Soddies by Morning: Welcoming Walcott, the Frisco Series Preview
- Austin Hartsfield
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
The Amarillo Sod Poodles will take on Sebastian Walcott and the Frisco Roughriders this week. Let's take a look at some of the bats we will see this week and one big league arm.
Top Hitting Prospects to Watch this week + 1 Big League Arm
We will get to the starting pitchers this week when it comes to pitcher previews each day this week, but today lets focus on some of the bats we will see every night and one special addition who may or may not be making an appearance.
#1 Prospect SS Sebastian Walcott (#1)
Ranger fans, your future might just be here at Hodgetown this week. Possibly the most talented Bahamian player in the history of their country, Walcott signed for three million dollars in 2023 and has been worth every single penny for Texas. The Rangers #1 prospect, and #8 overall, is a genuine potential 5 tool talent that you don’t see often, including insane pop off of his bat that will generate 105+ MPH exit velocities on a consistent basis. At 19 a young nineteen (March birthday) Walcott is the youngest player in the Texas League and you could never tell by watching him at the plate despite even struggling as of late.
Walcott did major damage against Amarillo pitching in April during the Sod Poodles trip to Dr. Pepper Ballpark, slashing .333/.519/.500/1.019 and a .400 BAPIP, and walking eight times while driving in four, and stealing a base with his plus speed in the six games. Only Roman Angelo finding significant success against him the first time around for Amarillo. Walcott also flashed the leather in that series, making a great play to climb the ladder and use all of his 6’4 frame to rob Jean Walters of a hit and showing his range on multiple occasions.
The numbers might not currently reflect the level of talent right now, but with all of the tools it feels inevitable, especially bringing those tools into Hodgetown this week. When it comes to Walcott, to quote Cormac McCarthy “You can’t stop what’s coming.”
Don’t miss the chance to see Walcott this week. We will have moer on the Rangers future superstar later in the week
#2 Prospect SP Kumar Rocker - Rehab Start (#80)
The former number three overall pick is recovering from a shoulder impingement and made a rehab start last week against Midland where he delivered three innings of two-hit baseball against a hot Rockhounds team while striking out three. Rocker has struggled early in 2025 seeing a lot of pitches meet hard contact to start his campaign before the injury.
Rocker’s main weapon is a good slider that in 2024 even by big league standards was a great pitch. It sits around 84 MPH and generates a 44% whiff rate, and made up 38.1% of his pitches in 2025, seeing a slightly different shape from his outings last year, moving more horizontal (0.7-1.8 inches) and significantly less drop (3.8-1.7 inches). Left handers will likely see a heavy dose of Rockers sinker that hangs around 95.2 MPH, but hasn’t been quite as effective as last year, having not generated only a 5% whiff rate (-15% from 2024) despite throwing 113 this year. He is throwing a lot more this year, jumping his usage from 16.5% in 2024 to 31.4%. Rocker’s fastball has averaged 95.4 MPH (-.6 MPH from 2024) so far and has been the primary source of most of the damage dealt against him. Hitters are hitting .455 against the right handers heater, which he has thrown 18.4% of the time this year. The Commodore has mixed in more curveballs this year averaging around 76 MPH on the breaking pitch, and has thrown just a single cutter that will probably not come into the mix this week.
You will know if Rocker has it pretty early, he has allowed 44% of all of the runs surrendered this year in the first inning before he can find his footing. Rocker may or may not get a second rehab start this week, but despite his struggles this year Rocker is still an immense talent that projects to have a good major league career and the Hodgetown crowd could be in for a treat getting a peak at the best two prospects the Rangers currently have to offer.
#13 Prospect1B/OF Abimelec Ortiz (#16)
Standing at 5'10" 230 Ortiz was the Rangers minor league player of the year in 2023 after he lead not just his level but the minors in slugging at .619 between Down East and Hickory. As expected he didn't see quite the same amount of success once he made the hardest jump in all of minor league baseball from High-A to Double-A in 2024, recording just a .760 OPS for the seaon. Ortiz' 2025 has looked a lot like his 2024, showcased by a nearly identical .244/.333/.417/.750 line but has produced in a major way in stretches. One of the most recent outbursts saw Ortiz anihliateCorpus Christi with a .450/.560/.1.000/1.560 slash and driving 11 runs with five extra base hits to win Texas League Player of the Week. The primary first basemen for Frisco relies on his offense to generate value like his mentor Carlos Delgado, who he started work with years ago to make some tweaks to his swing and his approach. The left hander will occasionaly play in the outfield but it seems that his abilities will land him playing first base.
In April Ortiz didn't have great success against Amarillo pitching, slashing .222/.333/.556/.889 with a .200 BAPIP, but did blast his first two home runs of 2025 off of Dylan Ray and Jose Cabrera.
#19 Prospect 2B/SS Cameron Cauley (#11)
Cauley is a speed demon. The former third round pick in 2025 has used his football speed to steal bases at an 89% (126/141) clip in his minor league career, including going 15/16 in 2025. The infielder has struggled at the plate in his first full season at Double-A, only hitting .222/.297/.366/.663 in the first two months of the year. That being said Cauley has managed to drop his strikeout rate from 29.2% to 25.0% and boost his walk rate a little from 8.4% to 9.9%, which with elite speed and baserunning instincts like that it can make more of a difference than you would think.
Game #1 Pitcher Previews
Frisco: RHP Daniel Missaki
0-2, 6.05 ERA - 4.51 FIP / 23 K - 11 BB
Missaki has struggled in 2025 as a starter, posting an 8.22 ERA in three starts this year. Both of his appearances against Amarillo this year were out of the pen with two very different results. The first night Amarillo jump on him early with Kristian Robinson tripled off of Missaki on the first pitch he saw, and Conticello would eventually drive him in with a single, but the right hander had much more success in his second outing, tossing a pair of scoreless innings days later.
Amarillo: TBA - Possibly Jose Cabrera
2-1, 4.85 ERA - 3.97 FIP / 42 K - 15 BB
This would normally be the slot where Jose Cabrera would slide in but after being pulled from his last start after what looked like overheating, we cannot be sure. Regardless let's preview Cabrera as if he were pitching tonight just in case.
The fast working Amarillo right hander wastes zero time on the mound, getting ready to pitch almost immediately after his previous delivery. Cabrera has a full arsenal that includes a fastball that sits around the lower to mid 90s, a sinker that hangs in the same vicinity, a cutter that lives in the upper 80s, a good slider like most of the organization in the upper 80s, a sweeper that gives hitters a different look in the lower 80s, and a changeup in the mid 80s. That combination has lead to Cabrera's 22.1% strikeout rate placing him just behind Spencer Giesting on the team this season.
Cabrera was great against Frisco the first time out, tossing six one run frames before the Roughriders would tag him for six runs in the second start of the series.
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