By Derek Terry

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UK outfielder Kyle Barrett’s reemergence as an SEC star started long before he stepped on the field for the first time his junior season.

After earning All-SEC Freshman honors in 2013, Barrett took a step back last year. The native of Douglasville, Ga., saw his batting average drop from a team-leading .351 during his first year to a pedestrian .253 in 2014. Then-freshman Storm Wilson eventually replaced him in right field.

To go from being a star to barely playing was a tough challenge for Barrett.

“It wasn’t fun,” Barrett said. “Having to sit and watch was tough, and it was really difficult because I knew there was nothing I could do.”

Barrett’s struggles didn’t last long, however. He was able to put together an impressive summer season in the Cape Cod League, hitting .313 through 37 games. The stellar play earned him a spot as the starting center fielder in Cape Cod League All-Star game.

Barrett returned to UK in the fall hoping his hot streak would continue into the collegiate season. Doubts flooded his mind, however, as UK hired long-time MLB assistant Rick Eckstein on Aug. 25 to be its new hitting coach. Eckstein served as an assistant for a few MLB teams, such as the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Nationals, before taking the job at UK.

Despite Eckstein’s track record of success at the highest level, Barrett was hesitant to change what had been working for him over the summer.

“The first few weeks he was telling me things, and I wouldn’t say I was disrespectful, but I was a little nervous to listen,” Barrett said. “I had a good freshman year, and then my sophomore year the coach came in and changed it and I failed. So I went back to my freshman year swing in Cape Cod, and it worked. So I came back for my junior fall and didn’t want to change it again.”

But it didn’t take long for Barrett to figure out that Eckstein could help him reach his full potential as a baseball player.

“He started to trust me early on,” Eckstein said. “He got to the point where the things we were talking about and working on started to probably make sense to him. Then he started to trust me and buy into it. When Kyle and I started to work, the things I was saying were foreign to him. He just started listening to me and putting it together.”

Barrett leads the team in hits this year with 65 out of the leadoff spot. He’s once again put himself in position to get drafted and earn All-SEC honors. He believes most of his successful turnaround can be contributed to Eckstein.

“(Eckstein) really having faith in me and keep telling me how much he trusted me has done a lot for me,” Barrett said. “With just working on my swing and everything, he deserves most of the credit.”