The thing is, they might look better than ever, at least for 2023.
In their final two games of a rare three-game series with Frisco, the Sod Poodles showed that they’ll be a force to be reckoned with the remainder of the Texas League season. Saturday night, they jumped out to a big early lead and coasted to an 11-4 victory to even the series, then behind an auspicious Double-A debut by left-hander Yu-Min Lin, they posted a rare 8-0 shutout victory to win the series Sunday.
That leaves Amarillo with a 10-5 record, tied with Midland atop the second half Texas League South division standings. The Sod Poodles are off Monday then will host a six-game series with the Wichita Wind Surge at Hodgetown starting at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday.
While the Soddies stumbled to an 8-3 loss in Friday’s series opener, they weren’t hurt by slow starts after that, jumping out to big leads in the second inning of the final two games and rolling the rest of the way.
“You never know how they’ll start off after the All-Star break,” Sod Poodles manager Shawn Roof said. “You’re just trying to get your feeling back, see pitches and throw strikes. We obviously knocked some rust off on Friday and Saturday and Sunday we played really good baseball. I’m excited with how we finished it off.”
Not all the faces the local fans saw were familiar, though. The biggest absence was second baseman and leadoff hitter Ryan Bliss, who prior to the break was leading the Texas League in hitting and was one of two players from the parent club Arizona Diamondbacks selected to the previous weekend’s Sirius XM Futures Game, along with Soddies teammate Jordan Lawlar.
Bliss and Lawlar went to Seattle for the Futures Game as part of All-Star week, but only Lawlar returned to Amarillo. The Diamondbacks promoted Bliss to Triple-A Reno two days before the homestand started.
Meanwhile, four players were promoted from Class A Hillsboro to fill spots on the roster. Lin, third baseman Ivan Melendez, catcher J.J. D’Orazio and left-handed reliever Will Mabrey all made their Hodgetown debuts last weekend.
“I was ready for two days,” said Lin in English, his second language. “I did a great job today. I was nervous and I had a lot of energy, but I had my team around me and I’m very happy.”
Roof was expecting Lin to play a big role for the Soddies, but even he was pleasantly surprised by the new lefty’s dominance. In a confounding oddity. Lin was also the first left-hander to start on the mound for the Sod Poodles this season.
“I knew he was nasty, but to come in here in his Double-A debut against a very good hitting team with a lot of prospects is huge,” Roof said. “He went right after them. He threw five pitches for strikes and that was fun to watch. Any time you can kind of change up some different looks after (opponents) see three or four righties in a series, it kind of changes the dynamics of things.”
It was actually the second solid starting pitching performance of the weekend for the Sod Poodles. Saturday night, Jamison Hill, perhaps the team’s best starter over the past few weeks, threw five innings, giving up only two hits and a first inning run to pick up the victory and even his record at 4-4.
Lin and Hill were also backed by the long ball, which accounted for the lopsided nature of both wins. The Sod Poodles hit five homers in their win Saturday and hit a pair of roundtrippers in a five-run second inning of Sunday’s win.
Mashing Melendez
Perhaps the only downside of Sunday’s win, at least from the fans’ standpoint, is that Melendez wasn’t in the lineup. Based on his first two Class AA games at Hodgetown, he’s likely to become a fan favorite.
Melendez, an El Paso native who was a second-round draft pick out of the University of Texas last year, showed the power which has made him the No. 7 prospect in the Diamondbacks organization.
In his debut Friday, Melendez blasted a solo homer to left in the seventh inning, and in the ninth inning he hit an opposite field single to right to complete a productive 2-for-4 night. Saturday, Melendez hit a Titanic solo homer to left, also in the seventh inning, which measured 428 feet.
That’s the type of thing which is expected from Melendez in the friendly confines of Hodgetown after he hit .270 with 18 homers and 43 RBis in the more spacious park at Hillsboro.
“It definitely lives up to the hype,” said Melendez of Hodgetown’s hitter-friendly nature. “It seems like I barely made contact with some balls. In (batting practice) I hit the ball oppo for a home run and I’ve already hit various homers here. I’m enjoying hitting here so far.
“Ever since spring training everybody’s been talking about how the ball flies here and how excited everybody was to get out of Hillsboro since it’s such a pitchers’ park. I hit some there with 110 exit velo and it still didn’t leave the yard.”
Melendez is a power hitter of a feast or famine nature, and he did strike out three times in two games. Roof prefers to see his stronger upside though.
“Obviously he’s a very good baseball player,” Roof said of Melendez. “He obviously has big time power and he can play defense at both infield corner spots (first and third base). We’re just looking forward to seeing what he is. We don’t need him to come in here and try to hit 25 or 30 home runs, he just needs to be the best version of himself.”
Lin and Melendez made the biggest splashes of the new players this weekend, but D’Orazio and Mabrey also showed they belong in Double-A. D’Orazio was 3-for-7 with a double and drove in a run and scored a run, and Mabrey pitched an inning of scoreless relief in Friday’s loss.
Welcoming Wichita
After the usual off day Monday, the Soddies return to action for the more “traditional” six-game series with Wichita, the only time the two teams will meet this season. Peter Solomon (0-0, 3.95 ERA) will start on Tuesday, followed by Chad Patrick (3-7, 5.67) on Wednesday.
The promotions will start with Taco Tuesday, which features two tacos for $3, followed by Weiner Wednesday, with $1 hot dogs, and the Sod Poodles will take the field as the Pointy Boots. Thirsty Thursdays will feature $2 beers and fountain sodas and Friday will be Christmas in July presented by Country Auto Group, where a fan can win a 2023 Toyota Corolla.
There will be postgame fireworks Friday and Saturday.