Florida Gators dynamic duo behind the dish

Both JJ Schwarz and Mike Rivera had the kind of success in high school that most kids playing on little league field dreamed about. Both were wildly successful in high school, Rivera at Venice High School and JJ at Palm Beach Gardens.

Rivera won back-to-back state championships to end his high school career and Schwarz hit .361 with 33 RBI, 15 runs, seven home runs and four doubles as a senior. Both were named to the 2013 USA 18-U National Team, which repeated as World Champions, before becoming Florida Gators.

That’s where their friendship began. The two split time catching on Team USA and little did they know, their future coaches were already trying to figure out what to do with two catchers.

“Once we kind of figured out that both were going to come to school we had talked about it as a staff, kind of like a pre-determined deal that they were going to kind of go back and forth,” Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Both guys were good enough to do that. You kind of hoped that it would work out that way and it just has.”

Mike Rivera, McKethan Stadium, Gainesville, Florida, University of Florida
Freshman Mike Rivera showed a masterful presence behind the plate in the College World Series. / Gator Country photo by David Bowie

O’Sullivan hoped that his plan to play both would work but he wasn’t positive it would by any means. Sharing a position is one thing, but no freshman coming in to play at Florida wants to do that. They all have Major League aspirations that don’t involve a timeshare at their position. Fortunately for O’Sullivan, the two got a taste of what it was like to have a timeshare behind the dish with Team USA and neither minded it.

“I think it works well. It worked last year definitely,” Rivera, the better defensive catcher of the two said. “He’s helped me save my legs, even though I was injured. He’s helped me a lot. I also helped him as well. It’s a huge thing to hit when you have legs.”

Rivera typically catches Logan Shore on Friday and the series cap on Sunday. That leaves Schwarz as Florida’s DH for most games. Schwarz is rated as the No. 1 prospect in the country for the 2017 MLB Draft and he could take the stance that he needs to showcase his ability behind the dish.

“I’ve just been trying to work on my defense as much as I could because I thought that was one of my weaker areas,” Schwarz said.

For whatever reason the sarcastic, introverted Schwarz and the fiery Rivera don’t mind sharing. They understand what the benefits are for the team and that’s enough for them.

“It’s worked out to be a very good thing for our team. I think it’s turned out to be a very good thing for both those guys. They’ve learned a little bit from each other,” O’Sullivan said. “They’re great friends off the field. It’s a really unique situation but it’s worked for the Gators, it’s worked for us. I thank those guys a lot because a lot of people may not handle that type of situation very well but they’ve been awesome since day one with each other and their teammates. It’s worked out really well.”

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC