Coach Kevin O’Sullivan fielded questions Friday afternoon at McKethan Stadium about the high expectations for his team and the underclassmen he is counting on to meet those expectations.
The Florida baseball team has consistently been ranked in the Top 10 preseason rankings by every major outlet — that’s what people have come to expect from O’Sullivan’s teams.
Never mind the departure of three first round picks in 2018 — the most in school history — or the fact the Gators will rely on several freshmen to make an immediate impact. Trips to the College World Series have become the standard for this program.
O’Sullivan acknowledged the rankings but not without saying they had no bearing on how the team will actually play. He said he expects the team to go through some growing pains, but that if it can stay healthy, it has a chance to be “pretty good.”
Second baseman Blake Reese, one of three seniors on the roster, recognizes the expectations surrounding his team but knows nothing is a given.
“We have to kinda write our own script,” Reese said. “We can’t ride the coattails of all these guys that have been here before and been big-time first-rounders and won national championships and SEC championships.”
The Gators lost their Friday and Saturday starters to the draft in Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar, promoting junior right-handed pitcher Tyler Dyson to the Friday role.
“There’s a lot of expectations on that day but you treat it as any other day,” Dyson said. “It’s the same win whether it’s Friday or Sunday, so it doesn’t matter.”
Sophomore righties Jack Leftwich and Tommy Mace will round out the weekend rotation.
Florida played an intrasquad scrimmage following practice Friday afternoon and plenty of freshmen had their names called. The first two batters of the game — Cory Acton and Jud Fabian — are both freshmen and the presumptive starters at their positions with Acton at third base and Fabian, an early enrollee, roaming center field.
O’Sullivan pointed out that there’s not much of a middle ground on the team. There’s mostly veteran starters or newcomers.
“We’ve had a lot of success with young players before,” O’Sullivan said. “I think this is probably, from a freshmen standpoint, probably close to the 2010 team as far as needing some of those freshmen to contribute right away. But if they perform the way they did in the fall off our own pitchers, at least offensively, they got a chance to be some really good players.”
For reference, that 2010 team won 47 games on the way to a regular-season SEC title and a College World Series appearance.
The first action for the Gators and their 11 true freshmen is just a few weeks away. Florida will host Long Beach State on Feb. 15 for a weekend series to begin the 2019 season.
“We’ve got a lot of question marks,” O’Sullivan said. “But from a talent standpoint, it’s a good nucleus, but we’ve also gotta perform.”
Follow Kyle Wood on Twitter @Kkylewood and contact him at kwood@alligator.org.
UF second baseman Blake Reese is one of three seniors on the baseball team. “We have to kinda write our own script,” he said. “We can’t ride the coattails of all these guys that have been here before.”
