El Pasoan Ivan Melendez is Having a Stellar Start to his First Full Season of Professional Baseball

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Pasoan Ivan Melendez is in the midst of his first full season of his professional baseball career. Practically halfway through and Melendez is hitting balls left, right and center despite the pressure that come with being the No. 7 prospect for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"People have been keeping up with me since I was 20, 21 and now I'm 23 so I've gotten used to it but at first, at times there can be a little bit of pressure just trying to produce because you know people are watching," Melendez said. "I think pressure is a privilege you know without expectations it means people don’t really think much of you so I think it’s cool the pressure and expectations and everything that comes with it.”

The Coronado grad was lightly recruited out of high school and ended up spending two years at Odessa College before transferring to Texas.

“I was kind of a late developer in a way," Melendez said. "I kinda thought I had the talent and tools to play at a certain level.”

His talent and tools were put on full display with the Longhorns. In 2021 Melendez led the team with a batting average of .319. He had 13 home runs and a .603 slugging percentage. His stats saw him get drafted in the 16th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins.

But the kid from the Sun City chose to go back to Texas and it was probably a smart choice. In 2022 he improved his batting average to .387, set a new NCAA single-season home run record in the BBCOR era with 32 (the record was broken on Sunday by Florida's Jac Caglianone) and won just about every national award up for grabs in college baseball, including the Golden Spikes Award.

That sw Melendez get drafted at No. 43 overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“Right when you get drafted you start like a whole new career," Melendez said. "Whether your first overall pick or pick 248, it doesn’t matter, you’ve still got to go out there and produce.”

Producing was something Melendez struggled with at the start of his first full season in the pros with the Dbacks High A team the Hillsboro Hops.

After missing a few games due to a hand injury, Melendez through seven games in April was hitting anything but Titanic shots. He was batting below .100, he'd been struck out 10 times off 22 at-bats and had just the two hits.

Then on the 21st in his 7th game in April, Melendez was hit by a pitch and wouldn't return until May 3rd.

“It’s kind of tough just like coming back those first couple of games," Melendez said. "The game can kind of catch up on you, but after that it gets normal.”

It didn't take long for Melendez to find form again. In his third game back he got a hit which would kickoff a 17-game hit streak which set a new franchise record for the Hops.

That's just the beginning of Melendez hitting his name into the record books with Hillsboro.

On Friday he hit for a cycle - the first one by a Hops player at home. And at 14 home runs he's just two away from setting a new single season home run record with Hillsboro.

They're records Melendez isn't aware of until he breaks them and for him right now the real achievement is being trusted to play third base over his usual first, watching his instincts for the game grow and learning how to slow the game down.

The hope is that soon all of it will culminate in the slugger achieving his goal this season of making a level jump.

“At some point I think it will happen but just taking it day by day because this game is kind of hard," Melendez said. "If you start thinking of other things then your job, then the game will speed up and catch up on you.”

When it happens one think you can be sure of is Melendez, like he has every step of the way, will grab the opportunity with both hands and continue to hone his craft.

“It feels like the same game I’ve been playing my whole life from high school, college to now," Melendez said. "I guess the goals and the experiences change but it’s still the same game you’ve got to take it day by day and come out ready to work.”

The Hispanic Titanic's batting average is now at .283. He has 52 hits, 28 runs, 14 home runs, 36 RBIs in 184 at-bats for the Hops and has been struck-out 69 times.