USA Baseball has announced the preseason watch list for the 2026 Golden Spikes Award, featuring 55 top amateur players from high school and college ranks. The list highlights standout performances from 2025 and sets the stage for a competitive season leading to the winner's announcement on June 29. Notable inclusions include seven semifinalists from last year and all top 10 MLB Draft prospects.
The Golden Spikes Award, which recognizes the nation's best amateur baseball player, kicked off its 2026 selection process with Friday's preseason watch list announcement from USA Baseball in Cary, North Carolina. This dynamic roster of 55 players, selected by the Golden Spikes Advisory Board based on 2025 achievements, spans high school and college talent and will evolve as the season progresses.
Among the highlights, Roch Cholowsky of UCLA tops MLB Pipeline's Draft prospect rankings and joins six other 2025 semifinalists on the list: Drew Burress (Georgia Tech), Daniel Cuvet (Miami), Justin Lebron (Alabama), Kade Lewis (Wake Forest), Jack Ohman (Yale), and Dylan Volantis (Texas). Burress marks his sixth consecutive appearance, dating back to the 2024 midseason list. Repeaters from last year's preseason include Cuvet, Lebron, Jason DeCaro (North Carolina), Henry Ford (Tennessee), Gabe Gaeckle (Arkansas), A.J. Gracia (Virginia), and Zion Rose (Louisville). Others returning from the 2025 midseason list are Trey Beard (Florida State), Aidan Knaak (Clemson), and Liam Peterson (Florida).
Georgia Tech leads with three players—Burress, Jarren Advincula, and Vahn Lackey—while 12 schools, including Arkansas, Florida, and UCLA, have two each. The Southeastern Conference dominates with 16 players, followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference with 14. All top 10 Draft prospects made the cut, including high school standouts Grady Emerson (Fort Worth Christian HS, No. 2), Jacob Lombard (Gulliver Schools HS, No. 4), and others from non-Division I programs aiming to follow Bryce Harper and Alex Fernandez as winners.
Five high schoolers—Carson Bolemon, Coleman Borthwick, Emerson, Lombard, and Gio Rojas—earned spots after helping USA Baseball's 18U National Team win gold at the WBSC U-18 World Cup in Japan last September. Division II's Mackenzie Wainwright (Lenoir-Rhyne) adds to the non-D1 contingent, fresh off leading his team to a College World Series and earning ABCA Regional Player of the Year honors.
"We could not be more excited to kick off the amateur baseball season with the announcement of the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List," said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball's Executive Director/CEO. "The athletes on this year’s initial watch list represent a tremendous amount of talent and character."
Upcoming milestones include the midseason watch list on April 2, semifinalists on May 14, finalists on June 10, and the winner on June 29 via MLB Network. Fans can vote post-semifinalists on GoldenSpikesAward.com to influence finalists and the victor. Recent winners like 2025's Wehiwa Aloy (Arkansas) underscore the award's prestige, with past recipients including Stephen Strasburg, Kris Bryant, and Adley Rutschman.
