Tag: Josh Rivera

Former Florida SS Josh Rivera dealt at MLB trade deadline

The end of July means a flurry of trades in Major League Baseball, and former Florida shortstop Josh Rivera was dealt ahead of the deadline.

Former Florida shortstop [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] — who has made it up to Double-A — is swapping organizations after being included in a trade between the Chicago Cubs and Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday.

The Cubs are getting Blue Jays right-handed pitcher Nate Pearson in exchange for Rivera and fellow prospect Yohendrick Pinango, according to the MiLB transaction logs.

The Cubs selected Rivera in the third round of the 2023 draft, sending him to rookie ball for all of three games before a direct promotion to High-A South Bend.

He posted a .250/.320/.402 slash line with two home runs and 12 runs batted in over 25 games in High-A. The Cubs moved him up to Double-A Tennessee to start 2024, but he’s struggled at the plate — .169/.277/.260 slash line with four homers and 16 RBIs over 219 at-bats (68 games).

Fortunately, Rivera’s best tool is his defense, which should keep him afloat at shortstop for a while. Getting above the Mendoza Line (.200) is a must to stay in the everyday lineup in Double-A but he still has time to develop at 23 years old. A change of scenery could do the trick for him.

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Florida SS Josh Rivera drafted by Chicago Cubs in third round

Another Gator is headed to the majors! Josh Rivera came off the board in the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft on Monday and is headed to the Chicago Cubs.

Coming back for an extra season at Florida might have been the best decision [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] ever made. After going undrafted last in 2022, a career year led to Rivera being picked 81st overall in the 2023 MLB by the Chicago Cubs on Monday.

Rivera slashed .348/.447/.617 with 19 home runs and 72 runs batted in as a senior in 2023, setting career highs with each number. While Rivera’s glove has always been his biggest draw, scouts have known about his raw power since his time at IMG Academy.

Translating that raw power into game power proved difficult, though, and Rivera is only just finding his home run swing. If he can maintain some of that pop in the minors (wood bats, better pitching), Rivera should have a shot to make the Cubs roster in a few years.

Although MLB.com gives Rivera average grades as a fielder, he was among the most consistent at the position in college baseball this season. Perhaps he’ll move to second base at some point, but he should get a chance to play shortstop at each level of the minors.

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Four Gators earn D1Baseball All-America honors for 2023 season

These four players were instrumental in the program’s near-championship finish in 2023. 

D1Baseball announced its 2023 All-America awards on Thursday afternoon which included a quartet of Florida baseball players who were instrumental in the program’s near-championship finish in 2023.

Two-way player [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] and outfielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] both made the first team while shortstop [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] and starting pitcher [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag] made the second team. Langford is one of six players to repeat as a D1Baseball All-American while Waldrep is also among that group having earned 2022 Third Team All-American by D1Baseball last year.

Waldrep’s D1Baseball honor is the only one he garnered during the 2023 campaign. On the other hand, the announcement officially makes Caglianone and Langford unanimous First Team All-Americans while Rivera earned a spot on all five major publications’ lists.

Additionally, reliever Brandon Neely was honored as a Second Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association while reliever Cade Fisher and infielder Cade Kurland were named Freshman All-Americans by Perfect Game.

As a whole, seven members of the Gators baseball team were recognized as 2023 All-Americans or Freshman All-Americans.

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Gators baseball players’ stock rose most after College World Series

These two Gators are likely to go among the first 50 — or earlier! — selected in the MLB draft next month.

It was a heartbreaking ending to a nearly storybook season for Florida baseball when the Orange and Blue fell in three games to the LSU Tigers in the 2023 College World Series Finals, which concluded on Monday. Now that the collegiate season is wrapped up, it is time to take a look at who will make the biggest splash in the upcoming Major League Baseball amateur draft.

Among those expected to be drafted early is Wyatt Langford, who has been projected as a top-five selection since the beginning of the season — and his performance this spring only helped his cause. However, a pair of his teammates saw their stock rise after the conclusion of CWS.

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo responded to a mailbag question on Wednesday asking which players got the biggest boost from the college postseason. His answer included starting pitcher [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag] and this is what he had to offer on the talented right-hander.

If you expand beyond the time in Omaha to include regional and super regional play, Florida right-hander Hurston Waldrep comes to mind. He’s at No. 19 now, which doesn’t represent much movement on the rankings because stuff-wise, he’s long belonged in the first round. But inconsistencies in his performance, particularly command, held him back. While his final CWS start wasn’t great, Waldrep had a string of three starts – regional, super regional and his first College World Series start – where he went 21 innings and gave up just two runs on 15 hits and only seven walks while striking out 37.

Also mentioned was shortstop [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag], who broke out this season after being more of a glove-first player before finding his groove at the plate.

We also thought his teammate, shortstop Josh Rivera, helped himself. We moved him from No. 111 to No. 87 and he looks like one of the best seniors in the class, one who could go in the second round. He finished the year with an OPS over 1.000, 19 homers and 18 steals, all while showing he’s a very capable infield defender up the middle.

The MLB draft will be held from July 9-11 in Seattle, Washington, in conjunction with this summer’s MLB All-Star Game.

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PHOTOS: Highlights from Josh Rivera’s 2023 campaign

Take a look at some of the top photographic highlights from Florida baseball’s star shortstop Josh Rivera’s final season of work in Gainesville during the spring of 2023.

It took a few seasons, but in 2023 Florida baseball shortstop [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] emerged as one of the top players at his position in the collegiate circuit — both with the bat and the glove.

The junior out of Avon Park, Florida, bolstered his stock tremendously this spring, batting .361 — a marked improvement over his .254 average the year prior — while getting on base at a .460 clip with a .629 slugging percentage to boot. In 54 games played (and started) he scored 56 runs and drove in 58 along with eight doubles, a triple and 14 home runs.

With the leather, he managed a .968 fielding percentage, notching 63 putouts and 116 assists while making six errors. It was by far his best season both at the plate and on the clay and could be enough to see him taken among the first 100 picks in the MLB draft.

Take a look below at some of the top photographic highlights from Florida baseball’s star shortstop Josh Rivera’s final season of work in Gainesville during the 2023 season.

Major takeaways from Florida’s humbling series loss to South Carolina

The Gators left Columbia, South Carolina with a bitter taste in their mouths after going 0-3 against the Gamecocks, but it’s how Florida responds to an ugly series that matters most.

For the first weekend in 2023, it was tough to be a Florida baseball fan.

The Gators were swept on the road by the South Carolina Gamecocks by scores of 13-3 (7), 5-2 and 7-5 in a three-game set that ran from Thursday to Saturday. It’s UF’s first series loss of the season and moves the club to 31-10 overall and 11-7 in SEC play.

The Florida pitching staff left a lot to be desired this weekend. Things seem to go downhill as soon as Kevin O’Sullivan turned to the bullpen, and the offense couldn’t do much until late in the final game of the series.

This might be the worst Florida fans will feel all season long, but that’s dependent on whether or not a team capable of competing for a national championship adjust after getting smacked in the mouth.

It’s ugly to go over, but there is no need for Gator Nation to sense doom and gloom. Florida is still a top-five program in the country that simply ran into a buzzsaw.

Florida baseball humbled and swept by South Carolina

Well… at least the weekend is over and Florida can reset with UNF on Tuesday. Tough series for the Gators in Columbia against a dominant South Carolina club.

The Florida Gators have held onto the No. 3 spot in the D1Baseball.com rankings for over a month, but a sweep at the hands of No. 6 South Carolina over the weekend should change that.

UF dropped Game 3 of the weekend series, 7-5, on Saturday, following up a 13-3 mercy rule loss and a 5-2 affair on Friday night.

South Carolina jumped on [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] early. Left fielder Dylan Brewer hit a leadoff double and shortstop Braylen Wimmer homered to left. Caglianone struggled with command a bit, but this was more of a case of the Gamecocks hitting the ball well all weekend.

Kevin O’Sullivan got some options warming up in the bullpen, but he didn’t have to go there until the fourth. A leadoff walk ended Caglianone’s day on the mound, and he shifted to designated hitter as [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag] came in to pitch.

Fisher gave up a double to Ethan Petry that scored two, making it 5-1 in favor of South Carolina. Jonathan French drove in one more in the bottom of the fifth, right after [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] hit his second home run of the day for the Gators. Fisher struck out six over three innings, and then Sully turned to [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] for the final two frames.

Slater gave up multiple hits in each inning, but South Carolina only managed to add one insurance run between both threats. Florida’s offense finally came alive in the top of the eighth, but two runs weren’t enough to tie up the game. Caglianone and [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] got the RBIs.

[autotag]Deric Fabian[/autotag] scored as a pinch runner for [autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag], who singled into center field to start the ninth, but [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] struck out with [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] on deck to end the game.

Florida really struggled to hit South Carolina’s pitching staff this weekend, and starter Matthew Becker kept everyone but Kurland at bay for five innings. James Hicks was strong for his first two innings of relief, and Chris Veach got the save despite a shaky ninth.

There’s no way to sugarcoat a loss like this. Gators Wire predicted a 3-0 sweep from Florida and received the exact opposite result. It’s a reality check for what is still one of the top teams in the nation, but now it’s LSU and South Carolina at the top of the SEC.

Florida could get a chance at redemption in the SEC or NCAA Tournament, but the stakes will be even higher then. Until then, it’s time to shake off a bad weekend and reset with a Tuesday game against North Florida. Following that, Missouri and Texas A&M sandwich a neutral site game against FSU on the schedule, so Florida has a good chance to recover before hosting No. 4 Vanderbilt.

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Despite ump show, Florida takes down Georgia to claim series

Despite the antics of home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, the Florida Gators prevailed over the Georgia Bulldogs, 11-6, Sunday afternoon behind an all-around performance from Jac Caglianone.

Florida defeated Georgia, 11-6, on Sunday, but it was the poor officiating that took center stage just before the Gators put together a five-run eighth to seal the deal.

[autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] entered the game in the top of the eighth with two outs and the bases loaded. Ryan Slater had just walked in a run to cut Florida’s lead down to two, and the Gators needed their best bullpen arm to come through.

The SEC saves leader needed just five pitches to strike out Parks Harber, but he was quickly tossed by the home plate umpire, Brian deBrauwere, after celebrating the punchout. All Neely did was pump his fist as he walked toward his dugout and glanced at Georgia while shouting, “Come on!”

If that’s not allowed, then what is? Is the rule a declaration of no fun in baseball? The umpires have been atrocious all year in the SEC, particularly this weekend, but this was another level.

The fans let deBrauwere hear it, but the offense couldn’t let things slide either. [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] singled, [autotag]Tyler Shelnut[/autotag] walked and [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] singled to drive in a run. [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] took a pitch on the elbow and [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] delivered his second home run of the day (and 21st of the season), a grand slam to left field that put Florida up 11-4.

At that point, losing Neely wasn’t a problem. [autotag]Chris Arroyo[/autotag] walked a lefty to lead things off, and Sully quickly brought out [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag]. He got the first two outs of the inning without any issues, but gave up a homer to cut the lead to five. An error extended things, but Ficarrotta got a fly ball to end the inning and claim Florida’s fifth-straight series win against SEC clubs.

The big question coming into the day was whether Caglianone could rebound from a string of bad starts or not. The left-handed sophomore answered with five innings of two-run ball and struck out four. Caglianone featured his best fastball control in over a month and fooled some of Georgia’s hitters with his slider, too. At the plate, he went 2 for 3 with seven RBIs and a walk.

Kevin O’Sullivan turned to the bullpen for the final four frames of the afternoon, but he had everyone on a short leash after Friday’s disastrous finish. [autotag]Tyler Nesbitt[/autotag] started the sixth, but he was pulled in favor of [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag] after allowing a pair of baserunners on a hit and a walk.

Fisher got three groundouts to finish the sixth, but Georgia’s best hitter, Charlie Condon, got to him for a run in the seventh. [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] got the final out of the inning and started the eighth, but it took two more arms to get out of the frame with just a two-run lead.

[autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] loaded up the bases for Connor Tate — the same Bulldog that hit a ninth-inning, game-tying grand slam on Friday — and got him to pop out into shallow center. Although the run was briefly prevented, Slater lost Condon on a full count in the next at-bat, walking in a run.

That’s when all of the Neely drama happened.

Lost in all the late-inning commotion was a strong performance from Florida’s offense against Georgia’s best arm, Liam Sullivan. [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] got to him early for a two-run homer and finished a triple shy of the cycle. Rivera is having an all-time season for the program and has played himself into a first or second-round draft pick.

Robertson drove in another run in the second and Caglianone’s first home run came in the second as well.

Florida is now 30-7 overall and 11-4 against the conference. Up next is a midweek game at home against Florida A&M, and then the Gators have a major road series against South Carolina on the road, starting Thursday.

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Gators walk it off against Georgia to even up series

Florida and Georgia played another game that was decided in the ninth inning, but this time it was the Gators who came out on top.

After a 24-run affair on Friday night, Florida and Georgia combined to score just three in the second game of their weekend series on Saturday. The Gators came out on top, 2-1, thanks to a walk-off RBI single from center fielder [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag].

Second baseman [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] got the winning rally started for Florida drawing a four-pitch walk from Georgia right-hander Chandler Marsh. Third baseman [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] found the gap in the very next about to send Kurland around third, but the base coach threw up the stop sign and delayed the celebration.

[autotag]Richie Schiekofer[/autotag] pinch hit for right fielder [autotag]Matt Prevesk[/autotag], who came into the game during the fifth inning for an injured [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag]. Schiekofer grounded out softly to first, but Robertson was ready to play the hero. He found the same gap in right-center that Halter did, and Kurland strutted into home to tie up the series.

After Friday night’s disastrous finish, Hurston Waldrep did everything he could to give the Gators a chance. He needed just 99 pitches to get through seven innings, and Waldrep was furious when Kevin O’Sullivan told him he wasn’t coming out to set a new career-high at Florida.

Waldrep struck out eight and was in control all night. He carved up the Georgia lineup with his splitter and pitched to contact when he needed to induce a double-play ball. The only blemish of the night was a leadoff double from Harber in the fifth that scored on a sacrifice bunt.

Florida tied things up almost immediately in the sixth with a pair of doubles from [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] and [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag]. Until then, Florida had been held hitless by UGA lefty Charlie Goldstein, who might have earned himself a permanent spot in the weekend rotation with the performance. Goldstein struck out seven and went five strong innings against the No. 3 team in the country. That deserves to be noticed, even in a loss.

[autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] was the only arm out of the bullpen for Florida, and he was lights out en route to earning win No. 5 on the season.

Offensively, things were pretty quiet. Halter was the only Gator with multiple hits and the duo of [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] and [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] combined to go 0 for 8 with four strikeouts. Not great, but there’s always Sunday to bounce back.

The Gators and Bulldogs go at 1 p.m. to decide the regular-season series.

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Gators drop series opener to Georgia following ugly ninth

Florida’s bullpen has been really strong after receiving some early-season criticism, but disaster struck in the eighth and ninth innings Friday night against Georgia.

Florida had everything in place to get its first win over Georgia in two years, but disaster struck in the ninth and the Gators couldn’t recover from a 13-11 final score.

[autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] got the start for the Gators and went seven innings strong against UGA, struggling only in the third inning. A leadoff walk came back to haunt Sproat as Georgia’s best hitter, Charlie Condon, blasted a two-run homer later in the inning. Three runs were scored in total in the frame, but Sproat kept things quiet for the next three innings.

Condon got to him against for a solo shot in the sixth, but that was the only other hit Sproat gave up all day. [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] came in to pitch the seventh for Florida, but he struggled more than he usually does. Condon hit another two-run shot, his third homer of the day, off Abner in the eighth. It’s only the second time this season he’s given up runs, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

[autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] came in to close out the game, but Kevin O’Sullivan’s top bullpen arms simply weren’t at their best tonight. Georgia loaded the bases and Connor Tate launched a grand slam before Condon could even get up to bat. A ground-rule double two batters later gave the Bulldogs the lead, and UGA tacked on two more for good measure

Florida scored fine throughout the day. [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] answered a loud third from Georgia with a salami of his own, and [autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] also went deep with the bases loaded in the sixth. [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] also drove in a run during each of those innings, raising his team-high total to 49.

They got the bases loaded again in the ninth with Rivera at the plate, but he could only produce a sacrifice fly to score [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag]. [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] drew a full count and was hit for the third time to load the bases back up. Riopelle reached six times on the night, all on free bases.

Unfortunately, Luke Heyman couldn’t hit his second grand slam of the day and struck out to give Georgia the win.

There’s no doubt that Florida will come out with some anger after letting this one slip away from the school’s biggest rival. The Bulldogs aren’t a powerhouse in this sport, yet they have taken nine of the last 11 from the Gators. Something has to change Saturday night.

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