UK Baseball Standout Pompey Ready for Big 2018 Season
A returning All-American and catalyst of the Kentucky baseball team’s outfield, junior Tristan Pompey is looking to build upon a standout sophomore season by staying true to who he is in the midst of change.
Change for Kentucky was inevitable this year as the Wildcats lost six of their nine starting position players, including the Wildcats left and center fielders, Zach Reks and Marcus Carson. With Reks and Carson gone, Pompey is also looking at a change himself – the transition from right to left field.
“Tristan Pompey obviously is the catalyst there, returning All-American,” second-year head coach Nick Mingione said. “He’s going to play some time in left field. He’ll play some in center, but left field is the hardest place to play in our ballpark when you think about the short right field. You don’t have to cover as much ground, and Tristan is an elite defender.”
The extra ground in left field – 340 feet down the line compared to 310 in right – makes the position the hardest to defend at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Fortunately for Mingione, Pompey is a triple-threat in the outfield, having rotated through all three positions in high school, primarily spending time in left field. Because of his past experience in all three positions, Pompey is confident about his abilities to get the job done.
“Nothing I’m really not too concerned about because I’ve played all three in high school,” Pompey, a Toronto native, said. “I’m kind of comfortable no matter where I am.”
Much of Pompey’s contribution to the Wildcat’s historic run to their first ever NCAA Super Regional last season was because of his consistency at the plate.
As a sophomore, Pompey led the team with a .464 on base percentage and is entering the 2018 season with a 37-game on-base streak. In SEC games, Pompey led the league with a .410 batting average and ranked second in the nation in hits with 96.
Thankfully, Pompey didn’t lose his touch in the off-season and has led the team in hitting during the preseason alongside sophomore catcher TJ Collett. According to Mingione, the key for Pompey this season will be his command of the strike zone and he has done just that in preseason, drawing 10 walks and just one strikeout.
“He’s as talented a player, I believe, in the country, as you start going through,” said Mingione. “And when he handles the strike zone, he’s as good a player as there is out there offensively.”
Widely considered as a first round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, Pompey is ready to leave it all out on the field, per the advice of his older brother, Dalton, a 16th round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2010.
“He’s just told me not to worry about it because it’ll handle itself,” Pompey said. “Once time goes on, it’ll figure itself out, so it’s not anything that you really have to worry about. Just focus on the season and if you do well, the draft will take care of itself.”
Pompey’s success from last year speaks for itself. The junior ended last season as a 2017 First-Team All-SEC and Third-Team All-American. He’ll enter this season as a Preseason All-American, First-Team Preseason All-SEC and was most recently named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List.
Everyone is looking to Pompey for an even bigger junior season, but he’s doing what he knows best.
“Just kind of stay true to who I am and not trying to get too big in the moment. Handle every game day-by-day. Just trying to do me. That’s what I do best.”
