Player Profile: Josh Dezse

     The Ohio State Buckeyes, currently sitting 6th in the Big Ten, are led by the extremely impressive Josh Dezse (Powell, Ohio). This Bourne Brave was first team all-district and honorable mention all-state by the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association as a senior at Olentangy Liberty H.S (current enrollment of 1603 students). As a sophomore, he has been named to the 2012 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Watch List. The, 6’5” righty received great praise from second-year Head Coach Greg Beals: "[Josh is] coming off a fantastic freshman campaign. Josh is once again slated to be our first baseman and closer. Josh is extremely talented and is learning how to be a great baseball player."
    I am sure Josh is going to be an exciting player to watch this summer at Doran Park. He was chosen in the 28th round of the 2010 draft, and was rated in Baseball America as the #1 Big Ten prospect for the 2012-2013 Draft. Last year, Dezse was a Freshman All-American in the Collegiate Baseball newspaper. This year he has been putting up impressive numbers offensively, defensively, and while pitching.
    At the plate, he is currently batting .331. It doesn’t seem he is afraid to do the dirty work as he is 2nd in Big Ten Conference in Hit-By-Pitches. He has managed to crank out 5 home runs, while being 9th in the conference with 27 walks. His plate discipline appears even more evident when you look at the fact he is 6th in the conference with a .452 on-base percentage.
    Dezse was  slick with the glove posting a .982 fielding percentage while 4th in the conference with 371 chances. On the mound he has posted a 3.57 ERA in 18 appearances. Dezse is 7th in the Big Ten in saves with 5, and he has struck out 17 batters in 22.2IP. He will be fun to clock on the gun, because he has hit 95.