Missouri State sophomore Jake Burger was one of 60 players named to the midseason USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award watch list on Wednesday. Burger becomes the fourth Bear in four seasons to be considered for the honor, which recognizes the top amateur baseball player in the country.
Sponsored by Major League Baseball, and presented in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation, 2016 marks the 39th year of the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, which will be presented June 30 in Los Angeles. The Golden Spikes Award Advisory Board will continue to maintain a rolling list of athletes, allowing players to play themselves into consideration for the award before announcing the semifinalists on June 1.
Forty-two new players were added to the list since its initial release on February 16, joining 18 others from the preseason watch list. The Southeastern Conference led all conferences in watch-list players, placing 14 on the midseason update, while 13 players represent the Atlantic Coast Conference.
In total, 21 different NCAA conferences had at least one athlete on the list, including one from the Division III ranks. Louisville, Vanderbilt and Virginia led the way with three athletes on the midseason watch list. Clemson, Florida, Miami, South Carolina and TCU each posted a pair of representatives on the list.
Burger was one of two Missouri Valley Conference representatives on the list along with Dallas Baptist’s Darick Hall.
Burger has turned in one of the top all-around seasons in the country, currently ranking among the nation’s leaders in home runs (14), runs batted-in (46) and slugging percentage (.699).
The Chesterfield, Mo., product, who was chosen by Collegiate Baseball as one of its Louisville Slugger National Players of the Week on March 21, has been cited for Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week honors three times this spring and currently leads the league in runs scored (39), hits (53), homers and total bases (102).
A Midseason All-America choice at third base by D1Baseball, Burger reached base safely via a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch in each of MSU’s first 29 games of the season. He leads the Bears with 12 multi-RBI performances this season, including 10 different games in which he has driven in at least three runs. Burger has logged a pair of two-homer contests, including a 4-for-4 effort on March 16, in which he drove in four runs and scored five times vs. Western Illinois. He also produced a four-hit, five-RBI game vs. Alcorn State on Feb. 27 and drove in five runs against Arkansas State on March 22.
Burger, a third-team All-American as a freshman last year, ranks fourth nationally in home runs and, in addition to his league-leading totals, currently rates among the Valley’s top 10 in batting (.363), slugging, on-base percentage (.441) and RBIs.
On Wednesday, June 1, USA Baseball will announce the semifinalists for the 2016 Golden Spikes Award. The list of semifinalists will be sent to a voting body consisting of past USA Baseball National Team coaches and press officers, members of the media that follow amateur baseball closely, select professional baseball personnel, current USA Baseball staff and the 38 previous winners of the award, representing a group of more than 200 voters.
Amateur baseball fans across the country will be able to vote for their favorite semifinalists at GoldenSpikesAward.com from June 1-8. On Monday, June 13, USA Baseball will announce the finalists for the award, and fan voting will once again commence that same day. Fan voting for the finalists will end on Saturday, June 25.
Last year, University of Arkansas standout Andrew Benintendi took home the prestigious award, joining a group of recent winners that includes A.J. Reed (2014), Kris Bryant (2013), Mike Zunino (2012), Trevor Bauer (2011), Bryce Harper (2010), Stephen Strasburg (2009) and Buster Posey (2008).
The anticipated timeline for the 2016 Golden Spikes Award announcements is as follows:
• Wednesday, June 1: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists, voting begins
• Wednesday, June 8: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists voting ends
• Monday, June 13: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists, voting begins
• Saturday, June 25: USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award finalists voting ends
• Thursday, June 30: 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
Peter Alonso, Jr., IF, Florida
Brandon Bailey, Jr., P, Gonzaga
Luken Baker, Fr., IF/P, TCU
Elliott Barzilli, Jr., IF, TCU
Seth Beer, Fr., OF, Clemson
Dustin Beggs, Sr., P, Kentucky
Grant Bennett, Sr., P, Troy
Ryan Boldt, Jr., OF, Nebraska
Geoffrey Bramblett, Jr., P, Alabama
J.B. Bukauskas, So., P, North Carolina
Jake Burger, So., IF, Missouri State
Corbin Burnes, Jr., P, Saint Mary's
C.J. Chatham, Jr., IF, Florida Atlantic
Zack Collins, Jr., C, Miami
Will Craig, Jr., IF, Wake Forest
Brett Cumberland, So., C, California
Chris DeVito, Jr., IF, New Mexico
Nick Feight, So., C, UNCW
Jameson Fisher, RS-Jr., IF, Southeastern Louisiana
Jake Fishman, Jr., UT, Union College
Bryan Garcia, Jr., P, Miami
Luke Gillingham, Sr., P, Navy
Anfernee Grier, Jr., OF, Auburn
Thomas Hackimer, Sr., P, St. John's
Darick Hall, Jr., IF/P, Dallas Baptist
Adam Haseley, So., P/OF, Virginia
Kevin Hill, R-Sr., P, South Alabama
Keston Hiura, Fr.,IF/ OF, UC Irvine
Tanner Houck, So., P, Missouri
Dakota Hudson, Jr., P, Mississippi State
Danny Hudzina, Sr., IF, Western Kentucky
Logan Ice, Jr., C, Oregon State
Griffin Jax, Jr., P, Air Force
Connor Jones, Jr., P, Virginia
Jeren Kendall, So., OF, Vanderbilt
Evan Kruczynski, Jr., P, ECU
Eric Lauer, Jr., P, Kent State
Brandon Lawson, Jr., P, South Florida
Kyle Lewis, Jr., OF, Mercer
Joey Lucchesi, Sr., P, SEMO
Darren McCaughan, So., P, Long Beach State
Brendan McKay, So., IF/P, Louisville
Sheldon Neuse, Jr., IF/P, Oklahoma
Stephen Nogosek, Jr., P, Oregon
Chris Okey, Jr., C, Clemson
Heath Quinn, Jr., OF, Samford
Corey Ray, Jr., OF, Louisville
Bryan Reynolds, Jr., OF, Vanderbilt
Blake Rutherford, HS-Sr., OF, Chaminade Prep
Clarke Schmidt, So., P, South Carolina
Ryan Scott, Sr., OF, Arkansas Little Rock
Nick Senzel, Jr., IF, Tennessee
Colton Shaver, So.,C/ IF, BYU
Logan Shore, Jr., P, Florida
Nick Solak, Jr., IF, Louisville
Jacob Stevens, Fr., P, Boston College
Matt Thaiss, Jr., C, Virginia
Braden Webb, Fr., P, South Carolina
Boomer White, Jr., IF, Texas A&M
Kyle Wright, So., P, Vanderbilt
