Mack - Mock Draft v3.0 - Pick 34 - 1B - Ivan Melendez

 

Ivan Melendez 

1B      Texas

 

4-4-22 - Texas Baseball @TexasBaseball 

March was the month of 1B Ivan Melendez. 

The Hispanic Titanic hit .473 with 11 bombs and 29 RBI to earn NCBWA Player of the Month.

 https://t.co/wyS0QQeYSy   https://t.co/hlCv7uKIfN 

 

3-30-22 - Prospect Live - Week 6 - 

IVAN MELENDEZ, 1B, TEXAS 

Melendez is seemingly a weekly candidate for Gassed Up and he's clearly living up to the "Hispanic Titanic" moniker. Melendez swatted four homers with a 2.152 OPS in four games. He also successfully reached base in thirteen straight plate appearances which was enough for him to earn BIG 12 player of the week honors, his second time winning the award this season. 

Melendez was drafted by the Marlins in the 16th round last year but decided not to sign. That bet on himself looks like a fantastic decision as Melendez has already matched his home run total from last year with thirteen long balls to date. There might not be a college bat with more power than Melendez who ranks #162 on the 2022 draft board. 

 

3-15-22 - https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2022/3/15/mlb-draft-week-4-live-looks - 

IVAN MELENDEZ, 1B, TEXAS 

There’s no one else in the college landscape with more raw power than Melendez, and with a nickname like the “Hispanic Titanic”, you’re in for a show when he steps to the plate. 

This weekend was a power display that I have never seen before from the Longhorns’ first baseman. He went deep three times during the weekend, two to deep left center field and one high off the batter's eye. There’s top of the scale raw power in his bat, with the longest of these blasts went 493 feet and hit the top of the concession stand beyond the batter’s eye. Not to mention, he’s got top of the scale bat flip prowess, too. He generates a ton of bat speed and separates his hips and shoulders relatively well, with a similar swing to current Boston Red Sox DH J.D. Martinez. There’s always going to be swing-and-miss with his profile at the plate and he’s more than likely stuck at first base at the next level. It’s an average arm with some athleticism to his frame, but he struggles to move well laterally. With the hit tool, it’s likely no more than below-to-fringe average at best, but a team on Day 2 will be giddy to add that kind of power to their farm system. 

-Tyler Jennings

 

2-12-22 - https://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=20433&src=hmrep&s=03 - 

Impact Senior 

Ivan Melendez, 1B, Texas 

Melendez was an absolute force for the Horns in 2021 as they came just short of the CWS Finals. The corner infielder hit .319 with 13 bombs and some of the best batted ball data in the country as he could be gearing up for a Niko Kavadas-esque encore in hopes of leading Texas to a CWS title in his final season. -VC

 

12-30-21 - https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2021/12/29/2022-mlb-draft-top-300-prospects 

140 Ivan Melendez 1B Texas El Paso, TX 

A 2021 16th round selection by the Miami Marlins, Melendez decided against signing to return to Texas. He's a hulking slugger with immense raw power. There's some swing-and-miss here but you'd be hard-pressed to find many other players in the 2022 draft class that hit the ball as hard as Melendez does. Some athleticism too, might be able to play some third base, though he's not too agile laterally. Arm is average. Ultimately, his best position will likely be first base at the next level. Melendez is a quintessential slugger who will have to make his money at the plate. 

 

12-13-21 - Prospect Live - Top College First Basemen - 

IVAN MELENDEZ, TEXAS 

After a blistering JUCO career at Odessa College, Melendez showed up in Austin last season and pounded the baseball for the Longhorns. A 6-foot-3, 230-pound bruiser, Melendez checks all the boxes you’d expect in the batters box and has enough athleticism to handle the bag, as well as the arm to handle third base in a pinch. Melendez was a 16th round selection by the Miami Marlins last year, but returns to school in the hopes of jumping up into the top ten rounds and help push a loaded Texas squad deep into Omaha. 

Melendez had a huge 2021 slashing .319/.438/.603 with 13 homers. Those outlandish figures, coupled with elite batted-ball data, landed Melendez inside the Top 20 in the entire country in xwOBA. The hulking righty actually led the entire country in average exit velocity last season, an outlandish 98.7 mph figure. Make no mistake, this is comfortably 70-grade raw power. That’s certainly the book on Melendez. He pummels the baseball. As you might imagine, there are some strikeout concerns in this profile. If there wasn’t, Melendez would have gone well before the 16th round this July. He punched out a quarter of his at-bats last season. If Melendez can get that number under 20 percent, he could hear his name jump into that top-five round range in 2022.

 He only played six games in the field last season. 

 

7-22-21 - burnt orange - 

On Wednesday, Texas Longhorns designated hitter/first baseman Ivan Melendez announced via Twitter that after being selected in the 16th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins, he’ll return to the Forty Acres for his junior season on 2022. 

Ranked as a top-200 prospect by ESPN, Melendez fell in the draft due to concerns about his glove after only playing a handful of games at first base in 2021 and then asked for above slot value after he was selected with the No. 479 pick. 

After transferring from Odessa College, the 6’3, 225-pounder hit .319 with 13 home runs and 51 RBI in his first season at Texas. During a remarkable stretch in April, Melendez hit home runs in six consecutive games, setting a school record.