Tag: Hunter Barco

Series Preview: Florida begins 2023 season with series against Charleston Southern

Baseball is back and the Gators are looking to start the 2023 season with a few wins over Charleston Southern.

The grass is cut, the lights on the scoreboard have been replaced and it’s time once again to begin another Florida Gators baseball season.

UF starts its season with a weekend series at home against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers, and it will be a chance for the Gators to see how the new-look starting rotation fares against a beatable opponent. Gone is [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] after being selected in the second round of the 2022 MLB draft, but head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] has reloaded with Southern Miss and Preseason All-American [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag]. Not to mention Florida’s retention of last year’s No. 2, [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag], despite a third-round selection in the draft.

Two-way sophomore [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag], who spent the second half last season as the team’s designated hitter, should get the Sunday start. It’ll be his first competitive game back on the mound since undergoing Tommy John surgery as a senior in high school.

On offense, all eyes are on projected first-round pick [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag]. The Gators’ left fielder tied the team’s season record for home runs a season ago and led Florida in nearly every major offensive statistic. He’ll be the biggest bat in the lineup this year, but there are plenty of others that can hit on the team.

Catcher [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag], shortstop [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] and third baseman [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] all return despite interest from the pros. They’ll be looked at as the leaders of the team early.

Finally, there are the freshmen. As usual, Florida has an incredibly strong freshman class on the roster and they are most likely to get playing time early in the year. Fans could be seeing some of the future this weekend.

3 Gators among top 20 college prospects for 2023 MLB draft

Florida baseball is the only program in the country with three top-20 college prospects for the 2023 MLB draft, per MLB.com.

MLB.com’s Jim Callis released his top 20 college prospects for the 2023 MLB draft last week, and the Florida Gators are the only program to have three players named on the list.

There’s an elite group of talent returning to Florida and it’s led by the top bat of 2022, left fielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag]. [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] and [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag], who are expected to be at the top of Florida’s weekend rotation all season, join him on the list.

LSU and Wake Forest are the only other schools to have multiple players featured, but Stanford, Tennessee and Vanderbilt all have a top-20 player and one of Callis’ players to watch.

Last year, Callis had [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag]and [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] in his preseason top 20. Both ended up being taken in the first three-rounds, and Barco was having a first-round worthy season before Tommy John surgery took him down. Callis had Barco at No. 11 on that list and Fabian at No. 16. Langford is No. 4 this year, so that gives you an idea of how good he’s expected to be.

Gators get Brandon Sproat back after being drafted in 3rd round

Brandon Sproat is coming back to Condron Family Ballpark! The New York Mets failed to sign him by the deadline and the Gators get their ace for another year.

When Florida’s season came to an end in the regionals against Oklahoma, few took it harder than [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag]. Many assumed it would be the final time they’d see Sproat in a Gators uniform, but now he’s set to return for his junior year at Florida.

The New York Mets selected Sproat in the third round of the 2022 MLB draft with the 90th overall pick but the two sides could not come to terms on a deal, according to Jim Callis of MLB.com. Sproat was drafted out of high school in the seventh round and was also the highest unsigned pick in the 2019 draft.

Aside from wanting to prove himself in a Gators uniform, the money really didn’t work out for Sproat. The Mets could spend just under $900,000 to sign Sproat without giving up a first-round pick in next year’s draft, and many peg the hard-throwing righty as a potential first-round talent if he can find a little more consistency.

For comparison, [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag], who was selected in the second round at No. 44 overall, signed an under-slot deal for $1.53 million with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Barco was also considered a first-round talent before his Tommy John surgery, so Sproat’s floor (barring some massive regression) looks to be around what Barco got while on the mend.

The Gators added Southern Miss starter [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag] through the transfer portal over the offseason, so he and Sproat can fight it out for the Friday night slot as UF’s top two arms. [autotag]Pierce Coppola[/autotag], whose season ended early with a back injury, should be the No. 3 guy and there are plenty of arms to test out during the week.

Sproat’s return also gives the Gators a trio of players that could go in the first tow round of next year’s draft. Along with Sproat and Waldrep, Florida has outfielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag], who is considered one of the top college prospects in the class.

It’s still half a year away, but Florida baseball in 2023 has a chance to be something special, especially with the team ace back in tow.

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2022 MLB Draft: Tracking every UF player/signee selected

Follow along for complete and total coverage of the 2022 MLB draft as it pertains to Florida Gators.

The 2022 MLB draft kicked off Sunday night and 80 of the finest prep and college players in the country heard their names called.

Day 2 kicked off on Monday, July 18, at 2 p.m. with coverage of Rounds 3-10, and then Day 3 begins Tuesday at the same time for the final 10 rounds. Gators Wire will be tracking every Florida player drafted, including those who have only signed a letter of intent and have yet to play a game at Condron Family Ballpark.

Four Gators heard their names called on Sunday: incoming first baseman [autotag]Xavier Isaac[/autotag], outfielder [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag], left-handed pitcher [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] and outfielder [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag]. All are expected to sign deals with the clubs that drafted them, but that might not be the case for those selected on Day 2 or 3.

Entering Day 2, [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] has produced 97 draft picks under his tutelage in Gainesville. He should hit 100 by the end of the draft.

Check back here throughout the draft to stay up to date with all of the moves that concern the orange and blue.

Brandon Sproat drafted in 3rd round by New York Mets

That’s four Gators in the first three rounds! Brandon Sproat has been drafted by the New York Mets.

The first Florida Gator to come off the board on Day 2 of the 2022 MLB Draft was right-handed pitcher [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] at No. 90 overall in the third round to the New York Mets.

Sproat took over for [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] as Florida’s No. 1 after the latter went down with Tommy John surgery, and he stepped up big toward the end of the season. He gave up just one run in 8 1/3 innings against South Carolina during the SEC Tournament and lasted seven innings of one-run ball against Central Michigan in the super regionals.

He led the team with 89 2/3 innings pitched on the year and finished with a 3.41 ERA. Barco and Blake Purnell finished with a lower ERA but only threw 50 1/3 innings a piece.

Sproat’s fastball should play at the major league level. It sits in the upper 90s and has touched 99-100 mph. The problem is that he hasn’t quite found the consistency that MLB clubs are looking for. Of course, that’s something to work on in the minors, but Sproat features first-round stuff at times.

That begs the question of whether or not he’ll return. After Florida’s season came to an end Sproat posted on social media that he “didn’t know what the future held” for him. Many took that to mean a possible return if he didn’t get picked high enough, but the third round should be good enough money for him to figure out a deal. As a rising redshirt junior, Sproat has enough eligibility left to use as leverage in negotiations, though. It’s similar to what we saw from [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] last year.

Sproat was drafted out of high school by the Texas Rangers 205th overall. The jump up to No. 90 moves the slot money from $233,400 to $691,000, which is a significant jump. It should be enough for Sproat to go pro.

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Florida LHP Hunter Barco selected in 2nd round of 2022 MLB draft

The Gators sending a pitcher to the pros isn’t anything new, but we sure will miss Hunter Barco in the orange and blue.

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected left-handed pitcher [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] Sunday night with the 44th overall pick in the second round of the 2022 MLB draft.

Barco played three years with the Florida Gators and established himself as one of the top collegiate arms in the country before undergoing Tommy John surgery this year. Had he remained healthy, Barco likely would have gone in the first round, assuming he maintained his 2.50 ERA and 34.3% strikeout rate.

Still, Barco missed the first round by just a few spots being selected with the fifth pick of the second round. He joins Thomas Campbell as the Pirates’ second day one pick, and he’s the second Gator to come off the board behind Sterlin Thompson.

The slot value for the pick is $1,775,200, which should be enough to get Barco to sign. He included language in his farewell post to Gator Nation that indicated some chance of a return but risking it doesn’t make much sense with him likely to be out for the beginning of next season.

Year ERA W L APP GS CG BAVG IP SO BB H R ER
2020 1.40 2 0 5 4 0 .162 19.1 26 6 11 3 6
2021 4.01 10 3 16 16 1 .239 83.0 94 26 77 43 26
2022 2.50 5 2 9 9 0 .187 50.1 69 11 34 14 11

Barco will go down as one of the best lefties to ever wear the Orange and Blue. His 11.14 career K/9 average is second all-time in program history. Leaving after three years, and the injury, keeps him out of the top 10 in most categories of Florida’s record books, though.

Experts project Barco to be a solid No. 3 or 4 starter in the pros, but it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a pitcher defy the odds and improve following a return from Tommy John surgery. The ceiling is certainly high for the now former Gator. Let’s see what he can do.

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Florida baseball adds key arm through transfer portal

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.

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What’s next for Florida baseball: A post-mortem of the 2022 season

Buckle in, Gators Wire’s 2022 Baseball Season Recap is finally here. We dive into all 35 players one by one and go over where they stand after the season.

The Florida Gators’ 2022 baseball season ended Monday with a 5-4 loss in the regional finals of the NCAA Championship Tournament against Oklahoma. The year was filled with ups and downs, but being six outs away from a Super Regional berth isn’t too shabby for a team with 16 new players on the roster.

Pitching was a bit of a disappointment early on, but a few freshmen started to stand out from the bunch. That depth allowed the Gators to make a deeper run than most expected in the playoffs and finish the year 42-24.

Conference play was a bit of a struggle. UF finished the regular season .500 against the SEC, including series losses to Georgia (sweep), LSU, Tennessee (sweep) and Vanderbilt. A 9-3 finish against the weaker members of the conference (Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri and South Carolina) allowed Florida to finish with a respectable record, but things didn’t really turn around until Texas A&M beat them via the mercy rule.

After that 10-0 loss, Florida played like the team it needed to be all year. It even got legendary performances from the likes of Carsten Finnvold, a freshman who hadn’t seen game action since April when he got the start against Tennessee in theSEC Tournament.

Then there’s the offense. At times, the veteran group didn’t back up the young pitching staff as it was expected to. Jud Fabian was a disappointment down the stretch, hitting just .185 against the conference and going 1-for-30. To his credit, Fabian struck out 10 times less than he did a year ago in about 40 more plate appearances. Walks were also up considerably, so his eye definitely improved despite the low average.

On the other side of things, Wyatt Langford made a complete transformation over the offseason and became one of the best leadoff guys in baseball. He led the team in most major offensive categories and tied Matt LaPorta’s 2005 school record of 26 homers in a season.

There’s a lot to celebrate about with this team, and a lot to address moving forward. Many of them have played their final games in the Orange in Blue, and others are just starting to tell their story.

What will the team look like next year? There’s only one way to properly answer that question and it’s long-winded. Feel free to jump to the sections that interest you the most as we break down the team position by position.

Game Preview: Florida baseball looking to down Oklahoma, advance to regional championship game

The last time Brandon Neely was on the mound for the Gators, Florida was mercy ruled. Here’s hoping things go differently this time around against Oklahoma.

Florida made it past Central Michigan on Friday thanks to a dominant outing from [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] on the mound to outduel the Chippewas’ ace, Andrew Taylor. The Gators won that game 7-3 and earned the right to face Oklahoma on the winners’ side of the bracket for a shot at the regional final.

If Florida takes this game against OU, the Gators will face the winner of Oklahoma and whoever wins the Saturday matinee between Liberty and Central Michigan. If UF loses, the team will play in that early game for a chance to rematch with Oklahoma.

With Sproat used up, [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] will turn to freshman [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] on the bump. Neely has stepped into the role nicely since joining the rotation against Arkansas and moving into the No. 2 spot once [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] went down. Barco, since we’re talking about him, could be seen on the bench encouraging Sproat with a full arm brace. It appears the Tommy John surgery was a success.

Back to Neely, though. He seemed to hit his stride in the final game of the regular season against South Carolina, striking out 10 and hurling seven scoreless innings. Facing Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament, the first time around, was a different story, though. Neely left after 4 1/3 innings and three earned runs. The Gators would get mercy rules and have flipped a switch since.

If Neely has another short outing, the bullpen is ready to go. [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] is coming off an impressive 6 1/3-inning, 90+ pitch outing against Alabama in the conference tournament, and [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] is available to eat some innings too. Winning this game is crucial because whoever loses will have to play two on Sunday to force a final tiebreaker game on Monday.

Offensively, [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] broke out of his little slump with a game-tying solo shot in the third Friday night and [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] went big fly to put the Gators out front. Those were two of the hottest bats for Florida at the start of the season (Thompson has been good all year), so it’s good to see them going.

[autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] struggled against CMU, going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. Chalk that up to some nerves or pressure and expect him to bounce back against Oklahoma. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] continues to be the best non-redshirt decision of Sully’s lifetime. He drove in three on a pair of hits Friday, and fellow freshman [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] has also been a difference-maker at the plate and in the field.

Oklahoma is a good team. They beat up on Liberty en route to a 16-3 victory, and Gator Nation isn’t forgetful of the fact that the Flames took two of three to start UF’s season off sour. If Neely and Co. can keep the Sooners’ offense at bay, the Gators should have a chance to win this game.

Florida baseball opens up regionals with win over Central Michigan

Brandon Sproat is pretty good at this pitching thing, folks. Florida’s ace led the way to a regional win Friday night against Central Michigan.

Florida took down Central Michigan, 7-3, in the first game of the Gators’ regional run Friday night.

The Chippewas threw their hard-throwing ace Andrew Taylor, but [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] won the pitching duel and went seven strong innings for the Gators. Home runs, as they so often as have this season, put the Gators out in front and the bullpen held on to the lead to advance to the winners’ bracket.

The Chippewas threatened early with a pair of singles to lead off the game. Sproat needed 21 pitches to get out of the inning, but he stranded the runners in scoring position. [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] tried to get out to an early lead with some small ball in the bottom half of the frame, but [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] struck out swinging to leave [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] on second.

CMU stranded two more runners in the second and struggled to pull out in front. Taylor struck out the side despite hitting [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag], giving his squad another chance to strike first blood.

Shortstop Justin Simpson led off the third with a base hit to right-center, and things got worse from there. Jakob Marsee grounded out to the right side to move Simpson over to second, and Danny Wuestenfeld and Aidan Shepardson delivered hits No. 5 and 6 on the evening to break the tie. Chippewas up, 1-0.

Thompson responded immediately though, with a home run to left field in the bottom of the third. Taylor struck out [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag], [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] and Fabian (again) to get out of the inning. The strike zone was questionable all night, but both teams suffered equally for the most part.

Both pitchers settled in for the fourth, but Taylor slipped again and gave up a homer to [autotag]Colby  Halter[/autotag], who hit the ball in almost the same spot as Thompson did earlier. Sproat secured his fifth-straight quality start by working through a pair of base runners in the fifth and setting down the Chippewas in order in the sixth. Central Michigan ran into the final out of the fifth to help Sproat get out of what should have been a two-out jam with men on the corners, and gave him extra life to come back out for the seventh.

Things got easier for Florida once Taylor came out of the game. Garrett Navarra, a two-way player-struggled right out of the gate. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] added an insurance run off him in the bottom of the sixth on a one-out double to score Fabian and make it 3-1. That was enough to send Sproat into Justin Verlander 2012 mode, and he came out pumping 98 and 99-mph fastballs with 96 pitches already under his belt in the seventh.

After losing Simpson to a walk on a full count, Sproat called off Sully and demanded a chance to finish the inning. He’d get it done in two more pitches with a line out to left. Sproat’s final line: 7.0 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 114 total pitches.

For a guy that was struggling to settle into the No. 2 spot when [autotag]Hunter Barco[/autotag] went down, Sproat has been every bit of the ace Florida needed. Battling through a rough start and holding CMU to one run through seven innings is almost a metaphoric start for his season. Florida needed an ace to beat Taylor, and Sproat answered the call.

[autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] pitched the final two innings for UF, and it was a roller coaster of a finish. A leadoff single in the eighth proved to be harmless, but things got scary after Slater loaded the bases on two hit batters. He induced the second swinging strikeout of the inning, and Florida sat three outs away from a date with the Oklahoma Sooners.

Caglianone drove in two more runs with a single in the bottom of the eight to make it 5-1, and Navarra’s night came to a close. Ryan Insco came in to face two batters and then handed the ball to Jake Jones who gave up a two-run double to Halter. Langford struck out for the third time to cap off an uncharacteristic 0-5 night, but the 7-1 lead was more than enough for Slater to close things out.

CMU score two more runs in the ninth, but Slater didn’t need any relief and Florida saved another arm for tomorrow’s matchup against Oklahoma at 7 p.m. EDT. Central Michigan plays an elimination game against Liberty early on in the day. The winner of that game will play another elimination game against the loser of Florida-Oklahoma.

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