Arizona outfielder Chase Davis named to Golden Spikes Award watch list

The preseason accolades continue to pour in for Arizona outfielder Chase Davis, who on Friday was named to the watch list for the Golden Spikes Award.

Given to college baseball’s top overall player, Davis is the 11^th Wildcat to make the preseason Golden Spikes list since 2008. Last year, UA catcher Daniel Susac made the list and was also a semifinalist for the award before getting picked by the Oakland Athletics in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft.

Davis enters his junior season as Arizona’s top draft prospect, sitting at No. 43 on Baseball America’s list of top 2023 draft-eligible players. He’s been tabbed a preseason All-American by D1Baseball and Collegiate Baseball and earlier this week was one of four UA players on the first-ever Pac-12 preseason all-conference squad.

Last season Davis hit .289 and led Arizona with 18 home runs along with 54 RBI. He batted .346 in the postseason.

Arizona, which was picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 and is not ranked in any preseason national polls, opens the 2023 season on Feb. 17 against No. 2 Tennessee in the MLB Desert Invitational in Scottsdale. The Wildcats will also face Fresno State, Michigan State and UC Davis in the event before playing their home opener Feb. 24 at Hi Corbett Field against West Virginia.