When Devin Pearson and the Red Sox scouting department began looking into Braden Montgomery, they reached out to his former coaches at Stanford University hoping to get their honest feedback about what kind of person he was.
Given that Montgomery had transferred from Stanford to Texas A&M between his sophomore and junior years, Stanford’s coaches had no incentive pump him up. In fact, Pearson and fellow Red Sox front office executive Paul Toboni both played for Montgomery’s former Stanford coach David Esquer during his days at Cal, so they knew they could trust whatever insight he had as genuine.
Yet even after Montgomery decided to jump to the SEC, Stanford’s entire coaching staff had nothing but good things to say about him.
“When you transfer from a school and that’s still the narrative about you, you’re a pretty special person,” said Pearson, Boston’s director of amateur scouting.
Since the Red Sox selected Montgomery with the No. 12 overall pick on Sunday evening, the most common description offered of Boston’s new outfield prospect is that he’s a winner. Reached by the Herald on Monday, both Esquer and Jim Schlossnagle, the new University of Texas baseball coach who coached Montgomery last season at Texas A&M, lavished praise on their former player, describing him as boasting an infectious smile and as someone who helps make good things happen everywhere he goes.
“He’s a great kid, hard worker, wants to be great, charismatic smile, he’s a special kid for sure,” Esquer said. “We were sad to see him go and it was a little out of our control but it didn’t take away from what we felt about him.”
“Just an elite human being,” Schlossnagle said. “He could have easily been a guy that looked the other way and was only there for himself and he actually did the exact opposite. He was so invested in his teammates, he was so invested in team success.”
Esquer said that he and his staff remained in contact with Montgomery after he transferred, checking on him after he suffered a season-ending ankle injury during the NCAA Tournament and to wish him the best of luck before the draft. He said Montgomery was also always great with his kids and that he cherishes the memories they shared working one-on-one during his two years at Stanford.
He predicted Red Sox fans will fall in love with Montgomery too once they get to know him.
“They’ve got not only a great talent but someone who works on his game because he wants to be great,” Esquer said. “He will put in the effort it takes to keep improving and he’s been at the top level of every level he’s played, whether it’s high school, college baseball, I expect nothing but the same as he enters the professional (game).”
A switch-hitting outfielder with a cannon for an arm and power from both sides of the plate, Montgomery can impact the game in a variety of ways. Schlossnagle said this past season at Texas A&M he made impressive strides controlling the strike zone and doing more damage from the right side of the plate, and if his throwing arm isn’t quite as good as Dwight Evans, “it’s close.”
Even after he suffered a broken ankle in the Super Regionals, Montgomery remained an active and involved participant in the team’s success.
“I keep going back to his smile. He has a huge heart and an absolutely electric personality, so he was very verbal in the dugout, being positive, encouraging the guys,” Schlossnagle said. “It was great just to have his presence because there was no question, when he got hurt, you talk about an emotional blow.”
Like Esquer, Schlossnagle predicted Montgomery will quickly become a fan favorite in Boston. He said there’s no part of him that’s prima donna, and given how high profile his transfer situation was, he could have easily come in and been aloof, and yet he never was.
“I just think people in Boston, my perception is they appreciate loyalty, they appreciate effort, they want to win but there seems to be a genuine respect for the player that’s all in on the city,” Schlossnagle said. “And everything I’ve seen from Braden Montgomery will give the Boston fans that.”
