New crop of talented arms highlight 2022 Pitcher of the Year watch list

By College Baseball Foundation | April 19, 2022

LUBBOCK, Texas – A brand new season has brought a whole new crop of pitchers looking to make a name for themselves and improve their position to potentially play professionally. In doing so, this new crop has proven to be full of arms making key contributions for their respective teams, and doing so despite many being in just their first or second season at the college level.

That effort also lands those pitchers on this year’s 2022 Pitcher of the Year Award Watch list, released Tuesday by the College Baseball Foundation (CBF). The watch list includes not only some of the top starting pitchers in the nation but also those who are nails at the end of the game with several saves through the first six weeks of the season.

The award, sponsored by Diamond, will be presented this summer by the CBF.

"It is exciting to see a lot of underclassmen on the watch list this year” said Brian Melakian, co-chair of the Pitcher of the Year Award committee. “The number of new faces making an instant impact on their teams means that the college game is in great shape."

The always pitching-rich Southeastern Conference dominates the list with nine pitchers, including four from the No. 1 team in the land, Tennessee. No other school landed more than two pitchers on the watch list. Grand Canyon, Stanford, UCLA, Rutgers, Davidson and Florida State each landed two pitchers on the watch list.

The Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference and Pac-12 Conference each have six players on the watch list.

Leading the group of starting pitchers on the list are Tennessee ace Drew Beam and Campbell fireballer Thomas Harrington. Beam, just a freshman, is pacing the Volunteers with eight wins and a 1.50 ERA with 46 strikeouts, while Harrington leads the Camels with eight wins, a 1.37 ERA and 86 strikeouts.

Cooper Hjerpe of Oregon State, ranked in the Top 5 in the nation, also has compiled eight wins to go with a 1.81 ERA and 88 strikeouts, and he is joined by Rutgers junior Dale Stanavich, who has eight wins, an 0.93 ERA and 33 strikeouts.

Florida State sophomore left-hander Parker Messick has proven the hardest to hit, leading the watch list with 94 strikeouts.

Wake Forest sophomore Rhett Lowder, Virginia Tech freshman Drue Hackenburg, Davidson sophomore Ryan Feczko, Maryland junior Ryan Ramsey, Connecticut senior Austin Pierson, Indiana State sophomore Matt Jachec and Vanderbilt freshman Devin Futrell all check in with seven wins apiece.

Closing the back end of games is just as important, and a pair of relievers are leading the group in that category. Wofford senior Dalton Rhadans has compiled eight saves to go with four wins, a 2.80 ERA and 49 strikeouts while College of Charleston sophomore William Privette has three wins and seven saves with an 0.93 ERA and 51 strikeouts.

“With so many deserving candidates across the country, it’s a difficult task to even put out a watch list because we know we’ve left off a quality pitcher somewhere,” said Chris Snead, co-chair of the Pitcher of the Year Award committee. “However, this initial group is a strong start, and we believe this could be the toughest choice we’ve had to make.”

For more information on the Pitcher of the Year Award, visit the College Baseball Foundation website at www.collegebaseballhall.org.

2022 NATIONAL PITCHER OF THE YEAR AWARD WATCH LIST

Name, Class, School, Conference

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