USA Baseball Will Not Name 2020 Golden Spikes Award Winner

Image credit: Adley Rutschman, 2019 Golden Spikes Award Winner (Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

USA Baseball announced on Tuesday that it would forego naming a 2020 Golden Spikes Award winner given the canceled 2020 season due to the novel coronavirus. 

“We applaud the successes earned by the many amateur athletes vying for this award prior to the suspension of their seasons,” USA Baseball Executive Director and CEO Paul Seiler in a statement.

“However, we feel this decision fortifies our commitment to uphold the longstanding tradition of excellence associated with this prestigious award and aptly honors the accomplishments of the previous forty-two recipients of the Golden Spikes Award.”

Since 1978, USA Baseball has given the Golden Spikes Award to the top amateur baseball player in the nation. The 2020 season will mark the first year that no player was given the prestigious award. 

USA Baseball said that it would resume the process in 2021, starting with a preseason watch list released in February.

Recent recipients of the Golden Spikes award include 2019 first overall pick Adley Rutschman, California first baseman Andrew Vaughn (2018), Louisville two-way star Brendan McKay (2017) and outfielders Kyle Lewis (2016) and Andrew Benintendi (2015).

Favorites for the 2020 award included Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson, Vanderbilt outfielder Austin Martin, Texas A&M lefthander Asa Lacy, Georgia righthander Emerson Hancock, New Mexico State shortstop Nick Gonzales and Louisville lefthander Reid Detmers.