How Devin Burkes worked his way from redshirt to one of UK baseball’s most important players
READ MORE
Kentucky baseball in the College World Series
Click below to view more coverage from the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com as the University of Kentucky baseball team competes in the program’s first College World Series.
Expand All
When former Kentucky first baseman Hunter Gilliam arrived in Lexington as a graduate transfer from Longwood prior to the 2023 season he had to admit to his friends he was not going to be able to fulfill a promise to them.
“I called my boys one night in the middle of the fall,” Gilliam said toward the end of his one season at Kentucky. “My goal was, ‘I want to outwork everyone. I want to work, hit more than everyone.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, I can’t hit as much as this guy.’
“I’ve never seen someone hit (that much). I’m going to get there an hour and a half early, beat Devo there, but you can’t. He’s already there doing his thing. That’s what makes him so special in these moments.”
Devo is Kentucky catcher Devin Burkes, the player UK coach Nick Mingione makes sure to single out for praise in almost every postgame news conference regardless of his offensive performance.
While Burkes was just 1 for 9 in Kentucky’s two super regional games against Oregon State, he was one of three players chosen to represent the team at the news conference after the Wildcats clinched the first College World Series berth in program history. Kentucky’s pitchers received much of the credit for limiting Oregon State’s vaunted offense to just three hits across two games, but Mingione and those pitchers made sure to note the importance of Burkes in the success too.
“We wouldn’t be where we’re at without Devin Burkes,” Mingione said earlier in the NCAA Tournament. “...He’s an extension of the coaching staff. He’s tough, he’s competitive.”
Burkes was one of the stars of Kentucky’s 2023 NCAA Tournament regional championship, earning Most Outstanding Player honors for the regional with six hits and two home runs in five games. That performance combined with his six hits and two home runs in the 2022 SEC Tournament as a redshirt freshman earned Burkes the reputation as one of the most clutch players on the roster.
As a junior, Burkes’ offensive numbers have taken a step back.
After hitting .291 with nine home runs in 2023, he enters the College World Series hitting .250 with three home runs this season.
Even with other teammates posting more impressive statistics, Burkes has a remained a fixture in the No. 3 hole of Kentucky’s lineup.
“Just grinds at-bats,” second baseman Émilien Pitre, who hits in front of Burkes, said of the Wildcats’ catcher. “Makes my job a lot easier.”
It does not take long to spot Burkes’ impact on defense when watching the Wildcats play.
In UK’s regional final win over Indiana State, Mingione credited Burkes with keeping a pitch in the dirt in front of him, preventing a base-runner from advancing, 10 different times. When a pitcher runs into trouble, Burkes is quick to offer a word of encouragement or a more pointed directive if the situation warrants.
He frequently pumps his fist into the air after a good pitch. The emotion Burkes showed after framing the called strike three that clinched UK’s super regional win was only the most obvious example of that fire across the two games.
“He knows us more than we know ourselves sometimes,” reliever Cameron O’Brien said. “When he’s back there giving me fist pumps, hitting his chest when he needs to, gives me queues when I throw a bad pitch, it’s awesome to have support back there.
“When Coach calls it in the dirt, we are told to make Devin work, so it’s cool seeing him back there blocking those balls for us and being big.”
Burkes path to prominence for Kentucky was unusual.
After arriving in Lexington as the No. 23-ranked catcher in his high school senior class, Burkes did not play at all as a freshman.
“When we decided that it would be in Devin’s best interest to redshirt him, his mom came and picked them up,” Mingione said. “They were driving home, and I ended up talking to Ms. Denise (Woodall). And I just said, ‘Hey, I just want to make sure that you understand, like, we believe this is the best thing for Devin. We believe he’s going to be a great player for us one day, but where our current situation is this is the best thing.’
“And I’ll never forget what his mom said. She said, ‘Coach, whatever you decide I trust you. I’ve given you my son, and I trust you.’”
Burkes resisted the temptation to transfer in search of a more prominent role. When he opened his redshirt freshman season on the bench, he continued to work, eventually earning the lion’s share of the playing time at the position down the stretch.
“In ‘22, we made three adjustments: We started catching Devin more, we put (assistant) Nick Ammirati in the dugout to spend more time with the positional players and I started coaching third,” Mingione said. “And from that day forward, it’s been pretty good.
“Devin, amazing guy, amazing leader. He lights up the coaching staff, the offices every day. He comes by every day. He does not miss.”
When Mingione chatted with a pitching recruit during UK’s regional, Burkes’ role quickly came up.
Burkes is eligible for the MLB draft this summer, and Mingione is convinced a professional team will pick him despite the pedestrian offensive numbers.
So if Burkes is playing for an MLB organization next year, what is the plan at catcher?
“I want to make sure we have another catcher like that,” the recruit told Mingione. “...I’ve always wanted to throw to a guy like that.”
Burkes’ previous postseason success suggests it would not be a surprise if he comes through with a hit in a key moment in Omaha, but regardless of his offensive performance Burkes is certain to play a key role if the Wildcats’ pitching continues to thrive.
Burkes told reporters before the season he was so confident that Kentucky would reach the College World Series for the first time his mother had already booked a hotel in Omaha, but when asked to look back on that prediction after the super regional win even Burkes struggled to put his feelings into words.
“It always feels like untouchable,” he said. “Because it is. The road to Omaha is so long. So we come out every day … 12 o’clock hits, it expires. Come out to practice the next day or if you have an off day, go lift. Just keep going, keep going, keep going.
“And you finally achieve this and it’s, like, it doesn’t even feel real. Feels like you have unfinished business. Just keep going.”
This story was originally published June 12, 2024 at 9:58 AM.
