Florida Gators baseball 2021 season preview

The Florida Gators began the 2020 campaign with a talented team that was pissed off about the way the 2019 season ended. The 2020 Gators took exception to the smallest things, like an older brother that was mad when their younger sibling scored a single basket in a driveway pickup game, the Gators were on a warpath in 2020.

That season ended abruptly and prematurely but the band is back together in 2021.

Florida returns everyone other than Austin Langworthy and Brady Smith from the 2020 team and added a talented freshman class.

In other words, the Gators are good. They're very good and the expectations for 2021 have never been higher.

This team is deep everywhere. Pitching, more than you'll know what to do with. Hitting? How about the 8th rated MLB Draft prospect in Jud Fabian, surrounded by what might be Kevin O'Sullivan's best offensive club at Florida? Defense, that's a prerequisite at Florida.

The 2021 team will have the same "Omaha or Bust" mentality that every UF team has, but this team might be one of the best and deepest O'Sullivan has ever had.

What better way to open a brand new $65 million dollar stadium than to host the Miami Hurricanes. The Gators will open the new park and the new stadium on February 19 by hosting the Miami Hurricanes.

TOTAL PITCHERS: 22

Righty: 17

Lefty:: 5

This is truly amazing.

At the end of last year the starting weekend rotation would have been (in no particular order):

Hunter Barco, Nick Pogue, Christian Scott, and the Gators would have been very happy with that. Barco is a future first-rounder, Pogue and Scott could be Friday guys on other teams and that would have been one of the best rotations in the SEC.

Tommy Mace had a number when the 2020 draft began. He stuck to that number. I’ve been told that a team in the second round came close but Mace is betting on himself. The biggest knock on him was his spin rate. I won’t begin to debate analytics (I’m old school), but the MLB’s loss is Florida’s gain.

Leftwich was supposed to be a later pick, but once he and Mace talked, and the fourth round came and went, Leftwich, made the decision to stay as well.

Now, what you have is the best pitching staff in the SEC. Vanderbilt might have two better frontline starters in Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter but Florida’s three starters (Mace, Leftwich, Barco) and their arms in the bullpen are much deeper.

Sophomore Brandon Sproat has been up to 98 MPH this fall. He’s developing his secondary stuff, which will be important for him this year. Ben Specht returns and will likely slot into the closer role at least at the beginning of the season. David Leuthje, and Hunter McMullen are back as well, as is graduate transfer Trey Van Der Weide, who gives Florida a lefty matchup out of the bullpen.

We have to talk about two newcomers as well. Timmy Manning (Cardinal Gibbons) is one to watch. The left-hander gained a lot of weight and size and, with that, some MPH. He has a truly advanced 12-6 curveball that he’ll feature. We’ll see a lot of Manning this year, both starting midweek and out of the bullpen on weekends.

The other newcomer we want to feature is Franco Aleman. The junior went to FIU out of high school, then transferred to Florida via St. Johns River State College. Add Aleman to the list of 6’5” right-handers that throw 94+ for O’Sullivan. Aleman wasn’t great when I saw him this fall, but the staff and people I talk to remain high on him.

Jordan Butler will continue to play both ways this spring. O’Sullivan has told me personally that Butler has looked really good on the mound.

We’re obviously starting with Jud Fabian. Two years ago, when Fabian skipped his senior season (this is common in football but almost unheard of in baseball) I remember asking O’Sullivan how he did it. Fabian could have been picked in the top-10 rounds if he would have played his senior season. Now, Fabian is considered the best position player in college baseball and will be a first-round pick, if not a top 10 pick overall. O’Sullivan told me that freshman year, Jud is going to play for his defense, he’s going to steal bases, and anything we offensively would be the cherry on top. Jud hit .232 that season while starting 54 games. His sophomore season he was on the way to something special. Fabian was hitting .294 with a team-high six home runs through 17 games, and his eye at the plate was sharpening as well, drawing 10 walks in the last six games alone.

He’s a true five-tool player. Get to a game if you can to watch him play, he’s a guy you’ll be watching play in the Major Leagues not too long from now, and will be able to tell your friends that you watched him play in person.

The rest of the lineup is strong as well, Aaron Fitt of D1Baseball.com called it the best hitting team O’Sullivan has had (I think he means in the BBCOR bat era).

I’m interested to see how Josh Rivera’s bat comes along. He’s a super talented player with a high ceiling, but like Jud, struggles some in the box as a freshman. Rivera is a slick-fielding shortstop, he has a strong arm, and we’re projecting him to start putting things together at the plate this season.

Florida should also get a power surge from Kris Armstrong. He gave up pitching after Tommy John surgery his freshman year but has transformed his body since then. Armstrong looks like a linebacker and hits like one too.

A quick story:

When Florida ballpark was being built and the new video screen was being put in, UF decided not to put a net in front of it. The fence is around 345-350 feet away, then a double-barrel bullpen setup is in front of the video board, which is a good 30 feet in the air. The thought process was that a net in front of the board wouldn’t look good and that the board was so far away it wasn’t in danger.

It didn’t take long for Armstrong to send a ball into the board, breaking a light. Send him the bill.

A good position to watch is catcher. Cal Greenfield is the senior of the group and he was doing a good job early on in 2020. He has a great relationship with Mace and he’s Mace’s preferred catcher when Mace is on the hill. However, there is no keeping Nathan Hickey out of the lineup. Hickey is a decent defensive catcher and he’s going to hit, so he’ll be in the lineup. Florida also has two newcomers in Mac Guscette and Wyatt Langford. Both of those guys will get into the lineup at points this season too. I think Cal Greenfield will be able to start the season behind the plate but he’s going to have to hit and hit well if he wants to stay in the lineup.

Three older guys that I think will begin the season as starters but will need to perform in order to stay in the lineup are Kirby McMullen, Cory Acton, and Kendrick Calilao.

McMullen is back for his fifth season but freshman Colby Halter will make McMullen earn his starts over at third base.

Acton has been the starting second baseman for the past two seasons but there are two guys I think will push him. First, Jordan Carrion is a really fun player to watch. Carrion is, in my opinion, the best freshman defensive infielder I’ve seen since I’ve been covering the team. He makes the difficult look routine and the routine look automatic. He’s a little small at the moment, but he’s a terror on the base paths, a great defender, and he’s starting to hit the ball with some consistency in the spring. He can play either middle infield position.

Sterling Thompson began the fall as an infielder, but as we’ve already discussed, it’s crowded there. Thompson has been working in the outfield for most of the fall and now into the spring. That should tell you everything you need to know about his bat. Thompson was a plus-hitter in high school and the coaching staff loves his ability in the box. As with the others we’ve mentioned, his bat could make it hard to keep him out of the lineup.

Finally Jacob Young.

Generously listed at 6’0” and 175 pounds, Young doesn’t stand out until he starts playing. Young just gets on base and plays the game the right way. He’ll most likely win the award for dirtiest uniform but he’s much more than a novelty. Young ended the 2020 season with an 18-game hitting streak (dating back to 2019). He also had a streak of seven consecutive multi-hit games, which was tied with Jonathan India (2018) and Bryson Smith (2011) for the longest streak of multi-hit games by a Gator since the start of 2009. He batted a team-high .450 (27-for-60) -- which ranked tied for 15th nationally and tallied 27 hits, leading the team and 21st nationally. He’s a gamer and he’ll be a fixture at the top of the lineup.

C: Cal Greenfield

1B: Kris Armstrong

2B: Cory Acton

3B: Kirby McMullen

SS: Josh Rivera

LF: Jacob Young

CF: Jud Fabian

RF: Kendrick Calilao

DH: Nathan Hickey

SP: Tommy Mace

There are three spots I think are open. Florida has a lot of options at first base, with a free spot at DH to get more guys in and right field. Whoever is hitting will be penciled in at first and right. Everything else is pretty set.

RHP Tyler Nesbitt

Nesbitt is one of the less talked about arms in the Gators’ arsenal but he quietly put together a very good freshman season. Nesbitt made five appearances (one start), posting a 0.00 ERA in 11.2 innings pitched. He gave up seven hits, walked three and struck out 17.

RHP Franco Aleman

The previously mentioned Aleman is a hard-throwing juice transfer. He has experience and will fit into a role coming out of the bullpen.

RHP Brandon Sproat

The sophomore from Pace has a fastball that will light up radar guns. Sproat has been clocked as high as 99-100 mph in the past and has been consistently in the upper 90s this spring. He needs to continue developing his secondary pitches and throw strikes. Nothing will keep you off the mound for a Kevin O’Sullivan team more than walks.

Colby Halter will have a real chance to knock Kirby McMullen out of the lineup. The Jacksonville native can swing it and he's a very solid third baseman defensively. He's stepped right into the role and he's going to push the senior for at-bats and that 3B spot.

Sterlin Thompson keeps hitting, I just don't know where you can get him in on the field. There are only a few spots in the field open, but if you hit you'll play.

Jordan Carrion is the smoothest freshman fielder I've seen at Florida, and I've seen some GOOD defenders here. He's stuck behind Josh Rivera at shortstop but he could play either middle infield position. I think early on the biggest question mark will be can he hit enough? He's been getting on base a lot of late and he's a terror on the basepaths. At worst he'll be a defensive replacement in later innings and a pinch-runner.

Mac Guscette one of two freshmen catchers, Mac is sold behind the plate and he can swing it.

Timmy Manning the lefty is a guy we're going to see a lot of. Manning has a 12-6 curve that is nasty and he's into the low 90s now. Manning is a pitcher, he knows how to work counts, moves the ball around and mixes it up well. He doesn't look like a freshman on the mound.