Amarillo Sod Poodles Opening Day Roster Revealed

AMARILLO, Texas – Today, in conjunction with the Arizona Diamondbacks, The Amarillo Sod Poodles released their Opening Day roster for the 2022 season. The Sod Poodles begin the season with nine of the D-backs’ current Top 30 prospects (MLB Pipeline), including outfielder Corbin Carroll, who is the No. 2 rated prospect in the organization and No. 19 in all of baseball. Pitchers Drey Jameson (No. 6), Bryce Jarvis (No. 7), and Brandon Pfaadt (No. 10) round out the four top-10 organizational prospects on the initial roster.

17 players who spent time during the 2021 season with Amarillo will return for a second stint with the Soddies including outfielder Dominic Fletcher, who currently ranks as the No. 20 prospect. Fletcher hit .264 with 15 home runs, 18 doubles, five triples, and 56 RBI over 102 games last season. Another familiar face for Sod Poodles fans will be RHP Matt Tabor. The No. 22 rated prospect tossed the first-ever no-hitter in Sod Poodles history on July 11, 2021, against San Antonio. Tabor will be featured for the accomplishment and immortalized in bobblehead form on the final home game of the regular season on Sunday, September 11.

RHP Blake Rogers is the lone Texas native on the Opening Day roster and also spent time with Amarillo in 2021, and in 2019 when he was a part of the San Diego Padres organization.

The full Opening Day roster breaks down as follows:

Pitchers (16): RHP Jeff Bain, LHP Cam Booser, RHP Slade Cecconi (No. 11), RHP Keegan Curtis, RHP Brett de Geus, LHP Junior Garcia, LHP Kenny Hernandez, RHP Drey Jameson, RHP Bryce Jarvis, RHP Levi Kelly (No. 23), RHP Justin Lewis, RHP Kai-Wei Lin, RHP Brandon Pfaadt, RHP Blake Rogers RHP Matt Tabor, RHP Blake Workman.

Catchers (2): Juan Centeno, Nick Dalesandro

Infielders (6): Blaze Alexander (No. 28), Leandro Cedeno, Jancarlos Cintron, Jordan Howard, Drew Stankiewicz, Andy Yerzy

Outfielders (4): Dominic Canzone, Corbin Carroll, Eduardo Diaz, Dominic Fletcher

Carroll – The 16th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft out of Lakeside High School in Seattle, WA, enters his third professional season and first at the Double-A level. The outfielder played just seven games with High-A Hillsboro in 2021 before having his season cut short due to shoulder surgery. While on the field, Carroll was a dominant hitter, slashing .316/.542/.970 with two home runs and two triples in 23 at-bats. Carroll enters 2022 as the No. 2 rated prospect in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and No. 19 prospect in all baseball. As a non-roster invitee to big league camp, he recorded two hits in 11 at-bats while also drawing three walks.

Jameson – The hard-throwing right-hander made eight starts with the Sod Poodles last season, racking up 68 strikeouts over 46.1 innings after arriving in Amarillo. His strikeout total ranked T-1st in the minors from August 1 through the end of the Double-A season on September 19. In his Amarillo debut, he struck out 11 Frisco RoughRiders, setting what was then the franchise high. He began his Double-A career with four-straight quality starts. Jameson was selected by the Diamondbacks with the 34th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft out of Ball State University. He began the 2021 season as the No. 22 rated prospect and ended the year at No. 17. He had one of the biggest jumps when MLB Pipeline released their 2022 prospect rankings, climbing all the way to No. 7.

Jarvis – The 18th overall selection in the 2020 MLB Draft out of Duke made his way to Amarillo in his first professional season. In 15 combined starts between Hillsboro and Amarillo, Jarvis struck out 82 batters over 72.1 innings. He missed time on the injured list for most of July and August but picked up his first Double-A win on July 3 against Wichita. The right-hander set what was then a franchise-high with 11 punchouts over a career-high seven innings of work. He begins his 2022 campaign as the No. 7 rated prospect and No. 4 pitching prospect in the D-backs' organization.

Pfaadt – Taken by the Diamondbacks in the 5th round in the 2020 MLB Draft, the right-hander shined in his first professional season. The former Bellarmine Knight climbed to Double-A after just 16 professional starts between Hillsboro and Low-A Visalia. He finished the season ranked 1st in the D-backs system in innings pitched (131.2), wins (T-2, 8), strikeouts (2nd, 160), and games started (3rd, 22). After starting the year outside the D-backs Top-30 prospect rankings, Pfaadt finished the year rated No. 26. He begins his second professional season as the No. 10 rated prospect. He had 11 quality starts in his 22 games, including a nine-inning complete-game shutout in his fourth start in Hillsboro where he allowed just four hits.

Cecconi – He was another high draft pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks, being selected with the 33rd overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft out of the University of Miami. He made just 12 starts with High-A Hillsboro, going 4-2 with a 4.12 ERA and posted 63 strikeouts in 59 innings. He had back-to-back starts of seven innings on July 15 and 22. He set his career-high with 10 strikeouts against Eugene on the 22nd. The right-hander enters the year ranked as the No. 11 prospect in the system.