Gators Baseball Lands Catching Commit Via Transfer Portal

Stanford had a breakout year during the 2025 season. He batted .393 with a 1.237 OPS, 20 home runs and 56 RBIs. He spent the last three seasons with the Bears, a Division II program in North Carolina, with two seasons at Gordon State College, a junior college in Georgia, before that.

He is the third catcher to commit to the program over the last few weeks. JUCO catcher AJ Malzone and TCU catcher/first baseman Karson Bowen have decided on heading to Gainesville.

This marks the seven addition via the portal so far. Along with the catching depth, they'veadded three pitchers, earning commitments from former Hawaii right-hander Cooper Walls, former Notre Dame right-hander Ricky Reeth and former UCF right-hander Russell Sandefer. The other transfer to commit to the Gators is former Jacksonville outfielder Jaden Bastian. 

The Gators have been active in the transfer portal the last couple weeks, working to load up experienced players onto next year's roster.

Florida Baseball is coming off a seesaw season that saw them finish 39-22 overall and 15-15 in SEC play. They picked up a win in the SEC Tournament and got bounced in the Conway Regional to end their season.

It was a step back season after back-to-back seasons where they made it to Omaha, but it also mark another season of losing key players to the professional ranks. It's a good problem to have, but it also leaves the Gators in a rebuild.

They showed signs that a new group could be starting to gel with the turnaround they had in SEC play. The Gators behind conference play with a 1-11 record and rallied to finish 15-15.

More From Florida Gators on SI