Reed uses power, speed for Poodles history

After a cold start, Buddy Reed is starting to look like the athlete who earned a trip to the 2018 All-Star Futures Game, and that can only mean good things for the Padres and baseball fans in the Texas Panhandle.
San Diego's No. 17 prospect finished 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs in Double-A Amarillo's 10-8 win over Corpus Christi on Thursday. One of his jacks was the first inside-the-parker hit at Hodgetown, the Sod Poodles' new ballpark, and the first since the franchise relocated from San Antonio for the 2019 season.
After a 1-for-17 (.059) beginning to the year, the 23-year-old center fielder has four home runs in the past four games and has gone 7-for-17 (.412) during Amarillo's opening homestand.

On Thursday, he capped a seven-run third inning for Amarillo by knocking a three-run long ball to left field against right-hander Jose Bravo. Three frames later, facing lefty Brandon Bailey, the switch-hitter drove a 1-1 pitch deep to center. It ricocheted off the wall as center fielder Ronnie Dawson tried to make a play on it as Reed scampered all the way around the bases and across home plate standing up.
He also worked a full-count walk in the first and singled to left in the seventh, and his four-RBI night paced a Sod Poodles offense that made the most of their 13 hits. The team went 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position, including RBI singles by No. 15 Padres prospect Hudson Potts and 23rd-ranked prospect Edward Olivares.
Gameday box score
When the Padres took Reed with the 48th pick in the 2016 Draft, he offered a lot of natural athleticism. That showed last season when he swiped 33 bases and compiled a .324/371/.529 slash line in 79 games with Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore. A promotion to the Texas League didn't eliminate Reed's ability to steal bags, but proved to be the challenge at the plate. He hit .179 in 179 at-bats.

That period of adjustment appears to be over. On top of his big night at the dish, Reed flashed his 60-grade arm, earning an outfield assist by firing a laser from the gap in right-center to nab Dawson at third base and end the Corpus Christi seventh.
Jesse Scholtens (1-0) picked up the victory, allowing two runs -- one earned -- on seven hits and a walk while striking out four over five innings.