Tag: Brad Wilkerson

Yankees hire Gator great Brad Wilkerson as assistant hitting coach

Brad Wilkerson will be joining the pinstriped boys in the dugout this summer.

The New York Yankees added former Gator [autotag]Brad Wilkerson[/autotag] to its staff as an assistant hitting coach, according to an announcement on Twitter Monday by the team’s PR department.

The former Florida standout had been a baseball assistant with Jackson University since 2020 and also coached for Team USA, earning Volunteer Coach of the Year honors in 2014. He last played big league ball back in 2008 with the Toronto Blue Jays and attempted a minor league comeback in 2010 before hanging up his cleats for good.

A first-round pick at No. 33 in the 1998 MLB draft by the Montreal Expos, the former outfielder/first baseman played parts of eight major league seasons with the Expos (which became the Washington Nationals during his tenure), Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners and the Jays starting in 2001, tallying 788 hits, 122 home runs and an overall .247/.350/.440 career slash line. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year vote in 2002.

Wilkerson was the 1998 National Player of the Year at Florida and was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012 — the first Gator to ever earn that distinction. During his three years in Gainesville, he tallied a .381 batting average, .714 slugging percentage, .531 on-base percentage, along with 55 home runs, 224 walks, 214 runs batted in, 239 runs and 499 total bases.

The 2023 MLB season starts for Wilkerson and the Yankees on March 30 against the San Francisco Giants inside the fabled Yankee Stadium. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. EDT and the game can be watched on MLB.tv.

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Brandon Neely strikes out 10 in shutout win vs Gamecocks

Florida baseball’s Brandon Neely was dealing as he struck out 10 batters in seven innings in a 8-0 win over South Carolina.

Florida baseball starter [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] bounced back in dominant fashion versus South Carolina after an uncharacteristic start against the Missouri Tigers last weekend where he allowed four earned runs.

On Friday, he struck out a career-high 10 batters and only gave up three hits along with no free passes while shutting out South Carolina for seven innings. He also tossed an impressive 70 strikes in only 96 pitches. The Gators also poured on eight runs to shutout the Gamecocks and also grabbed the series victory on Friday at Condron Ballpark.

Florida scored three runs in the third and two runs in the fifth and the seventh and one in the eighth. Center fielder [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] and shortstop [autotag]Joshua Rivera[/autotag] both went long in the contest.

Fabian’s home run was his 20th of the season, which made quite a bit of history. He became the second Gators hitter ever besides [autotag]Brad Wilkerson[/autotag] to smash 20 dingers in back-to-back seasons. Left fielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] also entered Florida’s record book besides Fabian. They are the only two Gators hitters to record 20 plus homers in a single season.

Fabian finished the evening three for four with two RBs. Second baseman [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] also tallied two hits. He went two for four with an RBI.

Head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag]’s team registered eight runs on 10 hits and earned six free passes.

After Neely was pulled in the eighth, reliever [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] and [autotag]Anthony Ursitti[/autotag] followed and picked up right where their starter left off. They finished the game without allowing a hit and struck out a Gamecock.

The Gators will gun for the sweep on Saturday at 2 p.m. EDT when they play South Carolina to conclude the regular season. The contest can be seen on SEC Network+.

It’ll also be Florida fans’ last chance to listen to Mick Hubert. He’s retiring as the voice of the Gators following the game.

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5 former Florida Gators who left school at the right time

Pat Dooley lists five Gators who were right to leave school when they did.

In the world of college athletics – which right now is both confusing and rewarding – careers are made by decisions.

It starts early with athletes deciding where they will visit, then where they will commit and finally where they sign. Nowadays, it’s a yearly decision about whether to stay or jump into the transfer portal.

Finally, it’s a decision for the elite (and some not so elite) to turn pro early or use all of their eligibility.

[autotag]Trinity Thomas[/autotag] is facing that decision even though she has been amazing for four full years. Because she has a pandemic year she can still use, Thomas could return for a fifth season and use it as a bridge to the next Olympics.

Thomas would be one of those athletes in Florida history who could choose to leave and we would all say, “Thanks.” The voice would be loud, too, because she is in the argument for greatest gymnast ever at Florida and perhaps the NCAA.

We’ll wait for her to announce, but while we do that, let us look at 10 UF athletes who left early and most Gator fans just wanted to give them a hug and wish them well. They had done enough.

Today, the first five of the top 10 of those athletes. Tomorrow, the second five plus a few that we were wondering what they were thinking.