THE FLATS – Georgia Tech baseball junior Kyle McCann was named a finalist the Buster Posey Award, it was announced this week.
Formerly called the Johnny Bench Award, the Buster Posey Award is awarded to the nation’s catcher in collegiate baseball. McCann joins Oregon State’s Adley Rutschman and UC Santa Barbara’s Eric Yang on the final list.
McCann finished as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s home run leader with 23 on the season, also ranking in the top five of seven other offensive categories in the ACC. He was third in RBI (70), walks (62) and on-base percentage (.469).
His 23 home runs currently rank third in Georgia Tech history for a single season, finishing just two shy of the record. Entering the season, only two catchers returned with a higher weighted runs created+ rating* than McCann’s 164 – Oregon State’s Adley Rutschman (196) and Jacksonville State’s Nic Gaddis (166).
An All-ACC first-teamer, McCann has made his mark in both defensive prowess and pure offensive power this season. Catching all but two games this year, the Suwanee, Ga. native has posted an impressive .994 fielding percentage through 504 chances during the season.
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 the 22nd Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 27, 2019.
* Weighted Runs Created (wRC) attempts to quantify a player’s total offensive value and measure it by runs. + compares it with league averages after considering park effects.
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