Opening day for the top-ranked Florida Gators baseball team is less than a week away, which means it is time to break out the gloves and the bats and prepare for the joys of springtime.
On Friday, Feb. 19, UF will take the field for the first time in its newly completed Florida Stadium against the No. 21 Miami Hurricanes to kick off the 2021 season with a three-game set against their in-state rivals. The Gators are a consensus No. 1 team, according to D1Baseball, Perfect Game and Collegiate Baseball, returning a nearly untocuhed roster from last year’s top-ranked squad, save for the departure of Austin Langworthy and the addition of the incoming freshman class.
Most notably, Florida returns a stable of starting pitchers that was among the best in 2020 and easily the superlative entering this season, not to mention a bullpen filled with talented arms as well. The Gator Nation has much to look forward to this spring as their beloved school is on the fast-track to the College World Series if all goes well.
Ahead of first pitch, here is a look at who we expect to see at each respective position on opening day, along with a blurb on their past performances as well as their 2020 stat line.