Under Kevin O’Sullivan, the Florida Gators baseball program has become a pipeline for the MLB Draft and 2021 will be no different.
D1Baseball.com updated its top 150 prospects for the 2021 MLB Draft and no program in the country has as many prospects as the Florida Gators’ eight.
Leading the list are three Gators listed inside the top-30, led by outfielder Jud Fabian (4), as well as pitchers Tommy Mace (19), and Jack Leftwich (30) — only one other program in the country.
Fabian is quickly becoming a hot name in MLB circles. Before the 2020 season was ended prematurely he was leading the Gators in home runs (5), RBI (13), doubles (6), total bases (41), and was second on the team in hits (20), and slugging (.622). Fabian came to school as a plus-glove in center field and a good hitter but has quickly developed a power stroke at the plate to round out his game. In the Florida Summer League he continued where he left off in the 2020 baseball season. Fabian scored 15 runs, had 11 runs batted in, and drew 14 walks in 19 games.
“There’s lots of bat speed and excellent natural loft in Fabian’s swing, allowing him to lift and drive (the) ball with authority on the regular, including to the opposite field gap,” D1Baseball noted in their list. “He’s rapidly making a case to go in the first round.”
Mace faced an interesting predicament this past spring. Florida’s Friday night starter toed the rubber four times in 2020, posting a 3-0 record and 1.67 ERA. Mace was a borderline first-round pick in the draft, but given the shortened draft and different salary cap structures that came with it, he chose to decline an offer made on draft night and return to school in 2021.
A similar situation occurred to Florida’s Saturday starter in Leftwich. Speaking with Gator Country shortly after the draft, Leftwich said he felt he wasn’t going to make what he believes he’s worth and, like Mace, felt coming back to school was the right decision for him.
Since Kevin O’Sullivan has taken over at Florida the Gators have had 10 players selected in the first round of the MLB Draft. Fabian, Mace, and Leftwich are, according to D1Baseball, all projected first-rounders at this time. Florida has had three players selected in the first round just once in their history when Jonathan India, Brady Singer, and Jackson Kowar were all selected in the first round in 2018.
Returning players Ben Specht (87), Jacob Young (116), Christian Scott (122), and David Leuthje (148) but one name on the list won’t be familiar to most fans. Junior college transfer Franco Aleman (53) is that name. Aleman played at FIU in 2019, logging a 3.97 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 65.2 innings before transferring to St. John’s River State College. He struck out 51 batters in just 38.2 innings last year and will be a quality arm for the Gators in 2021.
A full listing of the eight Gators who cracked D1Baseball.com’s top 150 is below.
4. Jud Fabian (OF)
19. Tommy Mace (RHP)
30. Jack Leftwich (RHP)
53. Franco Aleman (RHP)
87. Ben Specht (RHP)
116. Jacob Young (OF)
122. Christian Scott (RHP)
148. David Luethje (RHP)