On Tuesday, three top-10 Arizona Diamondbacks prospects were awarded Texas League All-Star honors for their efforts with the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles this season.
No. 5 prospect and infielder Tommy Troy was the highest-ranked D-backs prospect to get the nod. Left-handed starting pitcher Mitch Bratt (No. 9) and infielder LuJames Groover (No. 10) were the others honored.
Troy did not spend the entire season with the Sod Poodles — because he was promoted to Triple-A Reno after just 87 games with Amarillo.
Troy hit .286/.382/.461 with an .843 OPS and 12 homers for the Sod Poodles and played a solid second base. After his promotion to Reno, Troy continued his hot pace, hitting .295/.381/.429 with three homers at the Triple-A level.
Troy is still just 23 years old. He was Arizona's 2023 first round Draft pick, and has been playing like it, climbing up the D-backs' prospect rankings.
Bratt, 22, was one of the returns in Arizona's Deadline trade with the Rangers — the one that sent right-handed veteran Merrill Kelly to Texas.
The left-hander immediately slotted in to the top 10 of the D-backs' prospect list, and is currently Arizona's No. 3 pitching prospect, behind fellow trade member Kohl Drake and 2025 first-rounder Patrick Forbes.
Bratt has looked like a solid investment so far, pitching to a 3.98 ERA over six starts for the Sod Poodles. He's had some rough appearances, but also pitched seven innings with one earned run and eight strikeouts on August 26 — his deepest since June of 2024.
Arizona was in dire need of reinforcements to their minor league pitching reserves, and Bratt looks to be an arm that may be worthy of contributing at themajor league level down the road.
No. 10 prospect and third baseman LuJames Groover had an excellent offensive season for the Sod Poodles. Groover earned the Texas League batting title with a .309 average. Even considering the mild offensive emphasis in the Texas League, it was an impressive feat for the 23-year-old.
That helped Groover earn an .833 OPS. He hit 23 doubles and 12 homers in 547 plate appearances. While he didn't take many walks (63), he also limited his strikeouts (79) and hit for contact at a solid rate.
Groover was one-half of Arizona's representation at the 2025 All-Star Futures Game and has been playing improved defense at third base. Groover is a likely candidate to find himself with the Reno Aces sooner than later.
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