Golden Spikes Award field narrows to three

Golden Spikes Award field narrows to three

First time in 34 years that all finalists are pitchers


By Evan Drellich / MLB.com | 06/06/11 6:57 PM ET

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A field of 30 candidates for the 2011 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the best player in amateur baseball, has been narrowed to three junior pitchers.

USA Baseball announced on Monday that right-hander Trevor Bauer of University of California, Los Angeles; left-hander Danny Hultzen of the University of Virginia; and right-hander Taylor Jungmann of the University of Texas received the most votes last week from a nearly 200-person committee.

No previous GSA finalist class had been exclusively made up of pitchers. This is the 34th consecutive year the award has been given.

"In a year of incredible performances from players across the diamond, our voting committee felt that three pitchers stood out above the rest," USA Baseball executive director and CEO Paul Seiler said in a statement. "We congratulate Trevor Bauer, Danny Hultzen and Taylor Jungmann, along with their coaching staffs, teammates and their schools' baseball programs."

Those on the voting committee could choose a finalist starting at 3:30 p.m. Monday. Fans can vote as well by visiting www.GoldenSpikesAward.com.

Balloting for fans and the voting body ends at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, June 17.

Bauer was Collegiate Baseball magazine's National Player of the Year and was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of Year. He set the conference single-season record for strikeouts with 203, one more than Mark Prior notched for Southern California in 2001. Bauer went 13-2 and threw 10 complete games en route to becoming the first GSA finalist from UCLA since Troy Glaus in 1997.

Hultzen became the first Virginia Cavaliers baseball player to be named a three-time All-American, going 11-3 with a 1.57 ERA. He's a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year and he can also hit, posting a .336 average with 10 doubles, two triples and a home run this season. The Cavaliers' last finalist was Seth Greisinger, in 1996.

Jungmann was the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year after going 13-1 with a 1.40 ERA. Opponents hit .168 off him and he threw five complete games, striking out 119. The Longhorns last had a finalist in 2007, in outfielder Kyle Russell.

The GSA will be presented live on MLB Network for the first time this year, at 6 p.m. ET on July 15 as part of the MLB Tonight program. Online footage will also be available via GoldenSpikesAward.com and MLB.com.


Evan Drellich is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @EvanDrellich. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.