, it will be awesome.”

Awesome, indeed. And potentially even “sick.”