A year ago, Caden Davidson was trying to prove he belonged in college baseball.
Now, he’s trying to prove he belongs in the Florida lineup.
Davidson was overlooked coming out of high school before heading to Gaston College, where he turned that opportunity into a historic freshman season. He hit .500 with 23 home runs, 110 RBIs and a 1.609 OPS, earning first-team NJCAA All-American honors before landing with the Gators.
How does a player who hits .500 with 23 home runs as a college freshman get overlooked in the first place?
For Davidson, it wasn’t necessarily a lack of production. The North Carolina native hit over .400 in every season at T.C. Roberson High School, but he didn’t have the standout physical tools that often draw the attention of major programs.
“I was never a showcase guy,” Davidson told Gator Country. “I never had the fastest running time, highest exit velos, stuff like that that they look at. Understanding the recruiters, they have to look at that. I understand that part. But I feel like I’m a gamer, and if you watch my game I feel like you understand and see that.”
Davidson was talking to two Division I programs, Charlotte and ETSU, but uncertainty surrounding the new 34-man roster limit kept him from receiving an offer.
That left him with two options: Walter State and Gaston College.
“Both really good JUCOs. I went on the visit to Gaston and I really loved it. I loved the coaches there,” Davidson said. “And I thought that I could just go there for one year than go to the school I really wanted to be at. Because honestly, I didn’t know if I wanted to go to Charlotte or ETSU, or if I just wanted to go there because they have the D1 name. That was something I took into consideration, and it helped me choose Gaston.”
“I feel like I definitely could have gone somewhere better than where I ended up going, but I knew that It’s all happening for a reason and I would not change that decision from any point of view. I’m glad I made that decision,” Davidson added.
Davidson also wasn’t known for his power in high school. The most home runs he hit in a single season was five, during his senior year.
“I was mainly just a single, double guy. I got a lot of walks and never really struck out that much. My bat to ball skills were there. I just could never get it in the air,” Davidson said.
He knew that developing more power could help increase his chances of moving up a level. After arriving at Gaston College, Davidson focused on fixing his swing.
“I was really narrow in the box. I was always a straight-up hitter. I widened out a little bit, I got more of my legs to kind of just see the ball better. My main point of hitting is seeing the ball out of release and being ready to hit it when the pitcher is about to throw the ball. That helps me adjust to fastballs easier and the off-speed,” Davidson said.
“And my bat path. My bat path was always in and out of the zone, it felt like. For me, getting it deeper in the zone early helped me stay through it longer, so that helped me with driving balls backside, which I thought I did pretty good last year,” Davidson added. “Whenever I made that adjustment to getting my bat path deeper in the zone, I feel like that helped me with the home runs.”
What happened next was far beyond what Davidson and his brother, a former first-round pick of the Atlanta Braves, had envisioned when they set his goals for the season. Their goal was to hit over .300 with 10 or more home runs.
Davidson far exceeded those expectations. He hit .500 with 23 home runs, 18 doubles, 110 RBIs and 98 runs scored across 58 games. He posted a .620 on-base percentage and a .989 slugging percentage while walking 48 times and striking out just 28.
In conference play, Davidson hit 14 home runs while striking out 14 times.
“That’s really crazy. Just looking at my stats, I can’t wrap my head around it that that was me,” Davidson said. “I’m getting chills right now. It kind of just shocked me a lot.”
Davidson’s “wow” moment came after the midway point of the season, following a phone call with his roommate’s dad, who informed him that he was 27-for-36 over his last 36 at-bats, good for a .750 batting average.
“I’m not the type of guy to go in and look at my stats, because I feel like that gets in my head. But whenever he mentioned that I was like, ‘wow, that’s crazy,’” Davidson said.
It was a 10-game stretch from March 21 to April 7. During that span, Davidson hit seven home runs, including two multi-home-run games. He even hit three home runs against USC Lancaster on March 21.
“Just focusing on each at-bat helped me a lot,” Davidson said. “My preparation throughout high school into now, I feel like has helped me a lot to what happened last year.”
After putting together a remarkable freshman season, Davidson had the option to pursue professional baseball after just one year at the JUCO level. His brother had taken that path after high school, but Davidson wanted to experience college baseball before following in his footsteps.
“There was a thought, yes,” Davidson said. “I feel like I wanted to go to college. My brother actually got drafted out of high school, and he never got to experience college baseball. I feel like I want to go in the same path he did, but I also want to experience the stuff he didn’t get to experience.”
Following a brief commitment to Wake Forest, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound first baseman committed to Florida, which is looking to return to the College World Series for the first time since 2024.
“They have the team this year to do that,” Davidson said. “And for me, my goal was to play the highest level of baseball I can play. Going to the SEC was just the next step of that.”
Davidson believes Florida’s coaching staff and the talent surrounding him will help take his game to the next level.
“Learning from all these great coaches that are here with all the experience that they have, I feel like will increase my play a lot and just learn from them and all the great players here,” Davidson said. “We potentially have the first overall pick in the locker room. That’s just crazy to be around. Learning from these guys is just one of those things that, like, yeah, this is the place.”
It’s difficult to predict how a player from the JUCO level will adjust to SEC baseball. The pitching is different, with higher velocity and better breaking balls.
The pitching Davidson faced at Gaston College varied. He said the starters were roughly equivalent to mid-major pitching.
“It varied a lot. It was either a good arm or a really bad arm,” Davidson said. “I will say the starters were probably close to mid major pitching. 88-90. Fastest we saw was 95. I feel like it was definitely a little better than high school, but not as good as SEC ball. But that’s something I’m really excited to face, is just like better pitching and to be challenged a lot.”
It would be difficult for Davidson to replicate his freshman season. Only one player in SEC history has hit over .500 in a full season: Alabama’s David Magadan, who hit .525 in 1983.
But Davidson isn’t focused on what he accomplished last year. He just wants to show up and earn a spot in Florida’s lineup this fall.
“Right now my goal in the fall is to just show what I have and work hard each day. Obviously nothing is given to you, you got to earn everything. So my goal this year is to just work hard, try and earn a spot for the season.”
Davidson arrived at Gaston College with something to prove. He left having accomplished far more than he could have imagined.
Now, he’s starting over at Florida.
The numbers from his freshman season may be difficult to match, but that’s not what he’s chasing. He’s chasing an opportunity to prove he belongs again.