The Florida Gators baseball team is less than three weeks from the 2017 season with the goal of getting back to the College World Series for the third season in a row.
Kevin O’Sullivan is confident his club has the talent to just that and on Monday Baseball America seemingly agreed with him when they released their All-American teams.
Friday night starter Alex Faedo was named a First Team All-American, leading a nation-high group of six players that were named All-Americans.
As a sophomore in 2016 Faedo led the SEC with 13 wins and 133 strikeouts. He pitched primarily on Sundays, with a brief stint pitching on Saturday’s while A.J. Puk dealt with a nagging injury. Faedo had four scoreless outings in 17 starts, giving the Gators a strong presence on the mound behind two first round picks.
Junior infielder Dalton Guthrie and sophomore pitcher Brady Singer were named Second Team All-Americans. Sophomore infielders Deacon Liput and Jonathan India along with junior catcher Mike Rivera were all named to the Third Team.
Guthrie hit .305 from the leadoff spot in 2016. He led the team with 85 hits. Singer made 23 appearances, mostly out of the bullpen. His 43.2 innings pitched were second among non-starters on the team.
Rivera was second on the team in 2016 with nine home runs and 47 RBIs. He was the catcher on the SEC All-Defensive team.
India and Liput were both named to the Freshmen All-SEC teams in 2016. India was also named a Freshman All-American. India batted .303 with 16 doubles and 40 RBI. Liput hit .270 and reached base safely in the first 21 games of his career, the longest streak of any Gator all season.