Dylan Crews became the first player in SEC history to win their Player of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons, and only the second player to ever win it twice, with it finally becoming official on Monday afternoon.
There’s little left in the way of words to describe the year the likely No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft has had, but let’s try, shall we? The junior — and alum of both the 2019 National Tournaments and International Week — is seventh in the nation with a stunning .423 batting average, has 14 homers and 57 RBI, and leads the SEC in OBP, runs scored and walks. He’s reached base in every single game this season, good for a streak of 59 straight games that extends back to his sophomore year, and was also named to this year’s SEC Community Service Team.
Tommy Troy, INF, Stanford
Troy has delivered six consecutive multi-hit games, but really turned it on against Washington State on Saturday, establishing new season-highs with four knocks and five runs scored in a monster performance in which he also drew two walks and stole a base. A consensus surefire first rounder, it’s now seemingly only a matter of how high he can climb once the 2023 MLB Draft comes around.
Troy LaNeve, OF, Vanderbilt
Finally healthy after a shoulder injury sapped much of his playing time this year, the senior outfielder and multi-time International Week standout had a huge showing this past weekend against Arkansas, hitting homers in back-to-back games.
Josh Pearson, OF, LSU
While it can be a little easy to get overlooked at LSU with Crews turning in his incredible junior year, Pearson, a teammate of Crews at the 2019 International Week event, continues to shine. He broke through for his first homer of the year on May 18 at Georgia, and produced a multi-hit game the very next night, driving in five runs over that two-day stretch.
Michael Brooks, INF, Kansas
Brooks continues to produce a career year at the collegiate level, and the redshirt sophomore remains an intriguing candidate for the upcoming Draft. He went 3-for-5 against Texas Tech on Friday, including his eighth homer of the season. He’s now hitting .303 on the year.
Chandler Tuupo, INF, Charleston Southern
The big freshman set a new career-high with five RBI on Saturday, doing it with a 2-for-5 showing against Gardner Webb that included a home run.
Gavin Turley, OF, Oregon State
Turley recorded a hit in each of his three games this past weekend against Western Carolina, going 6-for-11 in all with four homers and six RBI. He launched two longballs in each of his first two games, following up Thursday’s accomplishment with another prolific showing one night later.
