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Kevin O’Sullivan and his Florida Gators are ready to redeem themselves following a massive disappointment in 2021.
The Gators bowed out of the NCAA Tournament in embarrassing fashion, losing 19-1 to South Alabama in the Gainesville Regional. The letdown came after UF started the year ranked as the consensus number one team in the country.
This year, the Gators are young but extremely talented. They brought in yet another top recruiting class which will help fill the holes left by some major impact players. They did receive a huge boost with the return of Jud Fabian, who opted to stay in school over signing with the Boston Red Sox.
Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan assessed his young roster before this weekend’s opening series against the Liberty Flames.
Despite the youth at certain parts of the roster, there is still plenty of experience in other parts. O’Sullivan believes the strength of the team will be up the middle because that is where their experience lies. Josh Rivera and Colby Halter will pair up at second and short while Kendrick Calilao and Kris Armstrong will split time at first base and DH. Behind the plate, the Gators have two experienced options in BT Riopelle and Mac Guscette.
O’Sullivan also discussed some of the bigger question marks on the roster and what will determine the quality of his team this year. Let’s take a deeper dive with sound from the Gators’ legendary head coach.
Left Field
The Gators have big shoes to fill in left field after Jacob Young moved on to pro ball. Young, who was a staple at the top of the batting order last year, was drafted in the seventh round of the MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals.
O’Sullivan has a big decision to make about what to do to replace Young in that position. He confirmed Tuesday that Wyatt Langford will be the Opening Night starter in left field, but Florida has a plethora of young options right behind him. The head coach recently discussed how he saw the competition.
Florida lists Langford on the roster as both an outfielder and a catcher. He appeared in just four games last year, all as a pinch-hitter, but Florida wants to find ways to work his bat into the lineup. The move to the outfield comes with risk, but it can also be rewarding if he can defend at an above-average level.
As for the young guys, Florida brought in four of the top-1o outfielders in the state of Florida this year. Ty Evans, Michael Robertson, Corey Robinson and Matt Prevesk were ranked third, fourth, fifth and eighth, respectively, among Florida outfielders by Perfect Game. Even though Langford will begin the year as the starter, O’Sullivan said Tuesday all of these guys will be getting at-bats early on.
If Langford gets the early nod but struggles, all four of those guys will be waiting to pounce at the opportunity. Either way, it is likely a lot of them will get looks early on in the season.
Pitching
The biggest question mark this year for Florida is the pitching. The Gators are extremely young on the mound and only two of their weekend rotation spots are written in ink.
Hunter Barco will get the ball every Friday night for Florida. He has dominated in the preseason and could make himself a first-round pick with a big 2022.
Brandon Sproat will start on Saturdays for the Gators this year. He struggled in 2021 with command but has really refined himself and had a great summer with USA Baseball. O’Sullivan is hopeful he can find that form and create a deadly 1-2 at the top of the rotation.
After Barco and Sproat it gets really young in the rotation. Timmy Manning is the top candidate to be the Sunday starter and he is the youngest among them as a sophomore. The Gators brought in a ton of good, young arms but they are just that: young.
Kevin O’Sullivan said it will all come down to the pitching and how good the young guys can be early in the year. The Gators must find a solid Sunday starter or they could run into serious trouble come SEC play.
While Sully did not confirm who will start Sunday, an emerging option is freshman left-hander Pierce Coppola. He has compared Coppola to former Gator AJ Puk and raved about him in multiple press conferences.
While O’Sullivan said he is looking forward to getting his freshmen out on the mound, he says it will not be easy to get them stress-free reps early. Liberty presents a stiff challenge for the Gators to begin the season, and he had high praise for them recently.
It all begins on Friday for Kevin O’Sullivan and the Gators as the Liberty Flames come to Florida Ballpark for a three-game series. The first pitch of the season will be thrown at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night.
