CARY, N.C. -- USA Baseball today announced its 55-player preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list, beginning the process of identifying the top amateur baseball player in the country for the 2022 season.
The 2022 preseason watch list features 55 of the nation’s top amateur players from high school and college baseball. The Golden Spikes Award Advisory Board will maintain a rolling list of players, allowing athletes to play themselves into consideration for the award throughout the season.
Headlining the 2022 watch list are six 2021 Golden Spikes Award semifinalists, including 2021 College World Series champion Landon Sims (Mississippi State). Sims is joined by fellow 2021 semifinalists Jacob Berry (LSU), Jace Jung (Texas Tech), Austin Knight (Charlotte), Ethan Long (Arizona State), and Paul Skenes (Air Force). Berry, Jung, Knight, and Sims were also named to the midseason watch list in 2021.
This year’s initial list features nine additional members of the 2021 Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list, as well as four athletes that were named to last year’s preseason watch list. Justin Campbell (Oklahoma State), Dylan Crews (LSU), Jud Fabian (Florida), Peyton Graham (Oklahoma), Caden Grice (Clemson), Brooks Lee (Cal Poly), Parker Messick (Florida State), Kevin Parada (Georgia Tech), and Andrew Taylor (Central Michigan) were all named to the midseason watch list in 2021, while Hunter Barco (Florida), Fabian, Graham, and Robert Moore (Arkansas) started the 2021 season on the preseason list.
“We could not be more excited to kick off the amateur baseball season with the announcement of the fifty-five-player Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list,” said Paul Seiler, Executive Director/CEO of USA Baseball. “The athletes on this year’s initial watch list represent a tremendous amount of talent and character. We are looking forward to watching their journeys unfold during what is sure to be one of the most thrilling and competitive seasons of amateur baseball to date.”
The 2022 Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list features six athletes that will look to become just the third player from a non-NCAA Division I school to win the award, following in the footsteps of Alex Fernandez (1990) and Bryce Harper (2010). Cam Collier (Chipola) and Haydn McGeary (Colorado Mesa) are representing the National Junior College Athletic Association and NCAA Division II, respectively, in 2022.
Additionally, the 2022 preseason watch list features the highest number of high school baseball players ever. Elijah Green (IMG Academy), Termarr Johnson (Mays High School), Druw Jones (Wesleyan High School), and Dylan Lesko (Buford High School) are the first athletes from their respective schools to be named to the Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list. The 2014 and 2018 preseason watch lists each featured three high school athletes.
Sixteen different collegiate athletic conferences are represented on the 2022 preseason watch list with six of those conferences boasting multiple selections, including the Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big West, Colonial Athletic Association, Pac-12, and Southeastern Conferences.
LSU leads the list of schools represented with three players on the 2022 list, followed closely by Arizona State, Arkansas, California, Florida, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Texas, and Vanderbilt, which all boast a pair of athletes.
Arkansas’ Kevin Kopps took home the prestigious award most recently in 2021, joining a group of recent winners that includes Adley Rutschman (2019), Andrew Vaughn (2018), Brendan McKay (2017), Kyle Lewis (2016), Andrew Benintendi (2015), A.J. Reed (2014), Kris Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Bryce Harper (2010), Stephen Strasburg (2009), Buster Posey (2008) and David Price (2007).
Fan voting will once again play a part in the Golden Spikes Award in 2022. Amateur baseball fans will be able to vote for their favorite players on GoldenSpikesAward.com, starting on May 24 with the naming of the Golden Spikes Award semifinalists. USA Baseball will announce the finalists for the award on June 8 and fan voting will open at GoldenSpikesAward.com concurrently, remaining open through June 12.
To stay up-to-date on the 2022 Golden Spikes Award visit GoldenSpikesAward.com and follow @USAGoldenSpikes on Twitter and Instagram.
The 2022 Golden Spikes Award timeline:
- April 5: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list announced
- May 24: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists announced, fan voting begins
- May 29: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists fan voting ends
- June 8: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists announced, fan voting begins
- June 12: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists fan voting ends
A complete list of the 55-player 2022 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list is as follows:
Name; Position; School; Conference
- Hunter Barco; LHP; Florida; Southeastern Conference
- Dylan Beavers; OF; California; Pac-12 Conference
- Jordan Beck; OF; Tennessee; Southeastern Conference
- Jacob Berry; INF; LSU; Southeastern Conference
- Enrique Bradfield; OF; Vanderbilt; Southeastern Conference
- Justin Campbell; RHP/DH; Oklahoma State; Big 12 Conference
- Cam Collier; INF/RHP; Chipola; Panhandle Conference
- Dylan Crews; OF; LSU; Southeastern Conference
- Gavin Cross; OF; Virginia Tech; Atlantic Coast Conference
- Chase DeLauter; OF/LHP; James Madison; Colonial Athletic Association
- Hayden Dunhurst; C; Ole Miss; Southeastern Conference
- Jud Fabian; OF; Florida; Southeastern Conference
- Jacob Gonzalez; INF; Ole Miss; Southeastern Conference
- Peyton Graham; INF; Oklahoma; Big 12 Conference
- Elijah Green; OF; IMG Academy
- Caden Grice; 1B/LHP; Clemson; Atlantic Coast Conference
- Pete Hansen; LHP; Texas; Big 12 Conference
- Devereaux Harrison; RHP; Long Beach State; Big West Conference
- Sam Highfill; RHP/INF; NC State; Atlantic Coast Conference
- Ty Hill; UTL; Jackson State; Southwestern Athletic Conference
- Gabriel Hughes; RHP; Gonzaga; West Coast Conference
- Termarr Johnson; INF; Mays High School
- Brock Jones; OF; Stanford; Pac-12 Conference
- Druw Jones; OF; Wesleyan High School
- Jace Jung; INF; Texas Tech; Big 12 Conference
- Austin Knight; INF; Charlotte; Conference USA
- Brooks Lee; SS; Cal Poly; Big West Conference
- Dylan Lesko; RHP; Buford High School
- Tyler Locklear; INF; VCU; Atlantic 10 Conference
- Ethan Long; INF; Arizona State; Pac-12 Conference
- Nick Maldonado; RHP; Vanderbilt; Southeastern Conference
- Haydn McGeary; C; Colorado Mesa; Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
- Jared McKenzie; OF; Baylor; Big 12 Conference
- Sean McLain; INF; Arizona State; Pac-12 Conference
- Parker Messick; LHP; Florida State; Atlantic Coast Conference
- Robert Moore; INF; Arkansas; Southeastern Conference
- Tre' Morgan; 1B; LSU; Southeastern Conference
- Zach Neto; RHP/INF; Campbell; Big South Conference
- Carson Palmquist; LHP; Miami; Atlantic Coast Conference
- Kevin Parada; C; Georgia Tech; Atlantic Coast Conference
- Max Rajcic; RHP; UCLA; Pac-12 Conference
- Ryan Ritter; INF; Kentucky; Southeastern Conference
- Cam Schlittler; RHP; Northeastern; Colonial Athletic Association
- Landon Sims; RHP; Mississippi State; Southeastern Conference
- Paul Skenes; C/RHP; Air Force; Mountain West Conference
- Jordan Sprinkle; INF; UC-Santa Barbara; Big West Conference
- Daniel Susac; C; Arizona; Pac-12 Conference
- Logan Tanner; C; Mississippi State; Southeastern Conference
- Andrew Taylor; RHP; Central Michigan; Mid-American Conference
- Kyle Teel; C/UTL; Virginia; Atlantic Coast Conference
- Cayden Wallace; INF/OF; Arkansas; Southeastern Conference
- Carson Whisenhunt; LHP; East Carolina; American Athletic Conference
- Josh White; RHP; California; Pac-12 Conference
- Brock Wilken; INF/C; Wake Forest; Atlantic Coast Conference
- Tanner Witt; RHP; Texas; Big 12 Conference
