Jackson Strong breaks down Kentucky commitment, looming MLB draft decision

The former Canisius outfielder earned All-MAAC First Team honors in 2023 and 2024 before committing to the Wildcats over the weekend.

Jackson Strong committed to Kentucky over the weekend. Photo courtesy of Canisius University Athletics.

Jackson Strong fits the mold of recent Kentucky success stories from the transfer portal. He was lightly recruited out of West Seneca East High School in New York — partly because his junior year happened in 2020 when COVID-19 canceled spring sports — and only received two or three offers before choosing Canisius. But in Buffalo, Strong became one of the best players in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and ranked inside the top 10 of the conference in several statistical categories over his final two seasons.

After slashing just .111/.407/.167 in 27 plate appearances as a freshman in 2022, Strong committed to getting stronger and learning about the mental approach to hitting. The improvement was clear as he hit over .350 in each of the next two years with 50 extra-base hits and 57 career stolen bases.

“I think it was a lot of maturing physically as well as mentally,” Strong told Bat Cats Central. “I wasn’t very big as a freshman. I probably put on about 10 to 15 pounds of muscle from my freshman to sophomore year. I went into that (sophomore) year really committed to getting stronger in the weight room, getting faster, getting more powerful. I think that translated to my sophomore and junior years.

“On the mental side, it was the hitting approach and knowing what pitches I was good at hitting and which pitches I was going to get in certain counts. Going over that stuff with my head coach and my assistant coaches, constantly being super meticulous about my swing and being intentional about what pitches I’m swinging at and just having a good overall hitting approach was the main difference from my freshman year to my last two years.”