Miami Baseball Star Named 2026 Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
University of Miami third baseman Daniel Cuvet has been named to the 2026 Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List, as announced by USA Baseball on Friday.
The selection marks the second consecutive year Cuvet has appeared on the Golden Spikes Award watch list. He was previously named a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist during the 2025 season.
The Golden Spikes Award annually honors the nation’s top amateur baseball player. The 2026 preseason watch list includes 55 players from across high school and college baseball, selected based on their body of work from the previous season. The watch list will be maintained on a rolling basis throughout the year.
Cuvet is coming off a standout sophomore campaign in 2025, starting 61 games and batting .372 with 84 hits, 18 home runs, 84 RBI, 20 doubles and a .708 slugging percentage, while reaching base at a .450 clip.
He continued his strong play in the postseason, earning Hattiesburg Regional MVP honors after batting .385 with two doubles, a home run and five RBI to help Miami advance to the NCAA Louisville Super Regional for the first time since 2016.
Across his first two collegiate seasons, Cuvet has appeared in 118 games, compiling a .361 career batting average with 165 hits, 42 home runs, 159 RBI, 35 doubles and a 1.161 OPS. Entering the 2026 season, he sits 20 home runs shy of tying Miami’s all-time career home run record, held by Phil Lane (1982–84).
Hurricanes legend Pat Burrell remains the only University of Miami player to win the Golden Spikes Award, earning the honor in 1998.
Daniel Cuvet’s 2026 Preseason Honors & Recognition
- Perfect Game Preseason First Team All-American
- D1Baseball Preseason First Team All-American
- NCBWA Preseason First Team All-American
- Baseball America Preseason Third Team All-American
- Baseball America Preseason National Player of the Year Award Watch List
- D1Baseball No. 1–ranked third baseman in college baseball
- Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
Miami opens the 2026 season on Friday, Feb. 13, against Lehigh at Mark Light Field, with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.
Courtesy of Miami Athletics
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.