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Ka'ai Tom returns from an impressive debut season in 2014. (Photo by Britney Howard, UK Athletics)[/caption]
This is the first of three position previews for the upcoming Kentucky Baseball Season.
Led by 2014 First-Team All-SEC performer Ka’ai Tom, the Cats find some of their top talent in the outfield. Despite losing three-year starter Austin Cousino to the MLB Draft,
Kentucky returns three outfielders who played in 45 or more games last season. Leading the way with Tom, sophomore Storm Wilson and junior Kyle Barrett return from breakout seasons as underclassmen.
One of the biggest surprises from Kentucky’s run to the NCAA Tournament was Ka’ai Tom. The junior college transfer from the state of Hawaii broke out for the Cats in 2014 on both offense and defense. Tom batted .328 (second on the team behind only A.J Reed) and finished with a solid .414 on-base percentage. Possibly the most impressive stat showcasing Tom’s offensive ability was that he struck out only 18 times in 204 at-bats. When he reached base, Tom was impressive as he stole 14 bases in 18 attempts. The 20-year old Hawaiian was also a force on the defensive side, making 113 putouts and accounting for five assists from the left field position. The left-handed hitting Tom showed out during SEC play in 2014, batting .358 in conference play before being named First-Team All-SEC. Tom will be a mainstay in the 2015 lineup in left field.
Alongside Tom, the outfield will be filled with
two returning left-handed hitters in Kyle Barrett and Storm Wilson. The two split time last year in a very crowded outfield, but
both managed to have more than 125 at-bats and appear in 45 or more games. With the loss of Austin Cousino in centerfield, Barrett and Wilson will not be splitting as much time in right field as they did in the previous season. Wilson came on as a redshirt freshman last season and aided the bottom of the lineup with a .289 batting average and 20 runs-batted in. The
switch-hitting Wilson fought his way into the lineup more and more as the season progressed, getting starts in all four NCAA Tournament games in the Louisville Regional. Wilson hit very well in 2014 and played above-average defense, so it was difficult for Coach Gary Henderson to get Barrett into the lineup. The 2013 All-SEC Freshman Barrett saw his playing time regress as the season went on, and his average dropped nearly 100 points from the previous year. But, the 2014 season was not lost for Barrett. He improved on base running, stealing 10 bases in only 12 attempts. After Kentucky’s season ended, Barrett went on to play in the prestigious Cape Cod Summer League where he found his swing. While batting .313 and stealing 10 bases,
Barrett was named a starter for the Cape Cod All-Star Game. Both of these players will see more playing time in the outfield in 2015 with Barrett most likely going in centerfield and Wilson in right field.
Rounding out the outfield roster are Marcus Carson, Dorian Hairston, and Bryce Bastien. All three players saw action in 2014. The left-handed hitting Bastien transferred to Kentucky as a walk-on before the 2014 season from Maryville College and played in three games last season. Along with Bastien, Carson is also a left-handed hitter. As a true freshman, Carson was used primarily as a runner off the bench, but also started in four games. The Kentucky-native stole two bases and scored 12 runs in his debut season. The only right-handed hitter in the outfield is Hairston. Along with Carson, Hairston started four games for the Cats in 2014. The ability to hit right-handed got Hairston into the game as a pinch-hitter, batting .400 (10/25) as a sophomore.
Kentucky has one of the deepest, most talented outfields the school has had in recent years. Each player has different tools they bring to the table, which will give Coach Henderson many different options for his lineup this year.
“We’ve got some good choices in the outfield. Once again we may lead the country in left-handed hitters in the outfield. But they run and we are going to have an opportunity to put three or four different guys out there that have an ability to be above average defensively. Obviously we will miss Austin in centerfield, for three years he did a tremendous job of catching doubles and triples for us and was also able to throw very well. We’ve got Kyle Barrett, Marcus Carson, Ka’ai Tom and Storm Wilson from the left side and Dorian Hairston gives us a right-handed bat out there as well. We have some good options out there and as a group we have the ability to run well.”
-Coach Henderson during Baseball Media Day
@TreyHuntsmanKSR
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