Jake Plastiak embracing leadership role as 'Cats prepare for SEC play

Stumbling into the media room of Kroger Field for baseball Media Day, there was still a lingering aura of mystery surrounding the program on that day in February. Following a mass exodus and retooling of the program after a disappointing 2021 campaign, head coach Nick Mingione sat at the podium and sang praise about who would lead this iteration of Wildcat baseball. What he said stunned everybody in the room.

“Jake Plastiak has really taken a leadership role for us,” Mingione blurted out before any question was asked. It’s something that Plastiak wanted coming into this season, and he doesn’t think it changes any sort of expectation for himself.

“I’ve always been able to lead and help better my teammates,” The senior said. “I think it’s just a role I assume because I was here last year and I’m one of the older guys… I wouldn’t say there’s any pressure but there’s a little bit more added responsibility.”

The Chicago native has done everything to prove his coach right and then some. Plastiak is second on the team this year with six home runs through 17 games. He’s batting .348 while slugging a near .700 mark.

‘I’ve been feeling pretty good. Obviously excited to get in to the SEC schedule, it’s a different level of competition,” Plastiak told KSR about his performance so far this season. “It’s definitely been a little bit easier to hit when you got guys like Chase Estep, Oraj Anu in front and behind you. I don’t have to hit a home run every time, I can just hit a single and trust that my teammates will knock me in… It’s definitely been fun and our lineup is really scary.”

.@jakeplas02 is the first UK player to homer in back-to-back games since…Jake Plastiak at Tennessee last season. pic.twitter.com/Dw5CcgoEzF

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) February 24, 2022

While in the middle of his breakout year as a Wildcat, it hasn’t always been a clear path for the slugger.

It’s been a long and arduous journey for Plastiak to become the starting first basemen for the Wildcats. Coming out of high school in 2018, Perfect Game tabbed him as the 18th overall player in the state of Illinois and a top 500 prospect overall. Recruiting metrics were irrelevant for Plastiak though as he committed to play at Wichita State before a single at-bat on varsity.

That summer of 2018, Plastiak was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 28th round of the MLB draft. Though the intention has always been to play pro ball in his future, the young high-schooler ultimately decided that going to school would be in his best interest. It just wasn’t at Wichita State.

In his freshman campaign, Plastiak was a third baseman for the Shockers and had an underwhelming first taste at college ball. He appeared in 18 games but only recorded 43 plate appearances. His numbers were admittedly ugly, batting .209 with only one extra-base hit — a double. That, combined with what he thought the future held for him in Wichita, let him know it was time to make a change.

“I didn’t play as much as I think I should have and there was a coaching change, so I chose to go JUCO after that,” Plastiak said.

Baseball really is a funny sport, especially at the college level. Unlike most other sports, the idea of stepping down a division and going to Junior College isn’t a death sentence at all. It’s almost common these days. You can find elite baseball talent in whatever division and wherever in the country. You just need to find somewhere to play.

Plastiak found that place with Wabash Valley Community College, a school in Mount Carmel, Illinois with an enrollment just above 5,000. Though it’s not as glamorous as staying at a Division I school his entire career, it ultimately worked out in Plastiak’s favor.

“I wanted to stay closer to home because I knew that some of the area scouts knew me being from Chicago,” Plastiak said about his reasoning to attend Wabash. “Choosing Wabash, I thought that was the best route for me plus I knew the head coach over there was really respected and had a reputation for getting players to big schools and getting drafted. I knew that was the best fit for me.”

IL: INF Jacob Plastiak (Andrew, 2018) is transferring from Wichita State to @WVCBASEBALL. @jakeplas02 was ranked No. 9 in the Illinois' 2018 class. @PBR_JUCO.

Profile >> https://t.co/76F5mwWWoO

— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) June 17, 2019

It sure was. At Wabash, Plastiak batted .339 and posted a .952 OPS despite the power numbers still not catching up. He was ultimately ranked the No. 43 JUCO player in the country by Prep Baseball Report after the shortened 2020 season. That was enough for Plastiak to get a phone call from Lexington, Kentucky.

“Coach (Will) Coggin reached out to me in the fall, right when I got to Wabash. When I arrived, I think it was the first week that he reached out to me. He got to know me a little bit and he came to see me play a few different times.” Plastiak mentioned. “I was getting recruited by a bunch of different schools at the time but I knew I wanted to play in the SEC. I like the coaching staff a lot and obviously the facilities are ridiculous. The coaching staff just made me feel really comfortable. So, I committed here and I’m glad I did.”

Similar to his freshman season in Wichita, Plastiak knew that his playing time would be limited initially. Primarily a first baseman now, he spent most of his inaugural season in Lexington sitting behind T.J. Collett, who had been a mainstay at Kentucky for years at that point and was the bonafide leader of last season’s team.

“I was looking to compete to get in the lineup anywhere, but just getting better and acclimated to the SEC,” Plastiak said about his initial goals going into last season. “Just getting better every day and I knew it would eventually pay off.”

Though he was a backup for most of the season, the slugger still got the chance to appear in 23 games for the Wildcats last season. Just as it was in his first collegiate season, the numbers weren’t overly impressive. He finished 2021 with a .209 batting average, striking out in just under a third of his at-bats.

“It was just kind of hard being in and out of the lineup. I wasn’t really able to get into a groove playing every day… I was just kind of focused on getting better every day and learning my swing a little bit better.”

While still taking numbers into account, you could see Plastiak learning on the fly and you started to see the potential. He had home runs on back-to-back days at Tennessee and even had one down in Nashville in the final series against Vanderbilt. You could see it coming, he just needed one more offseason to get the ball rolling.

Kentucky sits a 14-3 after their initial homestand to begin the season. It’s the program’s best start since 2018 but it still feels like the run of the mill in Lexington. Dominate weaker non-conference opponents and then fizzle out once SEC play comes around. We’ve seen it for years now. According to Plastiak though, this iteration of the Bat ‘Cats is different.

“We’re just a tighter group (from year’s past) and everyone holds everyone accountable. I just feel like we have a lineup that is made for the SEC. We have a bunch of older, experienced guys that have a lot of at-bats under their wings.”

Plastiak also mentioned the veteran leadership of the pitching staff and bullpen as to reasons why Kentucky could be dangerous. Looking at it objectively though, it’s obviously tough to make such a turnaround in conference play in one year. The ‘Cats were 12-18 in the SEC last season, finishing sixth in the East, only beating out Missouri.

Following last season, there was immense turnover in the Kentucky program. Double-digit players left, the staff brought a bunch of new pieces in from across the country. Plastiak and the team knew they had to have a different mindset heading into the summer.

“After I talked to the coaches and they told me all the transfers they were having, I knew that we were going to have a really good team. Coming back in the fall and just seeing how well everybody gelled together, there’s no cliques on our team. Everyone likes each other, everyone wants to root for each other,” Plastiak said. “We brought in a lot of transfers, position players and pitchers, that have helped us win games so far and who are going to help us go a long way and go where we need to go.”

While his focus is still entirely about helping the Kentucky program win baseball games right now, it’s admittedly hard for any athlete to not worry about their future in the sport. For Plastiak, this isn’t the last level he wants to play at.

“I feel like that’s everyone’s goal when you grow up to become a professional baseball player eventually. That’s eventually the goal but it’s a little easier to play well when you’re focused on something different. I’m kind of more focused on whatever I can do to help the team win and that’s been working out pretty well.”

It’s been working out so far. The Wildcats have been in great spirits and great confidence for the entire season so far. The competition will ramp up though when they kick off SEC play against No. 3 Arkansas. With Plastiak at the helm in a leadership role, the Bat ‘Cats might be in the best shape they’ve been in a few years.