
In the penultimate game of their six-game series at Hodgetown last Saturday, the Amarillo Sod Poodles had their first t-shirt giveaway of the season, and it was perfectly appropriate that LuJames Groover’s name was attached to it.
The shirt featured a portrait of Groover with the heading “Groovy Vibes Only”, an obvious play on the third baseman’s last name. When asked about his impression of the shirt, Groover had a one-word response: “Sick.”
That’s not a surprising summation from the 23-year old Groover, who’s simply using the vernacular of his generation in positively assessing how the Sod Poodles are recognizing him. After all, he came along a good three decades after the word “groovy” stopped being relevant.
The way Groover has been hitting the ball has been both sick and groovy, which translates into a word every generation can relate to: “good.” Through last weekend, Groover was leading the Sod Poodles with a .307 average and was second on the team with eight home runs and 29 RBIs, batting either third or fourth in the lineup the entire season.
For somebody who’s used the word “sick” to describe a shirt with his likeness, Groover’s approach to the game is completely sane and healthy.
“I just try not to get caught up in (numbers) that much,” Groover said. “Obviously that’s baseball and you fail a lot more than you succeed. I go about my routine every day and I feel like that puts myself in the best position to have success in a game where you fail a lot. I just try to be a complete hitter and take what the pitchers give me.”

It’s rare for a player to admit to failure, much less use that as a metric for his success at the plate. A .313 batting average is good enough to get major leaguers to Cooperstown in most instances.
That means that by an average of over two times out of three, Groover doesn’t succeed when he goes to the plate, and he still has a better success ratio than most. There’s always the next day.
“Luckily that’s the blessing for me as a position player’” Groover said. “You get to play every day compared to being a pitcher. You can get caught in chasing stats this early in the season and then you’re pressing and trying too hard to force something. If you’re basing your game only on success you’re going to be in a tough rut.”
That’s something Groover’s rarely gotten into this season. He’s had hitless games here and there like everybody else, but he’s compensated for that by hitting streaks of six, seven or eight games the next day.
Not to mention that it’s also not unusual for Groover to get more than one hit in a game as well. That explains why he’s been hitting in an elite in the Soddies lineup practically all season.
“It’s a great feeling for him, too (getting multiple hits in a game),” said Sod Poodles manager Javier Colina of Groover’s multiple hits games. “That’s what we’re looking for. He knows how to hit. He’s a great leader and that’s why he’s hitting third for the most part.”

That explains why the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Sod Poodles major league parent club, drafted Groover out of North Carolina State in the second round of the 2023 draft. Less than a year after signing with the organization, he was assigned to Class A Hillsboro, Ore., but in only his fourth game of the season, he suffered a broken left wrist and saw his progress delayed.
Colina managed Groover last season in Hillsboro and Ty Wright was his hitting coach. Both are now in Amarillo and knew Groover would be as good as advertised.
“He’s just a great kid,” Wright said of Groover. “He shows up to work every day with a purpose. He goes about his at-bats with intent in his swings. It’s a swing which can play just about every level. You become a believer early on with him.”
Groover actually didn’t spend a lot of time in Hillsboro after recovering from his broken wrist. He appeared in 40 games where he hit .272 with seven homers and 25 RBIs.
At the beginning of September, Groover was promoted to Amarillo where he got an extended cup of coffee. He appeared in 13 games, hitting .340 with three homers and six RBIs, and noticed the difference in locales immediately.
“If you can hit at Hillsboro you can definitely hit here,” Groover said. “There you have to be a complete hitter. I’ve seen guys hit it 110 (exit velo) into the gaps and go for outs.”
Groover was ticketed for Amarillo this season from the start. He got just enough of a taste of Double-A baseball that he didn’t enter 2025 cold.
“As a hitter the pitchers’ stuff is a lot better,” Groover said. “It’s usually in the zone a lot more and that’s the biggest difference. You’re going to have to be able to hit pitchers’ pitches because you aren’t always going to get your pitch. You’re going to see plus-plus heaters and off speed.
“You can’t expand the strike zone and you have to know your strength as a hitter. Maybe not chase and you have a little more success. You have a strength and (pitchers) have a strength.”
Groover has justified the faith the organization has in him by consistently delivering in the meat of the batting order. It’s why he’s currently rated the No. 10 prospect in the Diamondbacks organization.
As such, he’s lived up to the hype and hasn’t let up since establishing himself in Amarillo.
“You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse, and he’s definitely getting better in the sense of pitchers challenging him and he’s making adjustments,” Wright said. “From the neck up and the mental approach of the game he’s definitely improved. The pitchers being better have helped with that.”
That’s the one thing hitters can count on with each step they advance up the professional rung. Groover has adapted to the pitching with each move upward he’s made.
It’s only natural to ask when he’s going to make the move to Triple-A Reno. Groover knows that it’s in his best interests to not look too far down the road.
“I try not to get caught up in that stuff,” Groover said. “If I’m worried about the future too much I’m not really paying attention to the moment. I’m going to take care of the moment and handle my business down here. When the opportunity presents itself, I’ll be ready for it.”
Of course, that’s going to be according to the whims of the Diamondbacks organization.
“There’s still a lot of room to improve,” Colina said. “We don’t want to push him that quick.”

Maybe that’s why Groover is more compelled to think about baseball in terms of success being rare. As the youngest of four children growing up in East Point, Ga., he got used to having to wait his turn.
Groover, who is also known as LuJames Groover III, found out fairly early in life that he had a talent in sports, especially baseball. His parents helped enable him to pursue that.
“As a kid you don’t really know what’s going on and you just have a dream, but my parents really let me strive for that dream,” Groover said. “They sacrificed time, money and things they probably could have been doing in their own time to help me get where I’m at. My parents never missed a home game in all three years of college every single weekend and they were six hours away.”
Groover looks on track to reach the major leagues, but it’s uncertain whether or not he’ll be the most successful of his siblings, at least publicly. Right now, that honor belongs to his sister Ariana, a Broadway actress who has appeared in television’s “Law and Order” and has been an understudy in the title role for “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.”
Regardless of their fields, Groover doesn’t see his path as being that different from Ariana’s.
“She always knew that’s what she wanted to do,” Groover of his sister. “She went to school for it and the way my dad treats me in sports is the same way he treated her with acting.”
Sounds groovy, if not sick.

Sod Poodles win series at Tulsa
After losing three straight series, the Sod Poodles will come back home from Tulsa this week with some serious momentum.
The Soddies two of their first three games at Tulsa to start the week, but ended the series on a high note, winning three straight to close the trip and win the series by a 4-2 margin. They clinched the series with a 1-0 win Sunday after winning 6-5 on Friday and 6-4 on Saturday.
Sunday’s game was a hard-fought pitchers’ duel until Kevin Graham hit a solo homer in the top of the eighth for the Sod Poodles, providing the game’s only run.
Long balls figured in the previous two wins as well. Christian Cerda’s solo homer to lead off the ninth won Friday’s game, and on Saturday, Kristian Robinson and Tommy Troy hit back-to-back homers to give the Soddies the lead for good at 5-4. Jesus Valdez gave the Sod Poodles some insurance with a solo homer in the seventh.
The series win was particularly impressive considering that their top two pitchers, right-hander Dylan Ray and left-hander Spencer Giesting, were both called up to Reno prior to the series. Sunday, reliever Luke Albright was also called up to Reno.
Tuesday at 7:05 p.m., the Sod Poodles will open a six-game homestand at Hodgetown against the San Antonio Missions. Along with the usual promotions, there will be a special drone show and fireworks after both Friday’s and Saturday’s games. Last year featured the first postgame drone light show in Hodgetown history.
The series will conclude on Sunday, with Father’s Day being recognized with a barbecue set giveaway.