SEC coaches rave about Kentucky’s A.J. Reed
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky baseball team opens play in the Southeastern Conference tournament today, and coach Gary Henderson sounded confident heading into it, saying matter-of-factly Monday: “We’re looking forward to a nice stay here in Birmingham.”
Even as his ninth-seeded Wildcats (32-22, 14-16 SEC) face a challenging matchup against eighth-seeded Alabama (34-21, 15-14) at 5:30 p.m. in the loser-goes-home round, Henderson expects an extended trip because of another plainly stated fact that no one else in the league is arguing.
“We’ve got the best player in the country,” Henderson said, referring to pitching ace and slugger A.J. Reed. “I don’t want to be brazen about it, but clearly with the season he’s had in this league I would think it’s a fairly short discussion. I would think that he kind of stands alone.”
Reed, who leads the SEC in seven offensive categories and in pitching victories, will stand in the batter’s box and on the pitcher’s mound tonight against the Crimson Tide. Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard joined a chorus of kudos for the UK star during a league teleconference Monday. A poll of six SEC coaches who faced Reed this season revealed a consensus: He is now the clear leader for National Player of the Year honors.
Most believe it isn’t close.
“I’ve been in this league now around 15 years as an assistant and a head coach, and he’s having as impressive a year as we’ve seen in a very long time on both sides,” Gaspard said. “I think he’s a guy we’re going to cut the TV on here soon in big-league games and be watching him.”
Reed leads the nation in home runs (23), slugging percentage (.788) and OPS (1.280) and is 10-2 on the mound with a 2.11 earned-run average and wins against four current top-10 teams in the RPI: No. 1 Virginia, No. 2 Florida, No. 6 Vanderbilt and No. 8 South Carolina.
He also leads the SEC in RBIs (70), on-base percentage (.492), total bases (156) and walks (42). He has 11 more home runs and 15 more RBIs than his closest SEC competition and enters the postseason with a .359 batting average – just 0.0002 from becoming just the league’s second-ever Triple Crown winner.
Rafael Palmeiro in 1984 is (for now) the only one.
“The numbers he’s put up in this conference, it’s unbelievable, to be honest with you,” Tennessee coach Dave Serrano said. “I think he should walk away with almost all the awards, except for just the pure pitching awards.”
Reed is doing all this in the toughest conference in America, featuring seven of the top 25 and 10 of the top 50 teams in the latest RPI and has had a team in the College World Series final eight times in the last decade. Reed has more home runs than 193 entire teams and his 15 long balls in league play are more than all but three full SEC teams.
He’s the first player in the conference to hit 20-plus homers in the era of less-explosive bats.
“I don’t think there’s any question as to who the National Player of the Year is. It’s A.J. Reed,” Texas A&M coach Roy Childress said. “To watch him take BP and to watch him in games, a lot of different teams played the shift on him and tried a lot of different things and obviously tried to pitch around him every chance they got – I know we did – and it didn’t matter. He still made a difference in every game. Just special.”
Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin notes that even John Olerud, for whom the National Two-Way Player of the Year Award (that Reed will surely win) is named, “didn’t put up those types of numbers – and put up those types of numbers in this league.” Georgia coach Scott Stricklin said Reed reminds him of former two-way stars Brad Wilkerson of Florida and Brooks Kieschnick of Texas.
Wilkerson was a three-time All-American, Kieschnick the only two-time National Player of the Year, and both are now in the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
“He is a threat every time he comes to the plate. He handles himself very well. He does everything you want your National Player of the Year to do,” Stricklin said. “And I think he certainly deserves to be the Golden Spikes Award winner.”
Not to mention the Olerud Award and national honors including the Dick Howser Trophy (writers), ACBA Player of the Year (coaches) and Baseball America College Player of the Year. If only SEC coaches voted, Reed would win them all in a landslide.
“That’s crazy what he’s done,” South Carolina coach Chad Holbrook said. “I don’t think anybody’s come close to doing the things on the field that he’s done. He’s obviously the most important player to Kentucky’s team. Shoot, I worry about my team a whole lot more than worrying what’s going on nationwide, but when you look at the numbers and having played against A.J., I think he’s the clear-cut favorite and should be, without question, the National Player of the Year.”
More important for UK, he could extend the Cats’ stay at the SEC Tournament by a few more days and their season by a few more weeks.
Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.
A.J. REED’S SECSTAT RANKINGS
No. 1 home runs (23)
No. 1 runs batted in (70)
No. 1 pitching wins (10)
No. 1 slugging percentage (.788)
No. 1 on-base percentage (.492)
No. 1 on-base plus slugging (1.280)
No. 1 total bases (156)
No. 1 walks (42)
No. 2 batting average (.359)
No. 2 runs scored (58)
No. 4 innings pitched (98.0)
No. 6 earned-run average (2.11)
No. 10 strikeouts (66)