UK had nation’s best freshman. You might have missed him, but don’t overlook him.
Before the coronavirus pandemic shut down college sports in March, a bona fide star burst onto the scene for the University of Kentucky baseball team.
Tennessee native John Rhodes quickly made his mark at UK this spring, leading the Wildcats with a video-game-like batting average of .426 on his way to being named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year and co-National Freshman of the Year. After spending the last couple of months honing his skills in summer ball, Rhodes is ready for his second act as a Wildcat — and he believes the team has a real chance to make history next season.
“I’m so excited to get back to campus and get started,” Rhodes told the Herald-Leader in a recent phone interview. “I think our team next year, we have a legitimate shot at being really good. I think it’s on, and I truly believe we can do something special.”
Rhodes has already done a lot of special things in his young career. He began his freshman season batting ninth in the Wildcats’ lineup, but through his production forced UK Coach Nick Mingione to shuffle things around. Rhodes steadily worked his way up the batting order, ending the season as the 2-hole hitter.
“Honestly, I was just happy to be anywhere in the lineup. I didn’t care where I hit,” Rhodes said. “I started off at nine then went to eight, seven, six — was at five for a little while — then went up to two and I was there when the season ended. But I wasn’t focused on where I was in the lineup, I was just happy to see my name in there.”
Rhodes’ early impact was at odds with the trepidation he felt when he first arrived on campus.
“I remember walking into the locker room and walking to the batting cages with all the guys and thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, these are grown men. I’m not playing with the kids I grew up with anymore,’” Rhodes said. “I realized I had to take another step up.”
And take that step, he did. In addition to leading the team in batting average, Rhodes finished second with 19 RBI. He also led the Cats and finished second nationally with 10 doubles.
“I’ve got to the point now where I feel like I belong. Success isn’t an accident, that’s why I put in all the hard work. It’s that self-belief, that feeling that I actually belong that’s helping me take the next step.”
Rhodes’ first go-round with the Wildcats was full of big moments, but the most special came in early March when Murray State visited Lexington. With the game tied 8-8 in the bottom of the ninth inning, the first two UK batters struck out. Rhodes shared a moment with Kentucky assistant coach Todd Guilliams, then delivered the heroics.
“I remember the two guys in front of me struck out and I was talking to Guill and said, ‘Well, I’ve got nothing to lose here,’” Rhodes recalled. “So I went up there. It was a 1-0 count, I swung and fouled it off. I turned around and looked at Guill and nodded at him and I was thinking in my head, ‘Yeah, I’m about to hit a bomb.’”
Rhodes hammered the next pitch out of the park to deliver a walk-off victory.
“It was surreal. That was the most calm I’d been in an at-bat all year,” Rhodes said. “I was so relaxed and I had nothing to lose, there was no doubt in my mind that I was about to hit one out.”
Rhodes has enjoyed the challenge presented by the increased intensity of college baseball.
“It’s been neat to be around guys with similar professional aspirations and guys who want to win a national championship. Everybody is really serious about it and everyone is on the same page, which is great.” he said. “In high school, you have the guys that know they’re just playing through high school and they’re done. It’s cool to be around guys that want to play professionally and are willing to work super hard. I’ve really enjoyed the college experience, I’m so glad I went this route.”
In choosing the college route rather than pursuing a pro career straight out of high school, Rhodes fulfilled a commitment he made four years ago during a period in which his baseball future was very much in doubt.
‘A pretty low place’
Rhodes knew something was wrong well before the dam finally broke.
For a long stretch during his high school freshman season at Chattanooga Christian, Rhodes was plagued by recurring back pain. In the middle of a game, things turned frighteningly serious.
“I had a little check swing and felt a crack. I started going to first and realized I couldn’t run, so I just walked off the field.”
It was discovered that Rhodes had two fractured vertebrae. For four months, he had to wear a back brace that extended from his waist to his shoulders. In his own mind, Rhodes’ baseball future hung in the balance.
“That time was a very scary period where I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, my sports career might potentially be over,’ and that was terrible to think about. Even looking back, it kind of scares me,” Rhodes said. “I worried whether I’d even be able to swing a bat again. But I did everything they told me, I worked 24-7 to rehab. The only time I took off the brace was when I was in the shower, I even had to wear it to sleep. It was a terrible time, full of doubts. I was in a pretty low place.
“But I pride myself on working hard and I decided I’m going to do whatever it takes to get back to where I need to be. Thankfully, I came out of the other side a lot better.”
Mingione never doubted that Rhodes would weather the adversity and emerge victorious. That belief was a huge factor in Rhodes’ decision to become one of the first underclassman recruits to commit to UK under Mingione.
“I went on my visit to Kentucky in that back brace. That was one of the main reasons I chose Kentucky. Other schools had backed off a little bit, thinking, ‘We’ll wait and see how this plays out,’” Rhodes recalled. “But Coach Mingione said, ‘I believe in you, I think you’re going to come back better than ever.’ And I realized if he still believes in me through this, then I know if I have an injury in college they’re going to stick with me and not turn their back. So I committed right after that, while I was in a back brace.”
Rhodes recovered and went on to have a standout multi-sport career at Chattanooga Christian. He loved playing basketball and scored more than 1,500 points during his high school career, but quickly realized his future lay on the diamond, not the hardwood.
“My first high school game as a freshman I had 26 points and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m the best basketball player in the world,’” Rhodes said. “The next game we played a top-two team in the state and I had two points and about 30 turnovers. I called my summer coach after that and said, ‘Yeah, I’m definitely playing baseball in college.’”
Rhodes also became a secret weapon for the track and field team. He still holds the Chattanooga Christian long-jump record with a mark of 21 feet, 11.5 inches.
“Our track coach watched me play basketball then said, ‘Can you just come jump and get us some points then go play baseball?’ So I’d run to the track, go win the long jump, then run back and put my uniform on and go play baseball,” Rhodes said.
The latest stop on Rhodes’ baseball journey finds him once again doing grown-man things while playing a little-kids’ game.
‘It’s a great test’
Rhodes has spent the last couple of months playing in the Northwoods League as a member of the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders in Wisconsin. On a squad full of college standouts looking to gain valuable experience, Rhodes is excelling.
As of July 31, Rhodes led the Dock Spiders with a batting average of .397 — more than 60 percentage points ahead of the team’s second-leading hitter — to go along with 17 RBI, 20 runs scored and an on-base percentage of .500 in 68 plate appearances.
While those gaudy numbers might lead one to think this all comes easy to Rhodes, he said the summer ball season “is a grind.”
“It’s basically minor league baseball,” Rhodes said. “You wake up, work out, eat, play, sleep. It’s every single day, and on top of that you’ve got two-and-a-half hour road trips each way, getting back at 2 o’clock in the morning.
“It’s a great test. It shows you what it’s going to take to succeed when you get to minor league baseball. It shows you how you have to take care of your body, how to physically and mentally prepare to go out there every day and perform consistently. Because that’s the hard part. Anybody can have a good week. Anybody can roll out and have a hot streak. But, how do you get through the bad weeks?”
In looking for an answer, Rhodes has a unique resource available. He’s become close with former Kentucky star Evan White — who’s currently enjoying a breakout rookie season with the Seattle Mariners — as well as ex-Cat Zach Reks, who was rising through the ranks of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm system before the minor league season was canceled because of the coronavirus.
“I asked Evan how he was so consistent at UK and how he’s been so consistent in pro ball,” Rhodes said. “He told me day in and day out you’ve got to go in believing you’re the best player in the world. In college you have to believe you’re an All-American. I’ve had some good conversations with him about mental toughness and emotional stability.”
Rhodes has also leaned on Reks’ expertise during his summer with the Dock Spiders.
“It’s been neat to pick his brain and learn some stuff and figure out how he’s gotten through everything. I love the atmosphere at Kentucky. So many guys that have been through here recently are still giving back to the team. It’s cool how everything lines back up.
“I feel like it’s important to build those relationships now so that if I go through a period where I’m struggling and need some advice I have the kind of relationship with guys like Evan and Zach where I can reach out to them, because they’ve been through those periods ... I think that’s invaluable. When you get that kind of advice from guys who are on the same journey as you it’s really good.”
‘I just want to play in Omaha’
Rhodes was proud to be named co-National Freshman of the Year, but he’s more concerned with the business at hand than the accolades behind him.
“It’s really cool to get that honor, but it’s still in the back of my mind that I didn’t get an SEC season. So for me, I can’t dwell on the award because the work isn’t done,” Rhodes said. “I was ready to get thrown around in the wash of the SEC to learn from it. There’s nothing more valuable than experience.”
And, he has lofty aspirations for his sophomore campaign with the Wildcats.
“It sounds cliche, but my main goal is for the team to win a national championship. So I’m gonna do anything I can help us reach that goal,” Rhodes said. “I’m not trying to chase numbers, I’m trying to win games. Chasing stats is a terrible way to approach the game.
“I want to be part of the first UK team to go to Omaha, that would be incredible. I have friends who play for Vandy that have talked about winning it (in 2018) and I’m thinking, ‘Gosh, that sounds so cool.’ I just want to play in Omaha so bad, that’s all I’m really concerned about.”
Collett, Shelby to return
Rhodes will have some high-powered help in his quest to steer the Wildcats to their first College World Series appearance.
UK announced in the past week that senior first baseman T.J. Collett and senior outfielder Jaren Shelby will return for the 2021 season, taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA to spring sports athletes whose seasons were cut short because of COVID-19. Fellow senior Zeke Lewis is also returning for another year.
“I can’t wait to give everything I have to my teammates, coaches and fans. I’m blessed (Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch) Barnhart and Coach Mingione are giving me the opportunity to go out on my own terms,” Collett said in a UK press release.
Collett hit five home runs in 69 plate appearances for the Wildcats this spring and has a career batting average of .269 with 97 RBI in 188 games.
“Lexington is home and Kentucky is family,” said Shelby, a Tates Creek High School graduate. “It’s been an honor to represent Kentucky baseball in front of family, friends and the BBN. I’m not ready to walk away from that blessing just yet. To my teammates and coaches, let’s ride together one last time and do something that’s never been done before. Let’s make history.”
Shelby was just heating up when the 2020 season was cut short. He had logged a hit in five straight games, scoring seven runs and setting career highs with three hits and three runs on March 8 vs. Oakland. He finished with as many walks as strikeouts and a perfect 6-for-6 on stolen base attempts.
Like Collett and Lewis, Shelby graduated in May with a degree in communication and was a member of the SEC Honor Roll.
