PHOENIX – Sun Devil Baseball outfielder Hunter Bishop and infielder Spencer Torkelson have each been named one of 25 semifinalists for the annual Golden Spikes Award, presented to the top amateur player in baseball as announced by USA Baseball in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation today.
Since USA Baseball introduced the semifinalist list for the prestigious honor in 2007, Bishop and Torkelson become the ninth and 10thSun Devils to be recognized. For Torkelson, it is his second consecutive season being tabbed a semifinalist while it is the first career honor for Bishop.
It is the first time a pair of Sun Devils has been named semifinalists since MLB stars Mike Leake and Jason Kipnis in 2009. The Sun Devils join Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Mississippi State as the only programs with two semifinalists this season.
Sophomore Hunter Bishop sits fourth nationally in home runs (22) but is just one off the national lead in one of the most prolific offensive campaigns in the BBCOR era. He is five homers shy of ASU's single season record for home runs (27 by Mitch Jones in 2000.
The junior is ranked in the top-15 nationally in numerous offensive categories, including homers, slugging (3rd/.814), runs (9th/63), RBIs (15th/61) and total bases (5th/158). He has reached base in all but two games this season and had a 44-game reach base streak at one point after reaching in the first 39 games of this season and last five. of 2018. The .814 slugging percentage gives Bishop a chance to top Bob Horner's single season school record of .819 in 1978.
Bishop is ranked in the Pac-12 top-10 in every major offensive category and is Top-Five in average, slugging, on-base percentage, runs, RBIs, hits, homers, triples, total bases and walks. He is a three-time Pac-12 Player of the Week and was unanimous midseason All-American by several media outlets in addition to being selected as the Midseason National Player of the Year.
Bishop has 21 multi-hit games this season and leads the team with three games with four or more hits. His 17 multi-RBI games are two more than any other play on ASU's prolific roster and he has 10 games with three or more RBIs. The 61 current RBIs are easily the most for a Sun Devil in the BBCOR era of batting, surpassing the previous best of 53 by Torkelson (2018) and Abe Ruiz (2011).
After an All-American caliber freshman season, Torkelson has followed that with an equally impressive sophomore campaign for the Sun Devils. Torkelson has 19 home runs this season, second in the Pac-12 and ninth in the country. He has at least one home run in each of the last nine weekend series that the Sun Devils have played – including every single series of Pac-12 play.
Torkelson joins Brett Wallace as the only other player in Sun Devil history to be a two-time semifinalist for the honor.
After posting 25 homers as a freshman, Torkelson now has 44 in his career at ASU – tied for sixth in program history and just 12 shy of the Sun Devil school record of 56 held by Bob Horner. He is one home run away from joining Horner as the only other player in ASU history to have 20 or more home runs in consecutive seasons.
With one more home run, Torkelson would also join 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.
Torkelson enters this weekend ranked in the Top-10 in nearly every major offensive category, including average (10th/.351), slugging percentage (4th/.688), RBIs (3rd/57), runs (4th/58), doubles (10th/13), total bases (2nd/143), walks (8th/36) and hits (3rd/73) in addition to his spot among the home run leaders. He sits in the Top-30 nationally in home runs, run, RBIs, slugging and total bases.
Defensively, Torkelson has made huge strides and helped turn 12 more double plays than any other player in the Pac-12 (51). He has just two errors on the year despite being in the Pac-12 in defensive chances (404) and one of those came while he was playing out of position in right field for one inning in a game earlier this season. Among Pac-12 players with 350 or more chances, Torkelson's two errors are third behind Stanford's Andrew Daschbach and Oregon's Gabe Matthews (1).
Beginning with the announcement of semifinalists, a ballot will be sent to the Golden Spikes Award voting body consisting of national baseball media, select professional baseball personnel, previous Golden Spikes Award winners and select USA Baseball staff, totaling a group of over 200 voters. From Wednesday, May 15 through Sunday, May 26, each voting member will select three athletes from the Golden Spikes Award ballot of semifinalists and fan voting will simultaneously be open on GoldenSpikesAward.com. Selections made by the voting body will carry a 95% weight of each athlete's total, while fan votes will account for the remaining 5%.
The finalists will then be announced on Wednesday, May 29. Beginning that same day through Monday, June 10, the voting body and fans will be able to cast their final vote for the Golden Spikes Award winner.
The winner of the 42nd Golden Spikes Award will be named on Friday, June 14.
USA Baseball has partnered with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation to host the Golden Spikes Award since 2013. The Foundation was formed to honor legendary University of Southern California and USA Baseball Olympic team coach, Rod Dedeaux, and supports youth baseball and softball programs in underserved communities throughout Southern California.
A complete list of the 25 Golden Spikes Award semifinalists is as follows:
Name, Class, Position, School, Conference
Hunter Bishop, Jr., OF, Arizona St., Pac-12
JJ Bleday, Jr., OF, Vanderbilt, SEC
Isaiah Campbell, RS-Jr., P, Arkansas, SEC
Reid Detmers, So., P, Louisville, ACC
John Doxakis, Jr., P, Texas A&M, SEC
Ryan Garcia, Jr., P, UCLA, Pac-12
Nick Gonzales, So., IF, New Mexico St., WAC
Emerson Hancock, So., P, Georgia, SEC
Kody Hoese, Jr., IF, Tulane, AAC
Josh Jung, Jr., IF, Texas Tech, Big 12
George Kirby, Jr., P, Elon, CAA
Asa Lacy, So., P, Texas A&M, SEC
Jake Mangum, Sr., OF, Mississippi St., SEC
Alek Manoah, Jr., P, West Virginia, Big 12
Austin Martin, So., IF, Vanderbilt, SEC
Jackson Rutledge, So., P, San Jacinto, Region XIV
Adley Rutschman, Jr., C, Oregon St., Pac-12
T.J. Sikkema, Jr., P, Missouri, SEC
Ethan Small, RS-Jr., P, Mississippi St., SEC
Noah Song, Sr., P, Navy, Patriot
Bryson Stott, Jr., IF, UNLV, MWC
Zack Thompson, Jr., P, Kentucky, SEC
Spencer Torkelson, So., IF, Arizona St., Pac-12
Andrew Vaughn, Jr., IF, California, Pac-12
Bobby Witt Jr., HS-Sr., IF, Colleyville-Heritage High School
About 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 2018 Golden Spikes Award winner was Andrew Vaughn from the University of California Berkeley. Past winners of this prestigious award include current Major League Baseball players such as Andrew Benintendi ('15), Kris Bryant ('13), Mike Zunino ('12), Trevor Bauer ('11), Bryce Harper ('10), Stephen Strasburg ('09), Buster Posey ('08), David Price ('07) and Alex Gordon ('05). Former Major League stars that have captured the award include Tim Lincecum ('06), 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.
About Rod Dedeaux Foundation
The Rod Dedeaux Foundation was formed to continue Rod's spirit by supporting youth baseball and softball programs in underserved areas. Currently, inner city organizations are fighting for survival as public funding is drying up, coupled with the game's waning popularity with children in Urban areas. Through the efforts of the Foundation, youth receive more than just uniforms and renovated facilities, they receive a sanctuary from challenging environments and a support system specifically designed to build character and academic support to enable underprivileged youth to achieve their dreams. For more information, please visit DedeauxFoundation.org.
About USA Baseball
USA Baseball is the national governing body for the sport of baseball in the United States and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseball Classic, Premier12 and Pan Am teams (and all other USA Baseball Professional Teams); the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team; the USA Baseball 18U, 15U and 12U National Teams; and the USA Baseball Women's National Team, all of which participate in various international competitions each year. The organization is responsible for the continued proliferation and health of the sport, and leads a number of amateur initiatives including PLAYBALL and Pitch Smart. USA Baseball also presents the Golden Spikes Award annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country. For more information, please visit the organization's official websites: USABaseball.com, PLAYBALL.org, PitchSmart.org, GoldenSpikesAward.com and USABaseballShop.com.
Since USA Baseball introduced the semifinalist list for the prestigious honor in 2007, Bishop and Torkelson become the ninth and 10thSun Devils to be recognized. For Torkelson, it is his second consecutive season being tabbed a semifinalist while it is the first career honor for Bishop.
It is the first time a pair of Sun Devils has been named semifinalists since MLB stars Mike Leake and Jason Kipnis in 2009. The Sun Devils join Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Mississippi State as the only programs with two semifinalists this season.
Sophomore Hunter Bishop sits fourth nationally in home runs (22) but is just one off the national lead in one of the most prolific offensive campaigns in the BBCOR era. He is five homers shy of ASU's single season record for home runs (27 by Mitch Jones in 2000.
The junior is ranked in the top-15 nationally in numerous offensive categories, including homers, slugging (3rd/.814), runs (9th/63), RBIs (15th/61) and total bases (5th/158). He has reached base in all but two games this season and had a 44-game reach base streak at one point after reaching in the first 39 games of this season and last five. of 2018. The .814 slugging percentage gives Bishop a chance to top Bob Horner's single season school record of .819 in 1978.
Bishop is ranked in the Pac-12 top-10 in every major offensive category and is Top-Five in average, slugging, on-base percentage, runs, RBIs, hits, homers, triples, total bases and walks. He is a three-time Pac-12 Player of the Week and was unanimous midseason All-American by several media outlets in addition to being selected as the Midseason National Player of the Year.
Bishop has 21 multi-hit games this season and leads the team with three games with four or more hits. His 17 multi-RBI games are two more than any other play on ASU's prolific roster and he has 10 games with three or more RBIs. The 61 current RBIs are easily the most for a Sun Devil in the BBCOR era of batting, surpassing the previous best of 53 by Torkelson (2018) and Abe Ruiz (2011).
After an All-American caliber freshman season, Torkelson has followed that with an equally impressive sophomore campaign for the Sun Devils. Torkelson has 19 home runs this season, second in the Pac-12 and ninth in the country. He has at least one home run in each of the last nine weekend series that the Sun Devils have played – including every single series of Pac-12 play.
Torkelson joins Brett Wallace as the only other player in Sun Devil history to be a two-time semifinalist for the honor.
After posting 25 homers as a freshman, Torkelson now has 44 in his career at ASU – tied for sixth in program history and just 12 shy of the Sun Devil school record of 56 held by Bob Horner. He is one home run away from joining Horner as the only other player in ASU history to have 20 or more home runs in consecutive seasons.
With one more home run, Torkelson would also join 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.
Torkelson enters this weekend ranked in the Top-10 in nearly every major offensive category, including average (10th/.351), slugging percentage (4th/.688), RBIs (3rd/57), runs (4th/58), doubles (10th/13), total bases (2nd/143), walks (8th/36) and hits (3rd/73) in addition to his spot among the home run leaders. He sits in the Top-30 nationally in home runs, run, RBIs, slugging and total bases.
Defensively, Torkelson has made huge strides and helped turn 12 more double plays than any other player in the Pac-12 (51). He has just two errors on the year despite being in the Pac-12 in defensive chances (404) and one of those came while he was playing out of position in right field for one inning in a game earlier this season. Among Pac-12 players with 350 or more chances, Torkelson's two errors are third behind Stanford's Andrew Daschbach and Oregon's Gabe Matthews (1).
Beginning with the announcement of semifinalists, a ballot will be sent to the Golden Spikes Award voting body consisting of national baseball media, select professional baseball personnel, previous Golden Spikes Award winners and select USA Baseball staff, totaling a group of over 200 voters. From Wednesday, May 15 through Sunday, May 26, each voting member will select three athletes from the Golden Spikes Award ballot of semifinalists and fan voting will simultaneously be open on GoldenSpikesAward.com. Selections made by the voting body will carry a 95% weight of each athlete's total, while fan votes will account for the remaining 5%.
The finalists will then be announced on Wednesday, May 29. Beginning that same day through Monday, June 10, the voting body and fans will be able to cast their final vote for the Golden Spikes Award winner.
The winner of the 42nd Golden Spikes Award will be named on Friday, June 14.
USA Baseball has partnered with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation to host the Golden Spikes Award since 2013. The Foundation was formed to honor legendary University of Southern California and USA Baseball Olympic team coach, Rod Dedeaux, and supports youth baseball and softball programs in underserved communities throughout Southern California.
A complete list of the 25 Golden Spikes Award semifinalists is as follows:
Name, Class, Position, School, Conference
Hunter Bishop, Jr., OF, Arizona St., Pac-12
JJ Bleday, Jr., OF, Vanderbilt, SEC
Isaiah Campbell, RS-Jr., P, Arkansas, SEC
Reid Detmers, So., P, Louisville, ACC
John Doxakis, Jr., P, Texas A&M, SEC
Ryan Garcia, Jr., P, UCLA, Pac-12
Nick Gonzales, So., IF, New Mexico St., WAC
Emerson Hancock, So., P, Georgia, SEC
Kody Hoese, Jr., IF, Tulane, AAC
Josh Jung, Jr., IF, Texas Tech, Big 12
George Kirby, Jr., P, Elon, CAA
Asa Lacy, So., P, Texas A&M, SEC
Jake Mangum, Sr., OF, Mississippi St., SEC
Alek Manoah, Jr., P, West Virginia, Big 12
Austin Martin, So., IF, Vanderbilt, SEC
Jackson Rutledge, So., P, San Jacinto, Region XIV
Adley Rutschman, Jr., C, Oregon St., Pac-12
T.J. Sikkema, Jr., P, Missouri, SEC
Ethan Small, RS-Jr., P, Mississippi St., SEC
Noah Song, Sr., P, Navy, Patriot
Bryson Stott, Jr., IF, UNLV, MWC
Zack Thompson, Jr., P, Kentucky, SEC
Spencer Torkelson, So., IF, Arizona St., Pac-12
Andrew Vaughn, Jr., IF, California, Pac-12
Bobby Witt Jr., HS-Sr., IF, Colleyville-Heritage High School
About 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 2018 Golden Spikes Award winner was Andrew Vaughn from the University of California Berkeley. Past winners of this prestigious award include current Major League Baseball players such as Andrew Benintendi ('15), Kris Bryant ('13), Mike Zunino ('12), Trevor Bauer ('11), Bryce Harper ('10), Stephen Strasburg ('09), Buster Posey ('08), David Price ('07) and Alex Gordon ('05). Former Major League stars that have captured the award include Tim Lincecum ('06), 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.
About Rod Dedeaux Foundation
The Rod Dedeaux Foundation was formed to continue Rod's spirit by supporting youth baseball and softball programs in underserved areas. Currently, inner city organizations are fighting for survival as public funding is drying up, coupled with the game's waning popularity with children in Urban areas. Through the efforts of the Foundation, youth receive more than just uniforms and renovated facilities, they receive a sanctuary from challenging environments and a support system specifically designed to build character and academic support to enable underprivileged youth to achieve their dreams. For more information, please visit DedeauxFoundation.org.
About USA Baseball
USA Baseball is the national governing body for the sport of baseball in the United States and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseball Classic, Premier12 and Pan Am teams (and all other USA Baseball Professional Teams); the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team; the USA Baseball 18U, 15U and 12U National Teams; and the USA Baseball Women's National Team, all of which participate in various international competitions each year. The organization is responsible for the continued proliferation and health of the sport, and leads a number of amateur initiatives including PLAYBALL and Pitch Smart. USA Baseball also presents the Golden Spikes Award annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country. For more information, please visit the organization's official websites: USABaseball.com, PLAYBALL.org, PitchSmart.org, GoldenSpikesAward.com and USABaseballShop.com.