Interesting Journey Ahead for Gators Baseball

After a disappointing end to a roller coaster of a season for Florida Gators baseball, an interesting offseason now lies ahead for the program and head coach Kevin O’Sullivan. 

The Gators will be tasked with reloading at several positions while also addressing some serious questions in the pitching department. 

Starting with the guys surrounding the mound, Florida will see their starting shortstop, third baseman and most likely their catcher take the next step in their careers and enter the MLB Draft. The trio of Colby Shelton, Bobby Boser and Luke Heyman all will likely hear their names in the MLB Draft, which means O'Sullivan will have three massive gaps at those positions. 

Luckily for Florida, infielder Brendan Lawson, who can replace either Shelton or Boser on the left side of the infield, is expected to return. Although if they go down that path, then they’ll have to find a replacement for first base, where Lawson played most of his season. 

Catcher Luke Heyman could return as he has another year of eligibility, which leaves him with a decision to make now that the season is over. Will he jump to the next level, or will he make use of his final year of college eligibility? 

Heyman having one more year gives him some leverage in the draft because he could spurn whichever team drafts him to return for his senior season. However, if he were to do so, it would mean he’d have no other choice but to sign with whoever drafts him next year. 

Another area the Gators might’ve had to address this offseason was the outfield, but outfielder Kyle Jones should return from injury to command the center field spot he held to begin the season. 

O’Sullivan will need to attack the portal in an aggressive way to refuel his lineup. Florida will get Jones, second baseman Cade Kurland, outfielder Blake Cyr, outfielder Hayden Yost, infielder Landon Stripling, infielder Justin Nadeau and catcher/first baseman Brody Donay back. Filling the remaining open spots with a freshman bat versus a veteran one will only be a recipe for disaster. 

The larger issue for the Gators this offseason will be the pitching. It was another year of subpar pitching filled with too many walks and hit batters from the pitching staff. As a whole, Florida’s pitching staff issued 251 walks, hit 60 batters and held a team ERA of 4.89. That ERA and amount of walks are good for bottom five of the SEC. 

This isn’t the first time this problem has plagued the Gators, though. It was a problem for the staff last year as well. In 2024, the overall team ERA was 6.05 and the staff finished with 305 walks issued. 

With that being the case, Florida’s pitching coach may need to be looked at. Florida is known for having strike throwers and they are starting to trend away from that. 

They should have the same 1-2 punch as they had this year, though. Liam Peterson isn’t draft eligible till next year, and Aidan King only just completed his freshman season. The bigger question will be if Southpaw Pierce Coppola returns for his final season or if he opts for the MLB Draft. Should the latter happen, then the Gators will need to set aside some NIL funds for a starting pitcher, which aren’t easy to come by. 

Even if he returns, the Gators will still need to attack the portal for some pitchers. The bullpen was way too volatile. Too many times were there moments of uncertainty. It only began to calm itself a little once Jake Clemente took over as the closer. 

There were some positives on the mound this season, though. Righty Blaine Rowland’s rise from nowhere, Jackson Barberi completing a solid freshman campaign and Luke McNeillie's ability to strike out his opponents on his nasty slider. 

Furthermore, the Gators will get lefty Frank Menendez back after he only played five games before going down with a season-ending elbow injury. 

Still, O’Sullivan will have a busy summer, and he’ll need to get it right if he wants to return to the Florida Gators of years previous. 

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