WICHITA, Kan. – San Diego State redshirt sophomore Wyatt Hendrie (Palmdale, Calif./Antelope Valley College) was one of 14 players added to the official watch list for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award, as announced Thursday by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission.
Entering the weekend, Hendrie finds himself among the Mountain West leaders in several statistical categories, including home runs (1st – 5), runs scored (2nd – 25), RBIs (3rd – 22), slugging percentage (8th – .594), hits (9th – 23) and on-base percentage (9th –.448). He also tops the conference with 153 putouts as of April 1.
Last month, Hendrie garnered MW Player of the Week accolades for the first time in his career after batting .455 with one home run, a double, four runs scored and five RBIs in a three-game series vs. Air Force, March 20-21.
During his first season at SDSU in 2020 that was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hendrie started 14 of 16 games at catcher, batting .286 with one home run and seven RBIs. The Palmdale, California, native led the Aztecs with nine walks and a .417 on-base percentage while ranking fourth on the squad with nine runs scored. He also recorded multiple hits in four games.
Following the season, Hendrie earned a spot on the MW all-academic team.
In 2019, Hendrie was a 10th-round selection by the Chicago Cubs in the MLB First-Year Player Draft.
To date, a total of 80 catchers have been nominated for the award by their schools. Because the award is given annually to the top Division I collegiate catcher, the list will be updated to include other candidates until May 5, 2021.
The watch list will be narrowed down to the semifinalists, all of whom will be announced on May 20. Ballots will be sent to the national voting committee at the end of May for a vote to determine the three finalists. The finalists will be announced on June 7. A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced at a date to be determined.
Hendrie and the Aztecs will play host to New Mexico this weekend in a three-game series, April 2-3, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.