Texas first baseman Ivan Melendez has been named the 2022 Golden Spikes Award winner. An honor given to the top amateur baseball player in America. Melendez becomes the first Longhorns to take home the award.
The “Hispanic Titanic” chose to return to Texas after getting drafted by the Marlins in the 2021 MLB Draft with hopes of rising his draft stock. Melendez did exactly that and more with a historic 2022 season.
Melendez hit .387 with the nation’s best 32 home runs and 94 RBI. He passed Kris Bryant’s nine-year-old record of 31 bombs during the BBCOR era.
Defense is easy to forget about behind his video game offensive numbers but Melendez’s glove was a huge weapon for Texas’ top-ranked defense in the nation.
Melendez finishes his Texas career as one of the best to ever put on the uniform. Expect to see the No. 17 retired here in the near future.
Ivan is the first Texas Longhorn to win the Golden Spikes Award and boy, did he earn it. pic.twitter.com/8CRIKz59pI
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) June 24, 2022
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