Florida has had a handful of key players injured the past few weeks, particularly in the pitching rotation, with both Karsten Whitson and Hudson Randall missing time with fatigue injuries.
Coach Kevin O’Sullivan said the Gators are getting close to full strength as both are recovering nicely.
Whitson threw one inning in relief in Florida’s 8-2 win over Georgia Southern on Tuesday night, getting out of the inning with a flyout, a groundout and a strikeout on eight pitches.
“We kind of spoke [Tuesday],” O’Sullivan said. “He just hasn’t quite been himself. It’s hard. He hasn’t pitched in six weeks, and we’re putting him in some tough situations.”
After missing five weekend starts, Whitson returned to the rotation against LSU on April 7. He gave up two runs on two hits in just one inning of action.
He pitched again last weekend at Tennessee but was hit hard in three innings of work. The Volunteers racked up four runs on six hits against the sophomore righty.
Though Whitson threw only eight pitches in the win against the Eagles Tuesday night, O’Sullivan said he looked much more like the dominant pitcher he was a year ago. The Florida coach estimated the sophomore threw 94-96 miles per hour.
“He was cutting the ball loose, his slider looked good, he threw a great change-up right on right,” he said. “He looked really sharp tonight. Most of the time you need one outing like this, even if it’s a short inning – kind of get the cobwebs out of the way.”
Florida hasn’t set its weekend rotation for the upcoming home series against rival Georgia, but O’Sullivan will likely announce it on Thursday. With Whitson getting some of his confidence back in his first career relief appearance, there’s a good chance he’ll find himself starting again this weekend.
“Karsten came in and threw really well, so it was good to see that,” junior Brian Johnson said. “He needed that to get some confidence there. That’s all he needed, just a little confidence.”
Whitson isn’t the only normal weekend starter who could rejoin Johnson in the rotation against Georgia, either.
Junior right-hander Hudson Randall, who has missed the past two weeks with a fatigued arm, is expected to return to the weekend rotation.
“I think he’ll be ready to go this weekend,” O’Sullivan said. “He threw pen [Tuesday] and looked great. He feels great. He’s pain free. We’re slowly but surely getting healthy, and he’ll be ready to go this weekend.”
Freshman third baseman Josh Tobias is also close to returning after fracturing the hamate bone in his right hand on March 23 against South Carolina. He pinch ran in Florida’s 5-4 loss to Tennessee on Saturday.
“That one’s going to take a little bit longer,” O’Sullivan said. “He thinks he’s ready this weekend, I doubt that. I think realistically, the Arkansas weekend or Kentucky, probably somewhere in there.”
Florida hosts Arkansas from April 27-29 before traveling to Kentucky for a series from May 3-5.