On a team of giants, Jacob Young stands out

Walking into Florida Ballpark one will quickly notice just how big the Florida Gators baseball team is. You have two pitchers that stand 6'6" and first baseman Kris Armstrong looks like he could be a linebacker for the football team at 6'3" 235 pounds. The team is impressive to look at.

The 2021 Gators are loaded. There are power arms, power bats. The Gators have future first-round draft picks on the mound and in the field. Then, there's an unassuming Jacob Young. Generously listed at 6'0" and 175 pounds, Young can easily be missed in the group when they're warming up but when he steps in for the first pitch of a game you better know who he is and have a plan to get him out.

Young has foiled those plans in the last 18 games he's played in. The junior outfielder collected a hit in Florida's last game of the 2019 season and then at least one hit in every game the gators plays in 2020. Whether it's a bloop, bunt, line drive in the gap or a ground ball that he simply hustled and beat out, Young lives on the basepaths.

In fact, Young led the Gators in 2020 with a .450 average, a .514 on-base percentage, and his 27 hits in 17 games led the SEC.

"He’s just really smart. He knows the pitcher’s tendencies and he knows his strengths. He’s not trying to hit home runs," pitcher Jack Leftwich said of Young. "He knows he wants to have a long at-bat and use his speed. I think that’s really tough because he’s not going to have a lot of swings and misses. He plays to his strengths. He’s never trying to do too much.”

That's where it has to start with Young, knowing who he is, what the strengths of his game are. When you're on a team like Florida it could be easy to overextend yourself and try to do too much. Young knows his game and he plays to his strengths. It's why when games are over the team managers look at his dirt-stained uniform with dread.

"I always took pride in that," Young said about being the player who always leaves the field with the dirtiest uniform. "Size was never my thing so i figured that was one way to stand out."

You could call him scrappy. Young has plus speed and can get on base in a number of ways. Once he's there he'll make sure the pitcher knows he's on base with big leads. He swiped six bags in 2020 and he's generally a nuisance to the opposing team once he's on the basepaths. Old school baseball guys will tell you simply, "he plays the game the right way."

On a team of giants and future big leaguers, Young stands out not for his stature or any one particular part of his game. He stands out as a guy who knows his role, plays to his strengths, and he's turned himself into one of the best players in the SEC because of it.

"As a player, the freshman fall was a huge learning experience for me just figuring out the kind of player I am and trusting that," Young said. "I don't need to be someone else."