The left side of Florida’s infield is locked down with Josh Rivera and Colby Halter returning. Rivera should be the Gators’ everyday shortstop once again in 2023.
Shortstop is another position of strength for Florida heading into 2023 with senior [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] locked into the starting spot and plenty of talented depth options behind him.
Rivera could have gone pro a year ago, but he opted to return for another season as Florida’s starting shortstop. He’s started 131 games for the Gators over the last three years, so the job is his to lose. There’s already MLB interest surrounding Rivera, but he could earn himself a serious paycheck if he puts it all together for the first time.
While it does give Florida a clear starter at shortstop, Rivera’s return has caused a minor log jam in the infield. With Colby Halter and Rivera holding down the left side of the diamond, [autotag]Deric Fabian[/autotag] is left fighting for a starting spot at first base or second and will most likely be used in a utility role sending on the matchup. If Rivera’s glove and bat suffer, Fabian is the one who will get a chance to replace him at short, though.
Florida’s top options at second might be a transfer and a true freshman, but it’s still one of the team’s deeper positions heading into the 2023 season.
Florida didn’t lose its second baseman from 2022, but he did move to a different position, freeing up a spot for some new faces to compete over.
Last year, [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] held things down at second for most of the year but shifted to third base when [autotag]Deric Fabian[/autotag] was benched. Right fielder [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] moved into the infield and held down second for the remainder of the year.
Over the offseason, Kevin O’Sullivan added infielder [autotag]Dale Thomas[/autotag] through the transfer portal and got true freshman [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] a year early after reclassification. Both have looked sharp since joining the team, but there’s also Fabian to consider.
Much like first base, Florida might be figuring out who its starting second baseman is on a day-by-day basis. O’Sullivan has a lot of talent to manage, and the best answer might be to keep shuffling the players until something sticks.
Here’s a look at Florida’s options at second base.
Billy Napier’s group wasn’t the only team at UF making noise in the transfer portal on Thursday.
There’s a good chance Florida baseball loses both [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] and [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] to the MLB draft in the next 10 days, but [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag]’s latest move might make that blow hurt less than expected. [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag], Southern Mississippi’s Sunday starter for most of 2022 who entered the transfer portal after a breakout season, committed to the orange and blue on Thursday, according to Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.
Waldrep was a key member of one of the nation’s top pitching staffs last year. The Golden Eagles finished second among all Division I programs in earned run average (3.29), strikeouts per nine innings (11.3) and strikeout to walk ratio (4.22). Waldrep ended his sophomore campaign with an ERA of 3.20, 140 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.16 over 90 innings of work in 17 starts.
Although he played in Conference USA, Waldrep’s final two games came against SEC opponents. He racked up double-digit strikeouts in both NCAA Tournament outings — 11 against LSU in the regional round and 12 against Ole Miss in the super regionals. He’s also teammates with [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] on the USA collegiate national team.
A rising junior, Waldrep has a chance to be the Friday night starter at Florida if Barco and Sproat do end up leaving. Assuming those in the transfer portal end up leaving, [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag], [autotag]Pierce Coppola[/autotag] and [autotag]Carsten Finnvold[/autotag] are the expected returning starters. Waldrep likely starts the season ahead of all of those names and Barco won’t be ready for opening day anyway if he does return.
This is Sully’s third pick-up through the transfer portal after adding Coastal Carolina infielder [autotag]Dale Thomas[/autotag] and Mercer outfielder [autotag]Colby Thomas[/autotag]. The Gators will likely add another name or two through the portal when all is said and done. Follow all of Florida’s transfer portal actions with our tracker for more on those two.
Waldrep features a fastball, curveball and changeup. The fastball tops out around 95-96 mph with reports of it touching 98 mph, but he sat around 92-93 mph with Team USA a week ago.
