Braden Montgomery found the perfect elixir for an uneven start to his Triple-A career, and boy was it grand.
The White Sox No. 2 prospect had a breakthrough performance on Thursday night, belting his first pro grand slam and collecting three hits in Charlotte's 12-5 win over Jacksonville at Truist Field.
Additionally, Jacob Gonzalez ripped a pair of long solo homers during his second four-hit game in nine days for Charlotte. The White Sox No. 24 prospect leads all Triple-A players with 18 dingers and is one behind Double-A Amarillo's Manuel Pena (AZ), who leads the Minors.
While Gonzalez was able to enjoy two slow trots around the bases, Montgomery's long ball was also a welcome sight. MLB's No. 24 prospect began his Charlotte tenure by hitting safely in 11 of his first 14 games, but he had an 0-for-13 drought coming into the game.
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The hitless stretch reached 14 at-bats after a first-inning fielder's choice before Montgomery's third-inning single found the outfield grass. His big moment came an inning later when he took a changeup at the top of the zone off right-hander Brandon White (Marlins) over the fence in left-center field for a grand slam. The long ball was the 23-year-old's third for the Knights and his first since May 16.
Montgomery picked up his third hit on a single in the fifth, pushing his OPS to .779 since his promotion to the highest level of the Minors.
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One of four prospects dealt to Chicago in the trade that sent All-Star lefty Garrett Crochet to Boston, Montgomery never played a game in the Red Sox organization. The Texas A&M product enjoyed a strong pro debut last year, collecting 50 extra-base hits and posting an .804 OPS in 121 games across three Minor League levels.
Montgomery began this season where he ended last year -- with Double-A Birmingham -- and excelled, going deep six times and carrying a 1.035 OPS with 22 RBIs in 27 games for the Barons before his promotion on May 5. The switch-hitter is slashing .290/.392/.534 through 47 contests this year.
Like Montgomery, Gonzalez was a first-round pick, going 15th to the White Sox in 2023 out of Mississippi. His breakout at the plate has been one of the bigger surprises of this year's campaign.
Not only is the 23-year-old slashing .308/.414/.646, but he's left the yard more times this season than he had in his entire pro career, having homered 17 times in 298 games coming into 2026.