Soddies by Morning: Who is Coming Home Hot for Amarillo
The Sod Poodles took 2 games off of Frisco last week posting a 4-2 record for the set. Let's see who is coming back home to Amarillo on a roll...
Caleb Roberts - Outfielder/ First Basemen
.226/.328/.359/.686 - 6 XBH - 8 RBI
Caleb Roberts crushed Roughrider pitching in the last week specifically the weekend. After coming into the series slashing just .143/.265/.238/.503 and just 6 hits on the season. Something really clicked with Roberts this weekend. The outfielder hit his way to a 6/11 weekend, including a 3 double night on Friday in the Sod Poodles third win of the season. The Sod Poodles outfielder also grabbed his first steal of the year after swiping 11 in 2024. Roberts will go into the San Antonio series stills searching for Home Run #1 despite slugging 20 in his Double-A debut last year, and I have a feeling that we are going to see multiple this week.
Gavin Conticello - Outfielder / First Basemen
.244/.364/.444/.808 - 4 XBH - 13 RBI
The Amarillo left-hander hit .300/.375/.600./.808 for the series, belting his team leading second home run of the year (Robinson Cerda also have 2) after hitting a triple, trying to give the Sod Poodles late life on Sunday against Frisco. Conticello drove in 9 Sod Poodles in the Roughrider series alone, a part of a 5 games streak with an RBI in games he's started. The Missions might remember Conticello's first home run from when he took San Antonio reliever Carter Loewen deep. The outfielder and first basemen hasn't exactly started fast early in games with all 11 of his hits coming after the 4th inning.
Luke Albright - Right Handed Reliever
2.45 ERA - 1.36 WHIP - 8 K / 4 BB - 3.13 FIP / 4.63 xFIP
Despite only pitching in one appearance in the Frisco series, Luke Albright extended his scoreless innings streak to 6 games, when Albright went 2 innings in just 21 pitches on 16 strikes (76%). The remarkable thing is that there's something else that could make Albright even more effective than he's already been this year. Albright's only throwing first pitch strikes 32.3% of the time so far in his 7.1 innings, but remarkably the reliever hasn't allowed a hit when behind in the count. Albright could be a few first pitch strikes from elevating himself into being a premier arm in the backend of the bullpen more than he already has been.
Spencer Giesting - Left Handed Starter
2.20 ERA - 1.04 WHIP - 16.1 IP - 18 K / 6 BB - .177 BAA - 2.94 FIP / 3.95 xFIP
Stay Hot Spencer. What more really is there to say about the Spencer Giesting after 3 starts, and wins against teams that have winning records in the Texas League. Giesting once again went at least 5 innings, this week posting his longest outing of the year (6.1 IP) and striking out 8, looking more dominate then ever. When he gets himself into trouble, he gets himself out of it... As we talked about after his last start, Giesting has faced 7 batters this year with the bases loaded, and he has gotten every one of them out, striking out 3 of those batters. The lefty's ERA and FIP have fallen to 2.20 and 2.94 after his last start continuing a tear to begin 2025 so far. Giesting will get another shot at a Missions lineup that he held scoreless in his first outing of the season!
We've got a special pitching preview for you this week! Diego Garcia from East Village Times is going to be giving us a preview of each Missions pitcher this series to help get us ready for game time! Be sure to give Diego and East Village Times a follow this week!
Diego Garcia on Missions Starter Jagger Haynes
Left-hander Jagger Haynes takes the mound for San Antonio, coming off his strongest game of the season. The left-hander pitched into the sixth inning last time out against Northwest Arkansas, and while he struck out only two batters, Haynes kept counts short and made quick work of a potent Naturals lineup. The 2020 5th-rounder is in just his third professional season, but a strong summer stretch at High-A Fort Wayne pushed his stock up among scouts and evaluators. The young left-hander relies heavily on a fastball that sits between 91-94 mph, with the potential to reach as high as 97 depending on how much he rears back for. His changeup and breaking ball have made strides in the last two seasons, with his curveball/slider showing impressive bite, and he uses the pitch against batters of both sides, generating impressive whiff rates. While the changeup is a work in progress still, Haynes' arm action allows him to sell the pitch as though it is a fastball, just as it falls off the table. Haynes is waiting for his signature strikeout game of the season, and after striking out _ against the Sod Poodles a few weeks ago, he looks to continue the strong work from his last outing in Amarillo
First Pitch: 7:05 Tonight!
