With the 2025 MLB Draft just hours away, a number of Gators baseball players await their lifelong dream of reaching the pinnacle of the sport and hearing their name called on draft night.
Among the 12 draft eligible players, eight are ranked on draft boards: Catchers Luke Heyman and Brody Donay, pitchers Jake Clemente and Pierce Coppola, infielders Colby Shelton, Bobby Boser and Cade Kurland and outfielder Blake Cyr.
Four of the players — Shelton, Clemente, Donay and Coppola — were invited to the 2025 MLB Draft Combine in Phoenix, Arizona.
Shelton will enter his second year as a draft-eligible player. In 2024, he was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 20th round before returning to Florida for his junior season.
“I'm way more educated on the whole process and how the whole system works,” Shelton said. “Definitely more educated and more prepared for draft day.”
After spending his freshman year at Alabama, Shelton transferred to Florida, spending his sophomore and junior years with the team.
In his two seasons with the Gators, Shelton said his favorite memory is the 2024 Clemson Super-Regional, in which Florida advanced to the College World series after walking off the Clemson Tigers 11-10.
“That was one of the coolest games I’ve been a part of,” he said. “I’m very grateful for the opportunities.”
Shelton also credited Florida for helping him in his journey to the draft.
“The University of Florida has been nothing but great for me,” Shelton said. “I've really grown as a person and in my baseball ability, so it's definitely prepared me for this next step in the baseball journey.”
Shelton comes from a baseball family of his own, with both of his sisters playing college softball and his parents being former division one baseball and softball players.
“I wouldn't be in the position I am without their support,” he said. “They've been through this process and journey with me from the get go, so I'd say it's very rewarding to them just to see me go out there and play the game that I love.”
In 2025, Shelton played 45 games before suffering a season-ending wrist injury. In those games, he recorded 66 hits and seven home runs with a .377 batting average. A 2025 Brooks Wallace award semifinalist, Shelton is the highest ranked Florida prospect according to MLB Pipeline Top 200, coming in at No. 142.
Even with his talent on the field, his close connection to his teammates has been just as valuable.
Clemente entered his first year of eligibility in 2025, and speaking to Shelton has proved helpful to him as he enters this stage.
“It’s really awesome to have guys like that,” Clemente said. “Being able to talk with guys and see experiences and be familiar with what's to come has really helped me, and I feel like it's helped with others as well.”
Clemente, a redshirt sophomore from Coral Springs, Florida, spent his freshman year sidelined due to a shoulder injury.
Despite the setback, Clemente says the injury was beneficial to his journey.
“Going through that really helped me just find myself, and find the meaning of baseball to me,” he said. “That time away is just something that I think that really helped me just get back to what I've always known that I've been able to do.”
In 2025, Clemente’s role was essential as Florida’s closing pitcher. His seven saves led all Gators this past season, and he also recorded 77 strikeouts over 54.2 innings pitched. He produced a 2-1 record with a 3.46 ERA, as his performance earned him a spot on the 2025 All-SEC Second Team.
He currently ranks as the No. 189 prospect on MLB Pipeline Top 200.
Even with his individual success, the most rewarding part of his college career has been watching the Gators succeed, he said.
“Everything that's gone throughout my career, I feel like, has built me into the person I am,” he said. “It’s allowed me to be the teammate that I want to be, and be able to help others.”
Just like Shelton, Clemente has felt nothing but gratitude towards Florida for his development not only as a player, but as a person.
“Being able to be around high level guys and be able to feed off each other's brains has really helped me, not only from the baseball side, but on the mental side,” Clemente said. “I feel like being able to go through everything that I've went through at the University of Florida has allowed me to take that next step in my life, and it's allowed me to really just grow up all together.”
The draft will begin on at 6 p.m. Sunday with the first three rounds. The draft will resume on Monday for rounds four through 20, starting at 11:30 a.m. It will take place at the Coca-Cola Roxy concert hall in Atlanta, Georgia.
The first 43 picks of the draft will be broadcasted live on ESPN and MLB Network, while the remaining picks will be shown on MLB.com.
Contact Adrian Carmona at acarmona@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @abcarmona04.
Adrian Carmona is a third-year journalism major and the Summer 2025 baseball reporter. In his spare time, he enjoys completing Sporcle quizzes and ranting about Miami sports.
