Stanford freshman a force at plate and on mound

Few college baseball players have the ability to thrive as a hitter and a pitcher. Even fewer have the ability to thrive in both roles at the level that Stanford’s Braden Montgomery has as a freshman.

So, during a Zoom interview last week, Montgomery was asked a question few players ever get asked: Which do you enjoy more, hitting a homer or striking out the side?

“There’s nothing quite like hitting one out of the park,” Montgomery said. “Nothing quite like that trot.”

Montgomery has made that trot 16 times this season, helping the Cardinal (41-14) win the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament titles and earn the No. 2 overall seed in the postseason field of 64. Stanford has won 16 games in a row and hosts a four-team, doubleelimination regional beginning Friday.

Named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year last week, Montgomery is a switch-hitting outfielder who’s batting .301 and has been the Cardinal’s cleanup hitter since early April.

Montgomery seems to possess a quiet confidence.

“I kind of always knew in me that I had the potential to do a lot of great things,” Montgomery said. “I didn’t really have any expectations coming into it. I just wanted to hit the ground and work with what I’ve got.”

What he’s got on the mound is “an electric right arm,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said. “He’s got a lightning bolt connected to his shoulder.”

With a fastball in the midto-high 90s, Montgomery began the season as Stanford’s closer; he got the save in the opener with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning of a 1-0 win over Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 18.

He soon thereafter struggled as a pitcher, mainly with his control. The low point came when he walked four in twothirds of an inning in a 10-3 loss at Arizona on March 21.

“It’s hard enough for a freshman to be an everyday player on the diamond,” Esquer said. “Here’s a guy that was having to work on two swings and pitch. It was just a lot for him.”

No longer the closer, Montgomery hasn’t pitched since throwing one scoreless inning — with two walks and three strikeouts — against Santa Clara on May 17. He has recorded 25 K’s in 17 innings for the season.

Montgomery, who’s from Madison, Miss., credits fellow outfielders Eddie Park, a sophomore, and junior Brock Jones for helping him adjust on the field and off.

Jones, who’s a potential first-round pick in July, said, “My thing with B-Mont is always keep it right upstairs. Try to grow your mental game more than any part of your physical game just because it’s such an important aspect of baseball. …

“I think he’s a lot better player than I am. He’s a freak.”

Jones referred to a homer Montgomery launched lefthanded in a 9-1 win at UCLA on April 14. The ball soared over the right-field wall and apparently landed in Laguna Niguel sometime in early May.

“I was sitting there just in awe for probably the entire rest of the game,” Jones said. “I’m thinking, like, ‘How far did that ball possibly go?’ It just disappeared past the lights. …

“That was probably the most insane thing I’ve seen out of him.”

If there’s one area as a hitter in which Montgomery could improve, it would be his strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has struck out 61 times in 206 at-bats and has drawn 13 free passes.

“He’s still learning (pitch) sequences and maybe when to sit on pitches or take different pitches,” Esquer said, “but the raw ability and his ability to compete at the plate (are) beyond his years, for sure.”

Esquer hasn’t ruled out using Montgomery as a pitcher in the postseason. And does Montgomery’s professional future lie at the plate or on the mound? Esquer’s not sure.

“His game may lean toward one or the other, which it has many times with two-way players,” Esquer said. “A lot of times, they don’t remain twoway because one side of the ball becomes obvious that that’s where their future is going to lie.

“It hasn’t got to that with him. He still has a future in both.”

Said Montgomery: “I really enjoy doing both. Until baseball tells me otherwise, I’ll keep going.”

Esquer and the Cardinal enjoy the thought of Montgomery spending two more seasons on the Farm before he likely will be a first-round pick in the 2024 draft.

The other teams in the Pac-12 probably won’t enjoy the thought of having to deal with Montgomery for two more seasons.

“I’ll be a lot better,” Montgomery said. “I’ll continue to improve. Hopefully, I’ll surprise you.”