Cal Pitcher Joseph King named Freshman All-American

Though the 2020 collegiate baseball season was shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic, we still saw some things to be hopeful for the future from your California Golden Bears.

Things like the dynamic start to freshman pitcher Joseph King’s career.

King allowed just 1.59 ERA and had 17 strikeouts on just 11.1 innings pitched. That’s a ridiculous average of 50% of the batters he faced, he struck out.

He appeared in seven games, earning two wins against St. John’s and Stanford, and even recorded a save in what became Cal’s final game of the season. King allowed opposing batters to hit just .209 against him and had just four walks to his credit this season.

As such, King was named to the 2020 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American team, becoming the first Cal Bear to earn freshman AA status since 2017 when Andrew Vaughn and Cameron Eden earned the honors.

There were four separating outings of his seven total appearances in which King struck at least three batters including his collegiate debut against Long Beach State.

The future is bright for King and now that future is decorated with freshman All-American status as well.

Congratulations, Joseph! Well earned, well deserved. Wish we would have been able to see more from you in 2020.