Sod Poodles 2023 Opening Night Roster

Sod Poodles 2023 Opening Night Roster

Two of D-backs’ Top 5 Prospects Begin Season in Amarillo

AMARILLO, Texas — Today in conjunction with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Amarillo Sod Poodles released their 2023 Opening Night Roster. The Sod Poodles begin the season with four of the D-backs’ current Top-30 prospects (MLB Pipeline), including No. 2-rated prospect (No. 11 MLB) Jordan Lawlar, the sixth overall draft pick in the 2021 MLB Draft. Corner infielder Deyvison De Los Santos, the D-backs’ No. 5-rated prospect begins the season with Amarillo. A.J. Vukovich, a fourth-round draft pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, enters this season as the No. 14-rated prospect. The lone pitching prospect on the Sod Poodles’ initial roster is former 18th overall pick, RHP Bryce Jarvis, who was selected by the D-backs during the 2020 MLB Draft.

Twenty of the initial 28 players on the active roster spent at least some time in Amarillo during the 2022 season. RHP Jeff Bain enters the 2023 season as the Sod Poodles all-time wins leader with 11. Bain went 8-1 with a 3.80 ERA in 33 relief appearances during the 2022 season. Catcher Juan Centeno returns to the Sod Poodles after earning 2022 Texas League Post-Season All-Star honors. Centeno had a career year last season, hitting .302 (94-for-311) with 14 home runs, 22 doubles, and 58 RBI in 81 games with Amarillo. Nick Dalesandro returns to Amarillo after tying the single-season franchise-high with 35 stolen bases. The outfielder/catcher appeared in 84 games, hitting .275 (77-for-280) with 12 doubles, a triple, and two home runs. Caleb Roberts was one of many late-season call-ups from High-A Hillsboro at the end of the 2022 season who will begin 2023 back in Amarillo. In his final nine games, the lefty hit .323 (10-for-31) with a pair of doubles, a triple, and five RBI.

LHP Kyle Backhus joins Jordan Lawlar as the two Lone Star State natives on the 2023 Sod Poodles Opening Night roster. Backhus hails from New Waverly, Texas, and attended college at Sam Houston State. Lawlar played his high school ball at Jesuit Prep HS in the Dallas area prior to being selected by the D-backs in 2021.

The full Opening Night roster breaks down as follows:

Pitchers (15): RHP Luke Albright, LHP Kyle Backhus, RHP Jeff Bain, RHP Jackson Goddard, RHP Jamison Hill, RHP Bryce Jarvis (No. 27), RHP Christian Montes De Oca, RHP Deyni Olivero, RHP Michel Otanez, RHP Chad Patrick, RHP Austin Pope, LHP Jake Rice, LHP Andrew Saalfrank, RHP Raffi Vizcaíno, and RHP Blake Workman

Catchers (2): Juan Centeno, Adrian Del Castillo

Infielders (6): Ryan Bliss, Deyvison De Los Santos (No. 5), Tristin English, Jonathan Guzman, Jordan Lawlar (No. 2), A.J. Vukovich (No. 14)

 Outfielders (5): Neyfy Castillo, Nick Dalesandro, Roby Enriquez, Caleb Roberts, Tm Tawa

 The Sod Poodles start the 2023 season with a three-game road trip to face off against the defending Texas League Champions, the Frisco RoughRiders (Double-A, TEX). Amarillo returns for the home opener at HODGETOWN on Tuesday, April 11, when the team will host the Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A, HOU). Tickets for the opening week are available now by visiting www.sodpoodles.com/tickets. For group and hospitality options for the 2023 season, please email groups@sodpoodles.com or call us at (806) 803-9547.

For more information on the four Diamondbacks Top-30 Prospects on the Opening Night Roster, see below:

Lawlar – The D-backs’ No. 2-rated prospect (No. 11 MLB) cruised through what was his first full professional season. After playing in just two professional games due to a shoulder injury in 2021, the newly-turned 20-year-old hit .303 (118-for-389) in 100 games between four separate levels in 2022. He wasted no time showing off the tools that got him drafted sixth overall in 2021, homering in his first at-bat of the year with Low-A Visalia. Lawlar joined Corbin Carroll as the only two D-backs prospects to participate in the Sirius XM MLB All-Star Futures Game during MLB All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles last summer. He was promoted to Amarillo from High-A Hillsboro on August 23, 2022, and played in the final 20 games of the season with Amarillo, hitting .212 (18-for-85) with four home runs and 11 RBI. He was invited to the Arizona Fall League following the 2022 Minor League season but was limited to just 11 games before an injured scapula ended his AFL season. As a non-roster invitee to MLB Spring Training, he collected three hits in 15 at-bats including a home run.

De Los Santos  – The 19-year-old made a splash in 2022, leading the entire Arizona Diamondbacks farm system with 106 RBI across three levels. He also ranked top five in the system in hits (2nd, 157), total bases (2nd, 256), extra-base hits (T-3rd, 53), doubles (4th, 29), batting average (4th, .306), and home runs (T-4th, 22). He spent much of the season with Low-A Visalia (78 games) and won the California League batting title, hitting .329 (104-for-316). Like Lawlar, De Los Santos made a stop in Hillsboro prior to being promoted to Double-A for the end of the season. He appeared in just 10 games but collected nine hits including a pair of doubles and a home run. He also was invited to the Arizona Fall League at the end of the 2022 minor league season, hitting .219 (14-for-64) with five doubles, a triple, and nine RBI.  

Vukovich – The 21-year-old was another player who earned an end-of-season promotion to Double-A and proved he could handle the competition. In 11 games, the former fourth-round draft pick hit .295 (13-for-44) with a hit in each of his final 10 games after going 0-for-4 in his Amarillo debut. He slugged two home runs in Amarillo threads, his only two extra-base hits after his end-of-season bump. At 6’2 / 210, he proved to be extremely nimble, stealing the third-most bases in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system in 2022. The Mukwonago, Wis. native, also finished the season ranked top 10 in RBI (5th, 78), hits (6th, 129), total bases (6th, 210), doubles (T-6th, 26), home runs (7th, 17), and extra-base hits (8th, 45).

Jarvis – Jarvis was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 18^th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft out of Duke. Jarvis spent his 2022 season with Amarillo after appearing in eight games with the Sod Poodles in 2021. In 2022, the right-hander logged a single-season franchise-best 25 games, along with fellow right-hander Slade Cecconi. Jarvis earned Texas League Pitcher of the Week honors after spinning 6.0 IP where he allowed just one run on one hit and struck out three against Tulsa on April 16. His 25 starts last season were tied for the fifth-most in the D-backs’ farm system to go along with having the ninth most strikeouts a season ago.

#SODPOODLES#

Cory Hilborne

Director of Media Relations & Baseball Operations

2019 Texas League Champion Amarillo Sod Poodles Baseball

P: 806-803-9614

E: coryh@sodpoodles.com

A: 715 S. Buchanan Street, Amarillo, TX 79101

www.sodpoodles.com