Names to Know to Kickoff The Sod Poodles Season
Since the inaugural season in 2019 there has been no shortage of star power in Bomb City. Major league closers David Bednar, Andres Munoz, and Trevor Megill shut down opposing offenses, and National’s Opening Day starter MacKenzie Gore joined halfway through the season on the way to the 2019 Texas League Championship. That season also included a brief appearance from Fernando Tatis Jr. before he burst onto the scene. In 2022, Corbin Carroll put together arguably the best individual season in Sod Poodles history a year before winning National League Rookie of the Year and helping the Diamondbacks return to the World Series for the first time since 2001. Who’s got next? Let’s take a look at some of the top prospects on the roster to start the season.
Tommy Troy – Infielder
5′ 9″ 197 LBS / Age: 23 / Drafted: 2023 1st Round (#12 overall to Arizona) / Stanford
2024 High-A Hillsboro:
19 XBH, 64/30 K/BB, 16/21 SB /
.227/.319/.347
Two years after leading the Cardinal to Omaha former first round pick Tommy Troy is looking to pick up where he left off after swinging a hot bat to close out the season in High-A Hillsboro (.278/.375/.447/.882 after August 1st) and in the Arizona Fall League where he hit .290/.380/.484 with 11 XBH in 22 games. Troy got to play sparingly in Spring Training (.417/.462/.500/.962) but posted a blistering 90% Contact Rate in his 13 PA, and remarkably almost didn’t swing and miss in any of them (5.4% Swinging Strike Rate). Troy bats right and throws right, splits time between 2B/SS/DH in 2024, and the first round pick will get his first taste of Double-A action when the Sod Poodles travel to San Antonio on Friday.
LuJames “Gino” Groover III – Infielder
6′ 2″ / 212 LBS / Age: 22 / Drafted: 2023 2nd Round (#48 overall to Arizona) / NC State – UNC Charlotte
2024 High-A Hillsboro / Double-A Amarillo:
21 XBH / 24/20 K/BB
.281/.367/.474
The former NC State Wildcat is the first familiar face on this list for the Amarillo faithful. After Groover hit .272 /.360/.457 in Hillsboro he was promoted late in 2024 and hit the ground running, slashing .340/.400/.600 with a .446 wOBA. His season of success didn’t stop there, as the infielder stayed hot during the Arizona Fall league. Groover has spent most of his time as a professional playing third base but has played games at 1B and 2B as well in 2024. The Sod Poodle should boast an intriguing infield with just the bats of Troy and Groover alone.
Spencer Giesting – Left Handed Pitcher
6′ 4″ 200 LBS / Age: 23 / Drafted: 2022 11th Round (#318 overall to Arizona) / UNC Charlotte
2024 High-A Hillsboro / Double-A Amarillo:
3.31 ERA / 154-44 K-BB
141.1 IP / 1.18 WHIP
The lefty starter was teammates with Groover at Charlotte before the infielder transferred to NC State. Giesting was taken in the 11th round by the Diamondbacks in 2022, and boasts a fastball, curveball, cutter, changeup mix that also includes a nasty Slider. The left hander was dominant early in his 10 starts at High-A in 2024 logging a 1.50 ERA with a 2.53 FIP in 60 Innings. Giesting also struck out 67 and walked 13 in that stint before being promoted to Amarillo in June. Giesting got off to a rough start in Double-A including a July that saw him give up 20 ER, but as the season progressed he got more and more comfortable, finishing his final three starts in September with a 2.76 ERA and a 19/1 K/BB rate. As a whole, Giesting was nails when he got himself into trouble, batters hit .211 with RISP against him in 2024.
Gavin Conticello – Outfielder
6’3” 195 LBS / Age: 23 / Drafted: 8th Round (#228 Overall to Arizona) / Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, FL
2024 High-A Hillsboro / Double-A Amarillo
49 XBH / 20-24 SB
.280/.343/.431
The 6’3 lefty patrolled the outfield for the first time in his professional career in 2024. He played 83% of his games out there while recording 14 outfield assists. Conticello slashed .282/.346/.429, but struggled against left handed pitching, only recording only 5 extra base hits in 126 PA. Conticello was an efficient base runner going 20 for 24 on stolen base attempts in 126 games in Hillsboro before getting called up to Amarillo in August. After recording 49 extra base hits in 2024, Conticello begins his 2025 where he ended 2024, in the outfield for the Sod Poodles.
Joe Elbis – Right Handed Pitcher
6’1 150 LBS / 2019 International Free Agent / Caracas, Venezuela
2024 High-A Hillsboro / Double-A Amarillo:
3.39 ERA / 112-47 K-BB
135.1 IP / 1.19 WHIP
Elbis put together arguably the best minor league pitching month of anyone last year. In 4 starts in May the lefty gave up only a single earned run in the whole month striking out 23 and walking just 3 in the process. That May was a part of a stint in Hillsboro that saw him pitch to a 2.79 ERA in 16 starts, before getting his promotion in late July. Amarillo tends to be a nightmare for pitchers and Eblis had 5 of his 8 starts at home leading to a 4.60 ERA in 45 innings to end the season last year. Signed out of Venezuela in 20, Elbis has a repertoire containing a fastball, curveball, changeup, a slider that will make its return to Amarillo after he starts the year on the IL due to an undisclosed injury.
Dylan Ray – Right Handed Pitcher
6’3’ 230 LBS / Age: 23 / Drafted: 2022 1st Round (#108 Overall to Arizona) / Alabama
2024 Double-A Amarillo:
5.22 ERA / 68-32 K-BB
60.2 IP / 1.54 WHIP
Like Elbis, the 2022 4th round pick is a perfect example of what Hodgetown can do to a pitcher. Ray spent almost all of 2025 in Amarillo, where in 7 starts on the road in 2025 had an ERA of 3.23 and held batters to a .211 BA. Unfortunately at home he surrendered a 6.33 ERA and batters hit a whopping .320 BA in 10 starts. Between the elevation and the west Texas wind, balls just fly further in Bomb City where the righty surrendered 11 of his 16 Home Runs. Ray also struggled in the Arizona Fall League, but looks for a fresh start in 2025 with his fastball, curveball, change up slider mix.
There’s only one way to find out who the new stars are and it begins at Wolff tonight at 7:05!
