Dylan Crews of the LSU Tigers hits a single during the 11th inning against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Charles Schwab Field at the NCAA College World Series. Crews was named the winner of the 2023 Golden Spikes Award. (Photo by Jay Biggerstaff/Getty Images)
By Leif Skodnick
World Baseball Network
OMAHA, Neb. – Louisiana State’s Dylan Crews was named the winner of the 2023 Golden Spikes Award moments before the start of game two of the 2023 College World Series final.
The Golden Spikes Award has been presented annually since 1978 to the top amateur baseball player in the United States. Also among the finalists for the 2023 Golden Spikes Award are LSU’s Paul Skenes and Florida’s Jac Caglianone.
In three seasons at LSU, Crews batted .376/.495/.687 with an OPS of 1.182 over 194 games. He’s hit 58 home runs, 43 doubles, and collected 511 total bases as a Tiger. He spent the summers after his freshman and sophomore years in Baton Rouge with the Sanford River Rats of the Florida Collegiate Summer League, appearing in 20 games and batting .295/.400/.443 over 20 games while gaining experience playing with a wood bat.
Crews was a potential first round draft pick out of high school but wanted the experience of playing college baseball, and is LSU’s second winner of the award, joining Ben McDonald, who won in 1989. He is the top ranked prospect for the 2023 Major League Baseball draft and could potentially be selected first overall next month in Seattle. The Pittsburgh Pirates have the first overall selection after winning the MLB Draft Lottery during the offseason.
Eight previous winners of the award went on to be the first overall selection in the Major League Baseball draft, the most recent being Oregon State’s Adley Rutschmann, who won the Golden Spikes Award in 2019 and was selected first overall by the Baltimore Orioles the same year.
The other winners selected first overall include inaugural winner Bob Horner (1978, Arizona State), Ben McDonald (1989, LSU), Phil Nevin (1992, Cal State Fullerton), Pat Burrell (1998, Miami), David Price (2007, Vanderbilt), Stephen Strasburg (2009, San Diego State), and Bryce Harper (2010, College of Southern Nevada).