23 New Players Added To The List

South Carolina's Blake Cooper is 8-0 with a 2.92 ERA. (SC photo)

2010 Major League Baseball All-Star FanFest in Anaheim, Calif.

On the heels of the 50-man preseason list released in February, the updated version includes 23 new athletes who have played themselves into consideration, while there are 13 names that have been removed. The watch list will continue to be a “rolling list” up until June 1 when 30 semifinalists are announced. This will ensure that athletes can still play themselves into consideration over the course of the month of May.

“As with all sports and end-of-season awards there are athletes who perform above and beyond expectations and thus play their way into the conversation,” said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO. “It is our job to identify those players and make sure they are properly considered as we work toward crowning baseball’s top amateur talent in 2010.”

Texas leads all schools with five players named to the watch list. Florida State, Georgia Tech and Louisiana State are tied for second with three names each. Arkansas, Cal State Fullerton, Coastal Carolina, Texas A&M, UCLA, Virginia and Virginia Tech each have two.

The ACC tops all conferences with 13 watch list players. Other leaders include the SEC with 10 athletes, the Big 12 with eight, Conference USA with five and the Big West, Ohio Valley and Pac-10 with three each. Juniors dominate the list with 35 players named. Sophomores are next with 18 players, with seniors having six and Southern Nevada’s Bryce Harper representing the lone freshman.

UCF's Chris Duffy's 17 HR are tied for 6th in the nation.

On Tuesday, June 1, USA Baseball officials will cut the watch list of players to 30 names. The final list of 30 will then be sent to a voting body consisting of select professional baseball personnel, past USA Baseball National Team coaches, select members of the media, former USA Baseball sports information directors, and current USA Baseball staff — close to 150 voters in total.

Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2010. June 1 will also mark the day when college baseball fans from across the country will be able to vote for their favorite player for the Golden Spikes Award on www.GoldenSpikesAward.com. As part of this selection process all voters will be asked to choose five players from the list of 30 names. On Tuesday, June 8, USA Baseball will announce the five finalists, and voting will once again commence that same day.

The 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award will be presented nationally July 13 on an award show via live telecast from Anaheim on GoldenSpikesAward.com, USABaseball.com and MLB.com in conjunction with All-Star FanFest.

The updated 2010 Golden Spikes Award Watch List is as follows:

Name, School, Position, Class (in order of name, new players in bold)
Trevor Bauer, UCLA, RHP, Sophomore
Chad Bettis, Texas Tech, RHP, Junior
Daniel Bibona, UC Irvine, LHP, Senior
Bryce Brentz, Middle Tennessee, OF/RHP, Junior
Gary Brown, Cal State Fullerton, IF, Junior
Michael Choice, Texas-Arlington, OF, Junior
Gerrit Cole, UCLA, RHP, Sophomore
Christian Colon, Cal State Fullerton, IF, Junior
Blake Cooper, South Carolina, RHP, Senior
Jordan Cooper, Wichita, RHP, Sophomore
Zack Cox, Arkansas, IF/RHP, Sophomore
Todd Cunningham, Jacksonville State, OF, Junior
Blake Dean, Louisiana State, IF/OF, Senior
Derek Dietrich, Georgia Tech, IF, Junior
Chris Duffy, Central Florida, IF/OF, Senior
Brett Eibner, Arkansas, RHP/OF, Junior
Micah Gibbs, Louisiana State, C, Junior
Sean Gilmartin, Florida State, LHP, Sophomore
Phil Gosselin, Virginia, IF/OF, Junior
Yasmani Grandal, Miami (Fla.), C, Junior
Sonny Gray, Vanderbilt, RHP, Sophomore
Cole Green, Texas, RHP/OF, Junior
Jedd Gyorko, West Virginia, IF, Junior
Jesse Hahn, Virginia Tech, RHP, Sophomore
Bryce Harper, Southern Nevada, C/IF/OF, Freshman
Paul Hoilman, East Tennessee State, RHP/IF, Sophomore
Tyler Holt, Florida State, OF, Junior
Danny Hultzen, Virginia, LHP/IF, Sophomore
Taylor Jungmann, Texas, RHP, Sophomore
A.J. Kirby-Jones, Tennessee Tech, IF/RHP, Junior
Jayson Langfels, Eastern Kentucky, IF, Sophomore
Barret Loux, Texas A&M, RHP, Junior
Zack MacPhee, Arizona State, IF, Sophomore
Mike McGee, Florida State, RHP/OF, Junior
Deck McGuire, Georgia Tech, RHP, Junior
Hunter Morris, Auburn, IF/OF, Junior
Kyle Parker, Clemson, OF/IF, Junior
Tony Plagman, Georgia Tech, IF, Senior
Drew Pomeranz, Mississippi, LHP, Junior
Anthony Ranaudo, Louisiana State, RHP, Junior
Addison Reed, San Diego State, RHP, Junior
Anthony Rendon, Rice, IF, Sophomore
Kyle Roller, East Carolina, IF, Senior
Chance Ruffin, Texas, RHP, Junior
Cameron Rupp, Texas, C, Junior
Chris Sale, Florida Gulf Coast, LHP, Junior
Rob Segedin, Tulane, IF/RHP, RS Sophomore
John Stilson, Texas A&M, RHP/IF, Sophomore
Preston Tucker, Florida, IF, Sophomore
Kolbrin Vitek, Ball State, IF/RHP, Junior
B.A. Vollmuth, Southern Mississippi, IF, Sophomore
Austin Wates, Virginia Tech, OF, Junior
Cody Wheeler, Coastal Carolina, LHP, Junior
Alex Wimmers, Ohio State, RHP, Junior
Mickey Wiswall, Boston College, IF, Junior
Asher Wojciechowski, The Citadel, RHP, Junior
Kolten Wong, Hawaii, IF, Sophomore
Scott Woodward, Coastal Carolina, IF, Junior
Brandon Workman, Texas, RHP, Junior
Phil Wunderlich, Louisville, IF/OF, Junior