Zack Collins was the driving force for the Miami Hurricanes in 2016. He had an outstanding season by any metric. His stat line of .363 average, .544 on-base percentage, .668 slugging percentage, 1.212 OPS, 10 doubles, 16 home runs, 59 rbis, and 78 walks is a monster season. Collins led the Nation in walks, was 2nd in on-base percentage, was top 10 in OPS, and ranked highly in a number of other categories.
On top of that outstanding offensive output, Collins was a steady defender behind the plate for the Canes.
And, on Thursday night, Collins was awarded for his stellar season by winning the Johnny Bench Award for the Nation's Best Catcher
Congratulations Zack Collins!
— Hurricanes Baseball (@CanesBaseball) July 1, 2016
The 2016 Johnny Bench Award winner as the BEST CATCHER in the nation! pic.twitter.com/z6YW7SpJJc
This is not the first honor bestowed upon Collins this year. He was already named a 1st team All-American by 3 different media outlets, and was the #10 overall draft pick by the Chicago White Sox. Collins has already signed his MLB contract, earning a hefty signing bonus of $3,380,600.
Collins is the 2nd Cane to win a national award this year. Closer Bryan Garcia was named Stopper of the Yearearlier in June.
But, today's award reinforces what we've know for years: Zack Collins is an elite baseball player, and we were lucky to have him on our team.
Congratulations, Zack!