Bio
Daniel Montano comes to Sioux City after seven seasons in the Colorado Rockies organization where the outfielder would reach the AAA level. Montano signed with the Rockies as an international free agent in 2015 out of Maracay, Venezuela. At the time of his signing, he was ranked 12th on MLB.com Top 30 International Prospects list. He joined the Rockies Dominican Summer League (DSL) team for the 2016 season at 17 years old and would slash a .228/.325/.427 line with 17 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, and 32 RBI. His nine homers led the club while his doubles ranked second. In 2017 he returned to the DOSL, playing in 52 games and slashing .270/.355/.423 on the season. He would add three home runs while leading the team doubles with 14 and RBI with 39.
In 2018, Montano would begin the season once again in the DSL, but he would only stay with the club for the first 11 days of the season before a promotion to rookie-level Grand Junction in the Pioneer League. He would slash a line of .279/.338/.433 in 62 games with Grand Junction. For the third straight season, he hit double digits in doubles at 15, hit a career high five triples, and slugged four home runs. He also put his speed to work with nine stolen bases, and he drew walks at a steady clip with 21 to his 57 strikeouts. Montano would make his first appearance on a top prospect list being named number 19 on MLB.com Pipeline’s top 30 prospects for the Rockies.
Montano would continue his climb in the Rockies chain in 2019. He would cross the 100-games-played-in-a-season mark for the first time in his career while playing 122 at A-level Ashville. He would hit .218/.274/.344 with 33 walks but with 119 strikeouts. Montano once again was a doubles machine, having 32 two baggers to go with three triples and seven home runs. He added 17 stolen bases, and despite the 2020 season being cancelled, he would stay on the prospect radar at number 23 for the Rockies.
With the reshuffling of the MiLB and not playing a season, Montano would end his run of being on a top prospect list in 2021. His numbers told a different story. At Low-A Fresno, he slashed .301/.380/.446 with nine doubles, three triples, four home runs, 24 walks, and six stolen bases over 52 games. Those numbers earned Montano a midseason promotion to High-A Spokane. At Spokane he slashed a .283/.353/.337 line with 20 walks and just 47 strikeouts in 44 games. He hit seven doubles with a triple for the second part of the season of 2021. At both stops combined, Montano would drive in 50 runs in 96 games hitting .293 for the season.
In 2022, Montano started the season with Spokane and would have a 32-game stay in the Pacific Northwest. He slashed a .321/.420/.523 line at Spokane with only 25 strikeouts with 20 walks. He hit one home run with seven doubles and a triple. He was named the Rockies organization’s Player of the Month of May before a promotion on May 31 to AA Hartford. In 82 games he would hit .253 with a .355 on base percentage. Montano hit a career high 14 home runs while driving in 39 runs and working 49 walks at the plate.
Montano would continue the steady rise up the Rockies system by playing 75 games at AAA Albuquerque in 2023. He would slash a line of .237/.350/.426 with eight home runs and 46 RBI. Montano added another 13 doubles with seven team leading triples for the Isotopes. On July 31 he had a four-hit night with a homer a pair of doubles and a single in a four-hit performance against Sacramento. He would spend 10 days on an injury rehabilitation assignment at rookie-level Arizona during June, going 4 for 27 with two RBI in nine games.