Report: El Rey to become a Sod Poodle
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The day after hitting his 18th home run of the season with the Hillsboro Hops, El Pasoan Ivan Melendez is being promoted to the Amarillo Sod Poodles. MILB Central were the first to report the news.
The Coronado grad has spent the entirety of his first full season in the pros, up until this point, with the Hops - the Diamondbacks High A team.
The call-up to Double-A has been coming for quite some time. The 2022 Golden Spikes Award winner holds the Hops franchise record for most home runs in a season with 18. He is batting .270, has 43 RBIs and 61 hits in 58 games.
Melendez told ABC-7 a few weeks ago that one of his goals this season was to make a level jump but he wasn't focusing on it.
"At some point I think it would happen, but I just take it day-by-day" Melendez said. "This game is kind of hard, if you start thinking of other things than your job, the game will speedup and catchup on you."
Melendez was drafted at No. 43 overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2022 draft and is currently the No. 7 prospect in the organization.
The Soddies are back in action on Friday, July 14 for a three-game series against Frisco.
