Ivan Melendez raked with Texas, leading the nation with 32 home runs and becoming the first UT player to win the Golden Spikes award. He also won the Dick Howser Trophy, cementing his status as a certified Longhorns legend.
He raked in the Diamondbacks’ High Single-A affiliate, hitting a Hillsboro-record 18 bombs in 58 games. You can probably guess what he’s done in his first two games since being promoted to the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles.
In his return to the Lone Star State, the former Longhorn has homered in both games.
The “Hispanic Titanic” started off slow this season, but eventually shrugged it off and is now slashing .274/.355/.611 in his first full season since being drafted in the second round of the MLB draft by the Diamondbacks. He began his professional career last year with 29 games in rookie ball and Single-A, where he hit .206/.358/.351.
That slow first-year put caution in the scouts at MLB.com, who currently have Melendez as the seventh-ranked prospect in a stacked Arizona system that includes the likes of 2021 No. 6 pick Jordan Lawler and 2022 No. 2 pick Drew Jones. Thanks to his below-average speed/defense, their scouts predict that he “will have to show his bat can carry a 1B/DH profile,” but that he does have a “recent history of proving himself at the right time.”
Hitting at the right time? Texas fans know El Rey can do that.
Amarillo’s next game will be on Tuesday vs. the Wichita Wind Surge.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas-ex Ivan Melendez shines in Diamondbacks Double-A affiliate