Philly Leader

In the upcoming 2025 baseball season, Penn junior shortstop Davis Baker has been named to the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List. This announcement was made on Friday afternoon by the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation. The award recognizes top-performing Division I baseball players across the nation based on their performance at the plate, academic achievements, and personal integrity.

The current watch list includes 46 players from 16 conferences and one independent school nationwide, with representation from all four power conferences. The list predominantly features juniors (29), alongside 14 seniors, two sophomores, and one graduate student.

Baker has been instrumental in Penn's Ivy League Tournament victories in both 2023 and 2024, securing All-Ivy honors each year. Over his college career so far, he has played in 99 games, achieving a batting average of .318 with 129 hits, 11 home runs, and 77 RBIs. He also boasts a .394 on-base percentage and has successfully stolen bases 21 times.

In the previous season of 2024, Baker had an impressive performance finishing third on his team in batting average (.319), second in hits (68), home runs (7), and RBIs (44). He led his team with 14 steals and topped the Ivy League with four triples. Additionally, he ranked among the top ten for hits, doubles (15), stolen bases, and total bases (115). As he enters the new season, Baker is on a remarkable 16-game hitting streak.

Penn secured its second consecutive Ivy League Tournament title in 2024 after overcoming challenges in the loser's bracket. They defeated Princeton once and Cornell twice to advance to their second straight NCAA Regional. However, their journey ended early following losses to Virginia and St. John's.

The Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award began as a Texas-only honor in 2017 but expanded regionally by 2019 before becoming a national award in 2020. The winner will be announced in June with an honoring gala scheduled for fall at the Fort Worth Club.

Previous winners include Hunter Hargrove from Texas Tech (2017), Devlin Granberg from Dallas Baptist (2018), Josh Jung from Texas Tech (2019), Connor Norby from East Carolina University (2021), Ivan Melendez from the University of Texas (2022), Dylan Crews from LSU (2023), and Charlie Condon from Georgia (2024).

Fans can keep up with updates about the award through www.braganslugger.com or follow Penn Baseball's social media accounts for more information about their upcoming games starting against #9 Florida State.