Expectations Are Through the Roof for Florida Gators Baseball in 2021
The pain of what might have been a year ago when Covid-19 put a halt to the best start in Florida Gators baseball history is tempered by what could be in 2021. Kevin O’Sullivan has nearly all the moving parts returning from a team that was 16-1 when the virus shut the door on all collegiate sports nationwide and he’s added one of the best recruiting classes in school history for a roster so talented the Gators are the unanimous No. 1 in every preseason baseball poll.
Put bluntly, Florida’s roster is loaded and expectations have never been higher, particularly when there is the enticing addition of the brand, spanking new Florida Ballpart at McKethan Field, which opens up Friday at 3 p.m. when the Gators host Miami for the first of their annual three-game series. The new ball yard is as good a facility as there is in the country, a serious improvement for fans and a lure for recruits who want to spend their collegiate careers playing in a stadium that will be better than those in the minor league parks they may play in someday. Even with the antiquated and outmoded McKethan Stadium as his home base, O’Sullivan was already the best recruiter in the nation but the new stadium and facilities are a game-changer that will likely usher in an even more dominant era for Florida baseball.
More dominant. Take a moment and let that sink in because what O’Sullivan has accomplished in his first 13 years on the job is nothing short of remarkable. The proof is in the numbers:
547-256: With ten wins in 2021 O’Sullivan passes Dave Fuller as Florida’s all-time winningest baseball coach.
2017: That’s the year O’Sullivan piloted the Gators to the first NCAA baseball championship in school history.
5: That’s the number of Southeastern Conference championships (2010-11-14-17-18) O’Sullivan has won.
7: That’s the number of times the Gators have made it to Omaha for the College World Series. Prior to O’Sullivan’s arrival in 2008, the Gators had gone to the College World Series five times in school history. From 2010-19, the Gators became the first team in the country since the 1990s to make it to Omaha seven times in a decade.
4: The Gators made it to Omaha every year during the four-year stretch from 2015-18.
12: Prior to the interruption of the 2020 season when the Gators were a mortal lock to make the NCAA Tournament, the Gators had participated in the tournament a school-record 12 consecutive years.
9: That’s the number of seasons with 40 or more wins since O’Sullivan took over the program in 2008. The Gators posted eight 40-win seasons in the decade from 2010-19, one of only five teams nationwide to accomplish that feat. Prior to O'Sullivan, Florida had 15 seasons with 40 or more wins in school history.
3: From 2015-17 O’Sullivan led the Gators to a 156-53 record with three consecutive 52-win seasons. It marked the first time in school history the Gators had three straight seasons with 50 or more wins. In his Florida career, O'Sullivan has posted four seasons with 50 or more wins. Prior to his arrival, the Gators had two seasons with 50 or more in school history.
63-30: That’s O’Sullivan’s record against Florida State and Miami since 2008, which includes an 11-game winning streak over FSU.
88: That’s the number of Gators taken in the Major League Baseball Draft since 2008.
10: That’s the number of first round draft picks in the MLB Draft in the O'Sullivan era.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Kevin O’Sullivan has awakened the sleeping giant within at the University of Florida. The Gators have gone from a team to be taken seriously every few years or so to one that is a national contender every single year. The Gators are so expected to be in the hunt for a trip to Omaha every year that it's considered an upset any year they don't make it. With the loaded roster that O'Sullivan takes the field with Friday against Miami there are visions of another trip to Omaha and the Gators’ second NCAA championship. Seven position starters return from 2020 as well as the entire weekend pitching rotation and closer. Florida's midweek pitchers, relievers and backups would be a borderline top 25 team.
As with any team coached by Kevin O’Sullivan, it starts with the pitching. Florida’s weekend rotation of Tommy Mace, Jack Leftwich and Hunter Barco is considered the strongest in the nation. All three throw consistently in the low-to-mid 90s and have developed a nice second and third pitch. Had it not been for the virus and a scaled down MLB Draft in 2020, Mace and Leftwich would have been playing for pay this year, but instead they return for a fourth year. Mace (16-5 career) was 3-0 with a sparkling 1.67 ERA when the season was halted last year. Leftwich (13-10 career) was 2-0 last year when opponents managed only a .200 batting average against him. Barco, a hard-throwing lefty, gets a second freshman season thanks to the NCAA rules. Last year he was 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 19-1/3 innings.
The closer once again will be Ben Specht, who was 2-0 in relief last year with three saves and a 0.75 ERA.
Battling for midweek and long relief work on weekends will be righties Christian Scott (2-0, 1.20 ERA in 2020), David Leuthje (2-0, 5.19 ERA), Brandon Sproat (0.0, 0.00 ERA), Tyler Nesbitt (1-0, 0.00 ERA), Ryan Cabarcus (0.0, 1.29 ERA, 1 save) and Nick Ficarotta (1-0, 2.70 ERA). Nick Pogue (1-1, 5.17 ERA), who was expected to be a midweek starter, had Tommy John surgery earlier in the week and will miss the season. Garrett Milchin, who was 4-2 with a 3.29 ERA in 2017, has missed the last three seasons with shoulder injuries. He threw well in the fall and so far this spring. He’s going to be looking to pick up innings as is graduate Trey Van Der Weide, who was a three-year starter at USC-Upstate.
O’Sullivan’s jack of all trades is lefty Jordan Butler (7-3 career record, 4.72 ERA), experienced as both a midweek starter and long weekend reliever who has some closing experience as well. Butler will also be in the mix at first base. He is a gap hitter with a career .343 average to go with four homers and 25 RBI.
And then there is those highly touted freshman pitchers led by lefty Timmy Manning, Blake Purnell, Ryan Slater and Chase Centala. Manning could contend for a midweek starter's job.
O'Sullivan has plenty of pitchers and not a lot of innings to share, but it is always best to have more pitching than you need than not nearly enough.
Left fielder Austin Langworthy, who signed with the Detroit Tigers last June, is the only position starter from 2020 who won’t be back. His departure moves Jacob Young from right field to left. He hit a sizzling .450 with 16 multi-hit games in 2020. Young will be joined in the outfield by Jud Fabian (2.94, 5 HR, 13 RBI in 2020; 12 HR, 39 RBI career) in center field and Kendrick Calilao (career .274 with 6 HR and 59 RBI) in right. Fabian is considered one of the top five players in the country and likely to be one of the first three players drafted in 2021. Calilao spent most of the previous two seasons alternating between first base, DH and right field.
Butler and Kris Armstrong (.290 in 2020) will handle first base with the other likely to handle designated hitter. Whereas Butler sprays the ball all over the park, Armstrong launched several tape measure homers during fall practice. He could supply the most power at first base since Pete Alonso. Veteran Cory Acton (career .239, 7 HR, 34 RBI) is back at second, with Josh Rivera (.298, 2 HR, 9 RBI as a true freshman in 2020) at shortstop and Kirby McMullen (.278, 1 HR, 10 RBI) at third. Handyman Nick Blasucci (career .300) can play three infield positions as well as eat up relief innings if necessary.
Nathan Hickey (.311, 4 HR, 7 RBI as a true freshman in 2020) and Cal Greenfield (.233, 1 HR, 7 RBI) are going to split duties behind the plate but freshman Wyatt Langford, who won the Perfect Game Home Run Derby contest in 2019, has a good enough bat to find his way onto the field. Freshman Mac Guscete has a big bat and a strong throwing arm.
While freshmen will be looked to provide depth in the infield and outfield, keep an eye on Colby Halter, who might very well hit his way into the starting lineup at third base or muscle his way into the mix at DH. Sterlin Thompson can play the corners in the infield and in the outfield. Jordan Carrion can handle both middle infield positions.
O’Sullivan has the benefit of experienced veterans both on the mound and in the field, plus outstanding recruiting has given him the best depth in the country. On paper, at least, this is a team that has it all -- pitching, hitting, defense and speed -- which is why the college baseball media is pencilling the Gators in for an eighth trip to Omaha since 2010.
History tells us that in the years when O’Sullivan has an abundance of pitching his teams make it to Omaha. The last time O’Sullivan had this much pitching depth was 2017, the year the Gators won the NCAA championship with a rotation that included Alex Faedo, Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar with Michael Byrne coming in as the closer. That team also featured future first rounder Jonathan India and future pros Dalton Guthrie, JJ Schwarz, Deacon Liput, Nelson Maldonado, Mark Kolozsvary, Tyler Dyson, Nick Horvath and Langworthy.
Although it will be hard for Florida’s starters to match the 2017 pitching rotation and Byrne’s success as a closer, O’Sullivan has an abundance of capable arms that can give him quality innings. If he has to go to the bullpen he can go early and often without much in the way of drop off. The Gators have the hitters and defense in both the infield and outfield to match that 2017 team as well.
So, expectations are already through the roof, particularly since the bulk of the 2020 roster returns and there is unfinished business to take care of. The way the Gators were playing when the season shut down last year, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to think they would have made it to Omaha with a legitimate chance to win it all.
This is a brand new season and no one in the country had the benefit of summer ball to develop the pitching and get at bats for the position players, but the Gators showed up in the fall with the look of a determined team, ready to pick up where they left off last year. A year ago, when the season shut down the Gators were ranked No. 1 nationally. They will start 2021 expected to take up where they left off last year.
Considering the way the 2020 season ended with high hopes dashed by the virus, starting fresh in 2021 in a beautiful ball park that will rank among the best anywhere in the country to go with a loaded roster seems appropriate. What better way to christen the new park than have a championship season that produces a banner to hang on the outfield fence. Kevin O'Sullivan has spent the last 13 years building the Gator brand into one of consistency and domination and yet the new season lends itself to the belief that Florida's most dominant era ever still lies ahead.
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