AL DIVISION SERIES: WHITE SOX VS GUARDIANS

October 5, 2026

Braden Montgomery

Progressive Field

Chicago White Sox

Postgame 2 Press Conference

White Sox 4, Guardians 3

Q. How did you feel about your right-handed swing?

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: I felt ready to compete. That's kind of goal at the end of the day, because numbers are what they are. It's the past. And so you use those experiences to sculpt what you believe to be the best way forward, and then you do your best to grow. And so I felt like I just gave myself my best chance to succeed, and after that we note what happened, positives, negatives, create the plan forward and move on.

Q. When a guy hits the hits first pitch, it's pretty to say that's what you were looking for. Was that what you were look for? How many kind of things were you prepared for there? I know you go in kind of thinking about a lot of different options on the way into an at-abat.

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: Yeah, no, I was just ready for something to attack. I wasn't playing the guessing game, just ready for his hardest stuff and ready for something over the plate. They were attacking me all night early on, so gotta be ready.

Q. Talk about your relationship with Chase and Kyle and what's it been like to join them in the Big Leagues this year.

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: Yeah, no. It's been super cool. Playing with Chase in 2022 in the Cape Cod League, enjoying the process of going through the amateur baseball ranks and then seeing them again out here and reuniting with them, it's been special. It's been special to see them go about their work. It's been special to see the bonds that they've formed and the things that they've learned and just what they look like as Big Leaguers and remembering what they looked like before that.

Q. Will's talked a lot about just having confidence in you and keeping you in the lineup because he trusts what you're going to be able to do. When a manager has that fr someone of your age and being able to have that experience, what does that mean for you?

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: It's really special to me coming from a person like Will, not even being my manager. I mean, obviously I respect authority and all that, but getting to know Will and seeing the man this he is, I respect him so much, and so for him to have that confidence in me means the world.

And that's, I feel like, what makes winning ball clubs. You create these bonds with people, players, staff members, coaches, and the more you sharpen yourselves together, the more you understand what makes the person, not just the coach or the player, the whatever, the more you want to go to work for those people. And I'd run through a wall for Will. So...

Q. You mentioned knowing what it was like to see Chase and Kyle as amateur players and as Big Leaguers. What does that mean for you permanently. Do you what reflect on what you were like in high school and Stanford and A&M and now where you are in the Big Leagues?

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: I do. I do. But it's weird from a first-person perspective than a third-perspective perspective, because I mean, ever since I was in elementary school, middle school, I knew that I wanted to be here right now and then doing these things.

So I've always seen myself as being the Big Leaguer, but obviously in high school ball, ninth grade, my swing wasn't conducive to a big league swing. But it's been cool to kind of understand that I've been like them.

I mean, you see Chase play in summer league and college and you know that's a professional hitter. And so I can only imagine seeing myself from a third-person perspective, and the plan is to keep going.

Q. Critics often say that you kind of follow a level of your preparation, so when you're kind of preparing for a right-handed starter in Gavin Williams and Erik Sabrowski comes in and you have to turn around, how much preparation before this series and before this game kind of went into being ready for that potential moment?

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, for me, and I'm sure for a lot of guys, it's nameless, faceless opponents, and so you're preparing for what they've got; you're preparing for the repertoire; you're preparing for the release height, the extension, whatever is their outlier that makes them them, that makes them a Big Leaguer.

And so that's kind of how you go through your day. You maybe hit four seams on Monday, sinkers on Tuesday, cutters and all, and so I just try to do my best on a daily and weekly basis to be prepared for situations like that because you know that in these games the only thing that's guaranteed to happen is change. You're not going to get the same look every time. Guys are going to have shorter leashes and so you have to be ready to pivot and you gotta be ready to attack whatever is in front of you.

Q. Congratulations. I loved your description earlier of how you separate the preparation from the results and a really mature mental approach to the game, which is very difficult. I wonder, who are the mentors in your life, whether baseball or outside of that, that have helped you develop this really unique perspective at a very young age?

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: Yeah, no, for sure. I'd say my parents, first and foremost, have been -- they've got athletic backgrounds and so they've done their best to put me in front of the right people, to put me in the right activities, because parents know better than anybody that sometimes your voice doesn't get through to your kid.

And so they whatever could stick with me from them, they were happy with, and then anything else, they put me in front of whoever else could get through to me. So I've had great trainers growing up, and they've turned into family.

So just my inner circle, my village, that's all I am reflecting is what's been instilled in me, what's stuck, important things like that. And I just -- I can't thank them enough for it.

And these things are easier said than done. I mean, I say that and I try to approach it as a scientist with an objective mindset, but we're emotional beings, and so I'm nowhere near perfect at it, but the more I can just say it out loud, it sends the right message and it also helps to reinstill it in me, to reset every time.

Q. Your view of the last play of the game and the route that Brenton, took to make that catch, as a fellow outfielder, what did you see?

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: Yeah, no. It was crazy I mean, especially because those past two innings, or the last two innings in general, there were three, I think, three balls that were hit out there pretty hard to left center, with the first one being a triple, and so it's kind of like you hold your breath a little bit, and then, you look down and you see it's Brenton Doyle and you realize that if there's anyone that's got a chance at helping us, it's going to be him.

So I was just taking it all in, and the excitement hit home really hard as soon as he pulled it in.

Q. How and why did you first become a switch hitter?

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: When I was 10, and so I come from a football family that has really no background in baseball. So there was no one really there to tell me not to. I thought it looked cool to hit on both sides of the plate, so I decided to start working on it.

Q. Which did you think was more natural?

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: So I'm natural a righty, but it depends on the day, and so I feel like I was able to build my left-handed swing and sold it to my liking and I'm still building it.

Q. What did that feel like at second base in your major, you're opposing, you're not really one to do that.

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: Right.

Q. What were you feeling?

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: I can't even describe the energy that was running through me in that moment. Firstly of all, to see the ball, get down and to know you've got two ducks on the pond that are right there, it's exhilarating. So I was just running with the wind, and it was special to touch the bag and look back into the dugout to see my guys, it's a feeling like no other. You want to replicate that feeling every night.

Q. Describing kind of how that feels, your career started with quite a swing. How did those two swings compare, a walk-off at home and a regular season versus a big post season --

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: Yeah, no. They feel like two very distinct moments. I mean, they're obviously moments that helped to put us in the driving seat of whatever game we're in.

But, I mean, first game up, it's -- I was welcomed in and enjoyed every moment of it, but it still didn't feel like -- I feel like it's impossible to feel like you're a part of the team at that point, because I mean, I'm coming up two months into the season, this is the first game, I've been playing my own game six days a week, so I don't know what's been going on in the clubhouse or how they've been doing. So that felt more personal that night, but tonight it tops it ten-fold to have those emotions going into it, to have been down the road with this team and being in these games and to be playing the most important baseball of the year, it's unlike any other.

Q. Just recalling the atmosphere of your debut at Rate Field, can you imagine or think about what atmosphere is going to be like now returning for the first playoff game you've had there in years and you guys up 2-0?

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: Yeah. I'm so excited. I can't place any expectations on it. I just know it's going to be special.

I mean, seeing all the Sox fans and seeing the excitement they've had, I can only imagine what all the Sox fans are like at home on the couch or at work or watching on the phone and so I can only imagine how the South Side is going to pop out in a couple days, and I can't wait to see it and be a part of it.

Q. You mentioned being in elementary school or middle school or ten years old when you've been working through these things. Obviously you mentioned also being a part of this locker room and this clubhouse. There's been talks about ice cream in the clubhouse. Have you experienced that? Did you have one today? What's that been like?

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: I didn't have any ice cream today, but I am one that is not unfamiliar with sweets. I enjoy a pazookie myself every once in a while.

But we just got a bunch of guys that enjoy life, enjoy baseball and enjoy each other. So we don't keep it too tight. Guys are going to sit down and have an ice cream every once in a while. We're not going to take ourselves too seriously. And that's kind of what makes the guys and the bonds special.

Q. I'm curious about the ways you guys pitched tonight and particularly Sean?

BRADEN MONTGOMERY: It's unbelievable. I tip my hat to them every night for the past week and a half, two weeks. They've been unbelievable. They've been unbelievable. They've left everything out there, and that makes it that much easier to want to put your best foot forward.

I mean, you'd run through a wall for those guys. I, mean, they're doing everything in their power to keep us in these games and give us a chance to win, and it doesn't go unnoticed. It's been special.