Wolfpack’s Bailey named Johnny Bench Award winner as college baseball’s top catcher
N.C. State’s Patrick Bailey on Thursday was named the recipient of the 2020 Johnny Bench Award on Thursday, annually given to the nation’s top collegiate baseball catcher.
Bailey, a Greensboro native, is the 21st player to receive the award since its inception. He is the third ACC player to earn the honor, joining Buster Posey (Florida State, 2008) and Zack Collins (Miami, 2016).
“I’m extremely humbled to have been chosen as this year’s Johnny Bench Award winner,” Bailey said in a statement released by the school. “To be considered as the nation’s best collegiate catcher by a Hall of Famer is a true honor and great ending to this chapter of my career. I’m excited to get to work with the Giants and hopefully continue the legacy that Mr. Bench created in our great sport.”
Bailey recently was the 13th overall pick of the 2020 MLB Draft, taken by the San Francisco Giants. He became the Pack’s fourth top 15 MLB Draft pick since 2014 and the 10th first-rounder in program history.
Before the 2020 season with the Pack was shortened because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bailey made 16 starts behind the plate in the 17 games he played in, batting .296 with a team-leading six home runs and 20 runs batted in. The junior finished second on the team with 20 runs scored and a .685 slugging percentage, and ranked top four in the ACC in RBI, home runs and walks (17).
Bailey hit three grand slams in the season, all in an 11-day span. On Feb. 28 against Iowa at the CambriaCollegeClassic in Minneapolis, he homered from both sides of the plate for the second time in his career, remaining the only player in program history to do so in a single game.
Bailey also reached base safely in the first 15 games of the season and turned in five multi-hit and five multi-RBI games.
