You might not guess it just to look at him as he patrols center field for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, but there’s a good chance Tanner English is among the most athletic ballplayers on the roster.

Sure, he measures just 5-foot-10 and is listed at 160 pounds, but don’t let his size fool you. English has athletic skills.

For example, how many of his teammates do you think could do a standing back-flip in the middle of the field?

More to the point, how many do you think have actually DONE a standing back-flip in the middle of the field?

Now that he’s trying to earn a living playing ball, you might not see English repeating the feat, but he has certainly demonstrated he’s capable of it.

English did a back-flip while he was playing with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2013. He also was the pitcher who recorded the final out of that game.

Neither pitching nor back-flips have been part of the 22-year-old’s repertoire since he signed with the Twins after being drafted in the 11th round last summer following a three-year career at the University of South Carolina, where he hit a healthy .389.

“No, the team we were playing that night in the Cape, that was their last game and we were going into the playoffs,” English explained, laughing. “Our bullpen was kind of spent and we had about a two-hour rain delay that night, so our coach was looking for people who could pitch.

"Me and another outfielder said, ‘Hey, sign us up. We’ll do it.’ I just got up there for fun and threw some strikes.”

And the back-flip?

Again, the laugh, before the explanation.

“We were kind of messing around the whole game, playing rain-delay games and stuff. Then a whole bunch of the guys on the team bet me I wouldn’t do it," he said. "So I showed them that I would. I proved them wrong.”

English isn’t looking to make a name for himself as a pitcher – or a gymnast. Instead, he’s continuing to build his reputation on being a reliable center fielder who gets on base regularly and knows how to move along the base paths.

In fact, English led the Kernels with nine stolen bases heading into Wednesday night's game against Wisconsin and was hitting .230. As for his skills in the field, English’s outfield defense has already landed him on ESPN’s “Top 10 Plays of the Day” for a diving catch at South Carolina.

“That was probably my number one goal, going to college,” he recalled. “’Man, I just want to get on ESPN’s Top 10 one time.’ I had a couple of opportunities to do that, so that was pretty cool.”

For some young players, playing in front of a few thousand people at Veterans Memorial Stadium is a new experience, but that’s nothing unusual for English.

South Carolina’s baseball team has been a big-time Division I program for years and English got to experience the thrill of playing in the finals of the 2012 College World Series with the Gamecocks as a freshman.

“That was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life,” English recalled, despite the fact his club lost to Arizona in the finals. “Shoot, 30,000-plus fans at the game, everyone was going nuts.

"I know that every kid that plays college baseball, that’s their dream is to get there and I’m one of the rare few that can say they got to play there and play for a championship.”

With the promotion of outfielder Zack Granite to Fort Myers, English is likely to be the primary leadoff hitter for the Kernels. “I’ll hit wherever they want me to hit,” he said.

But he’s aware his role is changing following Granite’s promotion and he’s working with Kernels hitting coach Tommy Watkins to be the club’s table-setter at the top of the lineup after hitting ninth earlier in the campaign.

“Really just trying to shorten things up, because I have a tendency to get a little bit long and try to hit the ball a lot further than I should, obviously, now as the leadoff hitter," he said. "That’s one of the big things I’ve been working on with Tommy and Jake (Mauer).”

Watkins believes English can handle the spot at the top of the Kernels’ batting order.

“Yeah, I think so. I’m a big fan of his. He’s got tools," Watkins said. “We’re trying to get him to trust himself – believe in his abilities. He can play baseball.

“I think there is a difference when you lead off, but just talking to Tanner about slowing things down a little bit and not using his body as much. He’s been doing a good job with that.

"Hopefully, he just keeps getting better – keeps progressing on cutting the body down and using his hands a lot more.”

English acknowledged he and his fellow position players are going to need to step up their games if the Kernels are going to be successful. Early in the season, the club’s pitching has largely been carrying the bulk of the load while the offense has been sporadic.

English is confident the hitting will come around.

“We probably need to stop missing our pitch, as a team. We have great hitters on the team, but I don’t think we’re hitting to our fullest potential right now," he said.

"We just need to get to a point where everyone’s in that groove and feeling comfortable and getting to where we can barrel everything up. I know that baseball is hard, but just kind of do a better job in certain situations.”

If he and the Kernels can do that, the Kernels' chances of competing for a third straight spot in the Midwest League playoffs will improve significantly. But don't expect to see English doing any celebratory back-flips on the field.

Then again, don't bet against it.