West Virginia second baseman JJ Wetherholt was not announced as one of the three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award on Wednesday.
Given to the best player in collegiate baseball, Wetherholt was one of 25 semifinalists for the award.
The three finalists were announced, with two of them coming from the same school, and all three coming from the SEC. Dylan Crews and Paul Skenes from LSU, while Jack Caglianone from Florida was named a finalist as well.
Crews has been a household name from the beginning of the year, and was named SEC Player of the Year. Skenes was named SEC Pitcher of the Year, while Caglianone is one of the better two-way players in the country, and led the nation in home runs this season.
Wetherholt led the nation in batting average, and while he didn’t play an SEC schedule, Wetherholt’s numbers certainly rival Crews’.
Wetherholt played in six less games than Crews this year and had just one less home run and three less RBI. At the same time, Wetherholt struck out 18 less times than Crews, had 10 more doubles (24), 30 more stolen bases (36), and a better slugging percentage (.787 to .736 for Crews).
Wetherholt and Caglianone are both 2024 draft eligible, while Crews and Skenes are both eligible to come out this year and are expected by many to be chosen in the top-five.
