Vanderbilt catcher Spencer Navin cracks the VandySports 100 at No. 71.
Honors and awards: 2012 All-Southeastern Conference tournament
2012 All-Raleigh Regional
In the VU record book: Navin does not place on any single-season or career charts.
Before VU: Lettered four years in baseball, and two each in football and basketball, at Dowling High in Des Moines, Iowa. Was a captain in all three sports. First-team all-state in football and baseball, and made all-conference three years in baseball. Perfect Game ranked him the No. 351 player in the Class of 2010.
Freshman (2011): Participated in just eight games (three in the SEC) on VU's College World Series team that had veteran and future Major Leaguer Curt Casali at catcher. Made one error in 24 chances. Started a pair of mid-week games.
Sophomore (2012): Was the primary catcher for a 35-28 (16-14 SEC) team. Hit .270/.360/.378 in SEC regular-season play, starting all 29 times he played. Fielded .980 overall and .973 in the league. Opponents were credited with 39 steals in 59 tries. Had two hits and two RBIs in VU's SEC tournament-opening win over Georgia. Had two hits and drove in three in a regular-season win over Ole Miss. Had two hits and a home run against MTSU, the last game in a string of 21 straight games in which he reached base. Had three hits, two doubles and two RBIS in a win over Auburn. Hit his first career home run against Rhode Island.
Junior (2013): Was the primary catcher for a 54-12 (26-3) team that was eliminated by Louisville in the Nashville Super Regional. Fielded .993 with just three errors. Threw out 37.2 percent of the 43 runner who tried to steal on him. Played in 25 regular-season conference games, starting 24, while hitting .273/.385/.429 with three homers, 24 RBIs and 13 runs scored in league games. Fielded .989 in those games and threw out four of 10 runners. Had two hits and scored two runs in an NCAA tournament win over Georgia Tech. Had a homer and three RBIs in a win over Missouri. Reached base eight times in the Oregon series.
Post-VU: The Dodgers took Navin in Round 11 of the 2013 MLB Draft. Navin played parts of four seasons professionally, but never made it above high-A.
Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: Navin, who had a terrific arm and didn't make many mistakes, was a defensive wizard, and was regarded as the best defensive catcher in the Dodgers' organization the year he was drafted. Navin also had an outstanding .423 career on-base percentage, thanks to decent plate discipline (55 walks, 87 strikeouts). He also started on the 2013 team, which set a record for SEC winning percentage that may never be broken.
Brevity--he had just 485 career plate appearances--is about the only thing anyone can hold against Navin. Some players on our VandySports 100 list had over twice that many plate appearances. But Navin was a great hitter and fielder, and per game played, had the best career of any VU catcher during coach Tim Corbin's era.
