Gators Baseball Interested in Former Notre Dame Catcher

The Florida Gators are in the race for former Notre Dame catcher Carson Tinney, Baseball America’s Jacob Rudner reported Thursday on X. 

Tinney hit .348 with 17 home runs and 53 RBIs as a sophomore with the Fighting Irish. He ranks as the No. 8 player in the portal right now, according to the On3 College Baseball Transfer Portal. 

One of the two newest commits to the Gators also has ties with Tinney. Former Notre Dame pitcher and newest Florida pledge Ricky Reeth was his teammate at Notre Dame last year and Tinney caught most of his pitches this spring, Rudner stated. 

Florida had both Luke Heyman and Brody Donay behind the plate this past season, which was a great 1-2 punch at the position. However, an injury to Heyman near the end of the campaign forced Donay to become the full-time catcher the rest of the way.  While the hitting continued to show for Donay during this time, the defense struggled. 

With Donay’s defense being a question mark, it could make sense that the Gators shift him to first base or designated hitter and bring in multiple catchers this offseason. 

This is also a likely option. The Gators landed a catcher on Thursday, with JUCO catcher AJ Malzone committing to the program. If they reel in Tinney, then it will leave little to no room at the position. 

Gators head coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s summer is only just getting started. He’s losing his starting shortstop, starting third baseman, outfielder and potentially his starting catcher from last season, which means he’ll need to be active in the transfer portal. 

He will also need to reinforce his bullpen, which has struggled these past couple of seasons and might need a new starting pitcher as Pierce Coppola’s future has yet to be decided.

So, expect a flurry of Gators baseball news over these next few weeks as exit interviews and transfer additions begin to unravel.

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