The 2024 college baseball is still about half a year from starting up, but most teams are starting their fall ball practices around now and are welcoming new players to the program.
Kevin O’Sullivan and his recruiting staff put together one of the top high school recruiting classes in the country this past year, and some big-time transfers are also joining the Gators.
Collegiate Baseball named Florida’s incoming class the fourth-best in the country on Tuesday. The Arkansas Razorbacks took home the top spot, and those pesky LSU Tigers are just behind Florida at No. 5.
The Gators are welcoming a pitcher-heavy class that only lost two names to the 2023 MLB draft — right-handed pitcher Steven Echavarria (Round 3, Oakland) and shortstop Stone Russell (Round 18, Kansas City).
Leading the group are a few names that flirted with the pros this summer — Liam Peterson and Christian Rodriguez — but there’s a ton of talent behind them too. Frank Menendez might have been the best left-handed pitcher in the state when healthy, and Jacob Gomberg is another southpaw who should make an impact (keep an eye out for the devastating slider). Reilly Witmer, Luke McNeillie and Robert Satin are a few other breakout candidates.
As far as position players go, outfielder Blake Brookins and Hayden Yost provide some nice depth in the outfield, as does Liberty transfer Jaylen Guy. John Martinez is the lone high school infielder of the group following Russell signing with Kansas City, but that also allowed Sully and Co. to go out and get one of the best freshman infielders in the country a season ago, former Alabama third baseman Colby Shelton.
Eligible for the draft following this year, Shelton could be a superstar for the Gators. He can easily replace the offensive production of Josh Rivera, who was drafted over the summer. The Gators are also bringing in FAU infielder Armando Albert, who played at Sante Fe College before joining the Owls.
Other transfers to watch out for include catchers Brody Donay from Virginia Tech and Coastal Carolina’s Tanner Garrison. With BT Riopelle on to the working world and two more catchers transferring out, adding these players to help take some of the workload off Luke Heyman seems very smart.
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