DURHAM, N.C. — USA Baseball released its 60-player midseason USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award watch list on Thursday, continuing the journey to naming the top amateur baseball player in the country in a presentation on Tuesday, June 23, in Los Angeles. Sponsored by Major League Baseball, and presented in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation, 2015 marks the 38th year of the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award.
The watch list will continue to be a “rolling” list until May 27 — when the semifinalists for the award are announced — ensuring that athletes can play themselves into consideration for the award.
Thirty-seven new players were added to the list since its initial release on February 10, joining 23 others from the preseason watch list. The Southeastern Conference led all conferences in watch list players, placing 16 on the midseason update, while 17 different NCAA conferences had at least one athlete on the list. The Pac 12 Conference had 11 athletes, while the Atlantic Coast Conference had eight on the list.
Florida, LSU, TCU and Vanderbilt each had three athletes on the midseason watch list. Alabama, Arizona, Louisville, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon State, Southern Cal and Texas A&M each posted a pair of representatives on the list.
Tyler Davis (Sr., RHP, Washington), Nathan Kirby (Jr., LHP, Virginia) and DJ Stewart (Jr., OF, Florida State) were named semifinalists for the 2014 Golden Spikes Award, while David Berg (RHP, senior, UCLA), Alex Bregman (SS, junior, LSU) and Thomas Eshelman (RHP, junior, Cal State Fullerton) earned the recognition in the 2013 season.
On May 22, USA Baseball will announce the semifinalists for the 2015 Golden Spikes Award. The semifinalists list will be sent to a voting body consisting of past USA Baseball National Team coaches and press officers, members of the media that follow the amateur game closely, select professional baseball personnel, current USA Baseball staff and the 37 previous winners of the award, representing a group of more than 200 voters.
Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2015. Friday, May 22, marks the day when amateur baseball fans across the country will be able to vote for their favorite semifinalists at GoldenSpikesAward.com. As part of this selection process, all voters will be asked to choose three players from the list. On Tuesday, June 2, USA Baseball will announce the finalists, and voting will once again commence that same day.
The 2015 Golden Spikes Award winner will be named on Tuesday, June 23, at a presentation in Los Angeles. The finalists and their families will be honored at the Rod Dedeaux Foundation Dinner that evening at the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles.
Last year, University of Kentucky’s two-way star, A.J. Reed, took home the prestigious award, joining a group of recent winners that includes Kris Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Trevor Bauer (2011), Bryce Harper (2010), Stephen Strasburg (2009) and Buster Posey (2008).
GoldenSpikesAward.com – created in 2008 and powered by MLB Advanced Media — is the online home for the award. The website features content devoted exclusively to the GSA, including news, the weekly Golden Spikes Award spotlight, voting history and past winner photo galleries.
The anticipated timeline for the 2015 Golden Spikes Award announcements is:
Tuesday, February 10: 2015 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award 50-man preseason watch list
Thursday, April 9: 2015 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award 60-man midseason watch list
Thursday, May 7: 2015 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award 30-man preliminary list
Friday, May 22: 2015 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists voting begins
Friday, May 29: 2015 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists voting ends
Tuesday, June 2: 2015 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists voting begins
Friday, June 12: 2015 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists voting ends
Tuesday, June 23: 2015 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award trophy presentation
A complete list of the 60-player USA Baseball midseason Golden Spikes Award watch list is as follows:
Name, Position, Class, School, Conference (New players in bold)
Nick Banks, OF, Sophomore, Texas A&M, SEC
Harrison Bader, OF, Junior, Florida, SEC
David Berg, RHP, Senior, UCLA, Pac 12
Phil Bickford, RHP, Sophomore, CC of Southern Nevada, Scenic West (JC)
Alex Bregman, SS, Junior, LSU, SEC
Ryan Burr, RHP, Junior, Arizona State, Pac 12
Austin Byler, 3B, Senior, Nevada, Mountain West
Will Craig, 1B/RHP, Sophomore, Wake Forest, ACC
Matthew Crownover, LHP, Junior, Clemson, ACC
Collins Cuthrell, 3B, RS-Senior, UNC-Pembroke, Peach Belt Conference
Tyler Davis, RHP, Senior, Washington, Pac 12
Paul DeJong, 2B, RS-Junior, Illinois State, Missouri Valley
Thomas Eshelman, RHP, Junior, Cal State Fullerton, Big West
Riley Ferrell, RHP, Junior, TCU, Big 12
Michael Freeman, LHP, Senior, Oklahoma State, Big 12
Carson Fulmer, RHP, Junior, Vanderbilt, SEC
Kyle Funkhouser, RHP, Junior, Louisville, ACC
Luke Gillingham, LHP, Junior, Navy, Patriot League
Ian Happ, OF, Junior, Cincinnati, American Athletic
Jon Harris, RHP, Junior, Missouri State, Missouri Valley
KJ Harrison, 1B, Freshman, Oregon State, Pac 12
Kyle Holder, SS, Junior, San Diego, West Coast
Tanner Houck, RHP, Freshman, Missouri, SEC
Ryan Howell, IF/OF, Junior, Nevada, Mountain West
Eric Hsieh, 1B, Senior, Yale, Ivy
Casey Hughston, IF/OF, Sophomore, Alabama, SEC
Chris Iriart, 1B, Junior, Houston, American Athletic
Tyler Jay, LHP, Junior, Illinois, Big 10
Ben Johnson, OF, Sophomore, Texas, Big 12
James Kaprielian, RHP, Junior, UCLA, Pac 12
Scott Kingery, 2B, Junior, Arizona, Pac 12
Nathan Kirby, LHP, Junior, Virginia, ACC
Sam Koenig, OF/3B, Senior, UW-Milwaukee, Horizon League
Kevin Kramer, 3B, RS-Junior, UCLA, Pac 12
Alex Lange, RHP, Freshman, LSU, SEC
Grayson Long, RHP, Junior, Texas A&M, SEC
Brandon Lowe, 2B, Sophomore, Maryland, Big 10
Kyle Martin, 1B, Senior, South Carolina, SEC
Brendan McKay, IF/OF, Freshman, Louisville, ACC
Andrew Moore, RHP, Junior, Oregon State, Pac 12
Preston Morrison, RHP, Senior, TCU, Big 12
Kevin Newman, SS, Junior, Arizona, Pac 12
Kade Scivicque, C, Senior, LSU, SEC
Chris Shaw, OF, Junior, Boston College, ACC
Mike Shawaryn, RHP, Sophomore, Maryland, Big 10
Logan Shore, RHP, Sophomore, Florida, SEC
Bobby Stahel, OF, RS-Junior, USC, Pac 12
DJ Stewart, OF, Junior, Florida State, ACC
Christin Stewart, OF, Junior, Tennessee, SEC
Garrett Stubbs, C, Senior, USC, Pac 12
Dansby Swanson, SS, Junior, Vanderbilt, SEC
Dillon Tate, RHP, Junior, UCSB, Big West
David Thompson, 3B, Junior, Miami, ACC
Josh Tobias, 3B, Senior, Florida, SEC
Blake Trahan, SS, Junior, Louisiana-Lafayette, Sun Belt
Mitchell Traver, RHP, RS-Sophomore, TCU, Big 12
Mikey White, SS, Junior, Alabama, SEC
Zander Wiel, 1B, RS Junior, Vanderbilt, SEC
Tommy Williams, SS, Senior, UCF, American Athletic
Trey York, 2B, Junior, East Tennessee State, SoCon
About the Golden Spikes Award
Since 1978, USA Baseball has honored the top amateur baseball player in the country with the Golden Spikes Award. Following the first-ever presentation of the Award to Bob Horner of Arizona State, the Golden Spikes Award has been presented each year to the player who exhibits exceptional athletic ability and exemplary sportsmanship. The 2014 Golden Spikes Award winner was A.J. Reed of the University of Kentucky. Past winners of this prestigious award include current Major League Baseball players such as Mike Zunino (’12), Trevor Bauer (’11), Bryce Harper (’10), Stephen Strasburg (’09), Buster Posey (’08), David Price (’07), Tim Lincecum (’06), Alex Gordon (’05) and Jered Weaver (’04). Former Major League stars that have captured the award include Pat Burrell (’98), Mark Kotsay (’95), Robin Ventura (’88), Jim Abbott (’87), Will Clark (’85), Dave Magadan (’83), Terry Francona (’80), Tim Wallach (’79), and Horner (’78). For more information, please visit GoldenSpikesAward.com. Fans can follow the Golden Spikes Award on Twitter @USAGoldenSpikes.
