PHOENIX – Sun Devil Baseball's Spencer Torkelson was named the Preseason National Player of the Year while Arizona State entered the first preseason rankings of the year at No. 5 by Collegiate Baseball News, as announced by the outlet today.
Torkelson, a two-time All-American and two-time member of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, is almost unanimously regarded as a Top-3 prospect in the coming 2020 MLB Draft and numerous outlets have him tabbed as the No. 1 overall pick in early mock drafts.
Torkelson was the Pac-12 home run leader for the second season in a row last year, finishing the campaign with 23 – good for fifth in the nation. He became the first Pac-12 player to lead the conference in homers in back-to-back seasons since Oregon State's Michael Conforto 2012 and 2013, though it should be noted Conforto only hit 13 and 11 in those seasons.
His 23 homers last year, in addition to leading the nation as a freshman with 25 home runs, gives Torkelson 48 homers in his career - needing just nine to surpass Bob Horner's long-standing ASU school record of 56.
As a sophomore, Torkleson bat .351 with a 66 RBIs, 17 doubles and 85 hits. He walked 41 times to just 45 strikeouts. In his two seasons with the program, Torkelson has posted a career. 337 average and a .443 on-base percentage couple with a gaudy .723 slugging percentage. He has accounted for 119 RBIs, 29 doubles and 128 runs.
Torkelson is only the third player in Pac-12 history to have back-to-back 20+ home run seasons (UCLA's Eric Valent in '97-98 and Bill Scott '99-00). He joined former Missouri State First-Round Draft Pick Jake Burger as the only player in the BBCOR era of batting standards to log multiple seasons with 20 or more home runs.
The junior would need 25 home runs this season to break into the NCAA all-time Top-10 in career homers and in doing so would become the first player in the BBCOR era to even sniff the feat. He would be just the second player since 2000 to have a career home run tally that left him in the Top-10 in NCAA homers (Matt LaPorta, Florida). Should he crack the NCAA Top-10 in career homers, it would mark him just the fourth player on the list college history to do so in just three seasons.
The Sun Devils enter the season with high expectations, featuring four players listed among the Top-50 collegiate prospects for this next year's MLB Draft by Baseball America. That list includes Torkelson (No. 1), Alika Williams (No. 18), Gage Workman (No. 25) and RJ Dabovich (No. 42). The talent-filled roster led the first of what will likely be many high preseason rankings for the Devils, who enter the season predicted as one of the preseason "Eight For Omaha" programs as listed by D1Baseball and Baseball America.
Williams was Torkelson's teammate on the U.S. Collegiate Baseball Team this summer, starting the majority of the games at shortstop. He led the 2019 Collegiate National Team in RBIs (19) and was second in batting average (.364), slugging (.545), and total bases (24).
A Pac-12 All-Conference honorable mention and member of the Pac-12 All-Defensive team last season, Williams bat .333 with 53 RBIs, four homers, four triples and 20 doubles. He was part of one of the best double-team defenses in the country, helping ASU to finish fourth nationally with 61 turned on the season.
Workman had an all-star campaign – literally – in the Cape Cod League, being named the All-Star Game MVP during an impressive summer for Brewster. He bat .330 as a sophomore last season, recording eight homers, four triples, 11 doubles with 42 RBIs.
Dabovich filled a number of roles as the season went on, seeing time as a starter, middle reliever and closer. The hard-throwing righty struck out 47 in 53.0 innings and recorded three saves but has been one of the most-improved players in the offseason and projects to factor significantly into the rotation this season.
The Sun Devils open the 2020 season at home with a three-game series against Villanova beginning Feb. 14 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. ASU will also take on 2019 College World Series runner-up Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. AZT during that opening weekend of action.
Ticket information for the upcoming season is available here.
Torkelson, a two-time All-American and two-time member of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, is almost unanimously regarded as a Top-3 prospect in the coming 2020 MLB Draft and numerous outlets have him tabbed as the No. 1 overall pick in early mock drafts.
Torkelson was the Pac-12 home run leader for the second season in a row last year, finishing the campaign with 23 – good for fifth in the nation. He became the first Pac-12 player to lead the conference in homers in back-to-back seasons since Oregon State's Michael Conforto 2012 and 2013, though it should be noted Conforto only hit 13 and 11 in those seasons.
His 23 homers last year, in addition to leading the nation as a freshman with 25 home runs, gives Torkelson 48 homers in his career - needing just nine to surpass Bob Horner's long-standing ASU school record of 56.
As a sophomore, Torkleson bat .351 with a 66 RBIs, 17 doubles and 85 hits. He walked 41 times to just 45 strikeouts. In his two seasons with the program, Torkelson has posted a career. 337 average and a .443 on-base percentage couple with a gaudy .723 slugging percentage. He has accounted for 119 RBIs, 29 doubles and 128 runs.
Torkelson is only the third player in Pac-12 history to have back-to-back 20+ home run seasons (UCLA's Eric Valent in '97-98 and Bill Scott '99-00). He joined former Missouri State First-Round Draft Pick Jake Burger as the only player in the BBCOR era of batting standards to log multiple seasons with 20 or more home runs.
The junior would need 25 home runs this season to break into the NCAA all-time Top-10 in career homers and in doing so would become the first player in the BBCOR era to even sniff the feat. He would be just the second player since 2000 to have a career home run tally that left him in the Top-10 in NCAA homers (Matt LaPorta, Florida). Should he crack the NCAA Top-10 in career homers, it would mark him just the fourth player on the list college history to do so in just three seasons.
The Sun Devils enter the season with high expectations, featuring four players listed among the Top-50 collegiate prospects for this next year's MLB Draft by Baseball America. That list includes Torkelson (No. 1), Alika Williams (No. 18), Gage Workman (No. 25) and RJ Dabovich (No. 42). The talent-filled roster led the first of what will likely be many high preseason rankings for the Devils, who enter the season predicted as one of the preseason "Eight For Omaha" programs as listed by D1Baseball and Baseball America.
Williams was Torkelson's teammate on the U.S. Collegiate Baseball Team this summer, starting the majority of the games at shortstop. He led the 2019 Collegiate National Team in RBIs (19) and was second in batting average (.364), slugging (.545), and total bases (24).
A Pac-12 All-Conference honorable mention and member of the Pac-12 All-Defensive team last season, Williams bat .333 with 53 RBIs, four homers, four triples and 20 doubles. He was part of one of the best double-team defenses in the country, helping ASU to finish fourth nationally with 61 turned on the season.
Workman had an all-star campaign – literally – in the Cape Cod League, being named the All-Star Game MVP during an impressive summer for Brewster. He bat .330 as a sophomore last season, recording eight homers, four triples, 11 doubles with 42 RBIs.
Dabovich filled a number of roles as the season went on, seeing time as a starter, middle reliever and closer. The hard-throwing righty struck out 47 in 53.0 innings and recorded three saves but has been one of the most-improved players in the offseason and projects to factor significantly into the rotation this season.
The Sun Devils open the 2020 season at home with a three-game series against Villanova beginning Feb. 14 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. ASU will also take on 2019 College World Series runner-up Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. AZT during that opening weekend of action.
Ticket information for the upcoming season is available here.