Tag: 2023 baseball recruiting

Florida baseball’s 2023 recruiting class ranked among top in nation

Florida lost a ton of talent to the MLB draft over the summer, but the incoming class will be more than enough to reload the roster for 2024.

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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Talking with coveted UCF commit who flipped to Florida baseball

We caught up with Florida’s newest flamethrower to find out why he backed off his pledge to the Knights and committed to UF.

Although he went public with his decision on Monday night, Sickles High (Tampa, Florida) right-handed pitcher and first baseman [autotag]Caden McDonald[/autotag] silently backed off his commitment to the University of Central Florida “about two weeks ago.”

UCF head coach Greg Lovelady had just parted ways with the program after five years in Orlando, opening the door for Kevin O’Sullivan and the Florida Gators to flip one of the Sunshine State’s very best. It didn’t take very long for McDonald to make a decision.

“As soon as my recruitment opened Florida was easily the first call,” McDonald said. “It has always been my dream school and as soon as they gave me the opportunity it was a no-brainer. To be given the chance to play for such a successful program and culture at UF is really just a dream come true.”

Labeling McDonald as one of the state’s best arms isn’t hyperbole. He was a central figure in Sickles’ first-ever state championship run, pitching an 81-pitch shutout in the semifinals and blasting a home run to score one of the Gryphons’ two runs.

In the Class 6A state title game, Viera High opted to intentionally walk McDonald twice instead of giving him a chance to hit a 13th home run on the year.

McDonald featured a strong three-pitch mix at the Florida High School Athletic Association State Championships in May. His fastball touched 95 mph but usually sits in the 92-94 mph range and has some nice arm-side run on it that should get better with college-level coaching.

The curveball isn’t quite 12-6, but it’s primarily vertical movement with a little bit of glove-side action at the end. Typically coming in around the mid-70s, the curve is his slower breaking pitch. McDonald often goes to his slider, which has touched 80 mph.

His fastball velocity and two legitimate breaking balls should get McDonald some draft looks. If the desire is to be a pro starter, adding a legitimate changeup to the arsenal might be the next step.

He’s listed at 6 feet-3 inches tall and 195 pounds, so there aren’t any size concerns. If anything, he’ll get taller and stronger over the next few years. The question is whether it will be in Gainesville or not.

Perfect Game ranks McDonald No. 296 overall in the class of 2023 and No. 97 among right-handed pitchers. He’s also No. 42 overall in the state of Florida and No. 14 among righties. Those rankings haven’t been updated since the middle of April though. McDonald’s post-season run should have him on an upward trajectory.

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Florida baseball commits square off in state-champion showdown

Two of the top arms in Florida’s 2023 recruiting class took the mound against one another Tuesday night, and Gators Wire caught up with them to talk about the future.

The future of Florida’s pitching staff is incredibly bright.

The Gators routinely welcome recruiting classes that rank among the top in the country, and the class of 2023 will be no exception. Near the top of Florida’s next crop of freshmen are two of South Florida’s finest arms, right-hander [autotag]Christian Rodriguez[/autotag] and left-hander [autotag]Frank Menendez[/autotag].

Rodriguez pitches and plays outfield for the reigning back-to-back FHSAA Class 7A state champion Marjory Stoneman Douglas Eagles, and Menendez is the ace for the reigning Class 6A state champion Doral Academy Firebirds. The two programs clashed on Tuesday night, and both Florida commits were on the mound.

With nearly 40 college and pro scouts in attendance, Menendez and Rodriguez came out throwing heat. Rodriguez topped out at 97 mph and held 95 mph through the sixth inning, while Menenedez peaked at 95 mph and flashed his slider and changeup early.

Rodriguez ended up owning the night on his home field with 13 strikeouts through 6 1/3 innings of one-hit ball. He took a no-hitter into the sixth and generated 22 swings and misses throughout the night in a dominant performance against a good-hitting team.

A four-walk second inning cost Menendez the game, but he bounced back strong and finished out 4 2/3 innings. Menendez and Doral ended up taking a 3-0 loss to Rodriguez, but it was nothing but love between the two after the game. The two are incredibly close and could plan on being roommates next year if they both make it to Gainesville.

“If we end up at UF, I’m pretty sure we’re going to be roommates, me, him and (Jacob) Gomberg,” Menendez said. “So, we’re pretty close. I played with their summer team, Fitz’s summer team.”

Douglas head coach Todd Fitz-Gerald is part of the reason these South Florida arms are connected to Florida’s baseball program.

“(Florida assistant coach) Chuck Jerolomon played for me in the summers, and then Kevin (O’Sullivan) I’ve known for a long time. I had guys that played for him at Clemson,” Fitz-Gerald said. “We’ve got two guys up there now, [autotag]Jake Clemente[/autotag] and [autotag]Chris Arroyo[/autotag], and we’ve got three or four more going there.”

Along with Rodriguez, left-hander Jacob Gomberg, junior right-hander [autotag]Jayden Dubanewicz[/autotag] and freshman outfielder [autotag]Lorenzo Laurel[/autotag] are committed to UF. Rodriguez called Douglas the “headquarters” for Gators recruiting in a way.

“They like our guys,” Fitz-Gerald said. “They know that when they go in there, they are going to compete and aren’t going to slow anyone down. They’ll just have to bide their time, and when they get it, they’ll go off to great careers because they do a great job developing guys over there, especially on the pitching side.”

Rodriguez praised his head coach for linking him up with the Gators and said that he ended up picking UF because it was the best fit for him.

“The coaching staff, the track record, the facilities, everything you want, it’s the whole package (at Florida),” Rodriguez said. “Education, the area, there’s really nothing I don’t like over there. I love it… It’s really the full package like I said, and it’s just really hard not to choose Florida.”

Menendez was initially committed to Miami, but he changed things up and switched to the Orange and Blue in November of 2021. Rodriguez had already committed a month before, so he was a natural influence on his friend to flip. In the end, Menendez said he made the decision he thought would be best for his career.

Both arms might have to make another career decision over the summer once the 2023 MLB draft is underway. Florida got lucky in the most recent draft, but high school arms that hit 95+ mph are a rare commodity. If the Gators can get both guys to campus over the summer, the team will be adding another pair of dangerous arms to the staff.

Perfect Game ranks Rodriguez fifth among right-handers in Florida and No. 16 overall in the state. Nationally, he’s inside the top 100 at No. 96 overall and No. 23 among righties. Menendez is No. 186 overall on Perfect Games’ national rankings and No. 27 among left-handers in the class of 2023. He’s No. 26 overall in the state of Florida and No. 5 among lefties.

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A look at Florida baseball’s 2023 recruiting class

They won’t arrive in Gainesville for another year (assuming they don’t get drafted), but Florida’s baseball recruiting class of 2023 is filled with studs. Here’s an in-depth look at every signee.

The college football early signing period is just around the corner and the college basketball season is slowly starting to pick up some steam, but there’s another Gators team that fans should start to pay a little attention to: the baseball team. Wednesday, November 9, began the signing period for most other sports, and Florida once again struck gold in the baseball recruiting game.

Bringing in talent from Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and Tennessee, the Gators’ baseball recruiting class of 2023 ranks fifth in the country, according to Perfect Game. Florida has long been one of the top destinations in all of college baseball, and that trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down with the incoming class.

The Gators will add 11 pitchers (three lefties and eight righties), three infielders and two outfielders next season. Keep in mind that infielder [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag], who was among the top incoming talents in the class, reclassified to get Gainesville a year early. He’s currently practicing with the team and is already making an impact.

Of course, these positions could change once players arrive at UF and begin working with the team. Most will remember that [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] was a reserve catcher his freshman year before breaking out as one of the top outfield bats in the country last season.

Gators Wire caught up with some of the signees to get their thoughts on finally putting pen to paper. Here’s an in-depth look at Florida baseball’s class of 2023.