The Gators will begin the 2022 season this weekend when they host Liberty for a three-game series.
While the Gators are ranked inside the top-10 in five of the six preseason polls, there are plenty of question marks and reasons to pump the brakes on your expectations.
Offensively, they must replace always reliable leadoff hitter Jacob Young and Nathan Hickey, a mainstay in the middle of the order. Several returning players will need to make big strides this season to keep the offense humming along.
While elite pitching was the cornerstone of Kevin O’Sullivan’s program not too long ago, the Gators have woefully underperformed in each of the last two full seasons. The 2022 pitching staff features nine true freshmen that will try to restore order on the mound.
Over the next two days, we’ll take an in-depth look at each position on the team. We’ll start today with the position players.
Projected Opening Day Batting Order
(With 2021 stats)
1. 2B Colby Halter (.302 average, 3 home runs, 32 RBI)
2. CF Jud Fabian (.249, 20, 46)
3. RF Sterlin Thompson (.301, 5, 27)
4. 1B Kendrick Calilao (.274, 5, 19)
5. SS Josh Rivera (.253, 5, 26)
6. DH Kris Armstrong (.289, 8, 30)
7. LF Wyatt Langford (.250, 0, 0)
8. C Mac Guscette (.298, 0, 9)
9. 3B Deric Fabian (N/A)
Outfield
The players: Ty Evans, Jud Fabian, Wyatt Langford, Matt Prevesk, Michael Robertson, Corey Robinson, Tucker Talbott and Sterlin Thompson
Overview: This could be one of the most talented and deepest outfields that O’Sullivan has had, and that’s saying a lot.
Fabian is the headliner of the entire group of position players. He surprisingly turned down the Boston Red Sox after being drafted in the second round, and he was named to four preseason All-America teams.
Fabian is one of the top defensive center fielders in the country, as he gets to seemingly every ball that isn’t a hard-hit line drive and has a strong and accurate left arm.
He was a mixed bag offensively in 2021. He became just the fifth Gator to ever slug 20 homers in a season, but he also ranked among the national leaders with 79 strikeouts. He really focused on being more patient and disciplined with two strikes and slapping the ball the opposite way instead of pulling everything this offseason. If that approach carries over to the season and he can get his average up 20 or 30 points, he’ll be a first-round pick.
Thompson looks like a guy who could break out as a sophomore. He’s one of the strongest hitters on the team, and he hits a lot of line drives. That style of hitting should help him avoid those lengthy slumps that have plagued other hitters in UF’s lineup in the past. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him hit 15 home runs this season and be named All-SEC after the season.
Langford has been perhaps the Gators’ best all-around hitter throughout the offseason, and he’s got an enormous amount of power. He’s hit a couple of tape-measure home runs off of pretty good pitchers this spring. He’ll probably start off the year hitting near the bottom of the order, but he just looks like a No. 5 hitter.
He came to UF as a catcher, so he doesn’t have the range that some of their other outfielders do and he might misjudge some balls early in the season, but those are sacrifices worth making to get his bat in the lineup.
What makes this outfield group so special is the depth that they have behind their tremendous frontline talent. Robinson and Robertson are extremely fast players who would probably start in center field for many teams. They both need to work on putting the ball in play more so that they can use their speed to their advantage.
Evans and Prevesk have both shown promise offensively. Prevesk is more of a contact hitter, while Evans has good power.
Three Questions
1. Can Langford translate what he’s done in practice to games?
He’s truly been incredible in scrimmages throughout the offseason, and it’s hard to see somebody with that nice of a swing not being very productive.
Still, he only appeared in four games as a freshman last year, all pinch-hit opportunities. The pressure is going to be quite a bit different now that he’ll play in almost every game and be a critical part of his team’s winning or losing. Then there’s the unknown with how he’ll respond to one of those games where he strikes out three times, which is inevitably going to happen.
If Langford is as good in games as he’s been in practice, this offense will go from really good to one of the best offenses in the country.
2. Will Fabian cut down on the strikeouts?
Not putting the ball in play enough was his only major weakness in his first three college seasons.
He’s one of the most experienced players on the team, and he’s going to bat near the top of the order, possibly even the leadoff spot. He cannot kill anywhere near as many scoring opportunities as he did last year by whiffing on pitches out of the strike zone.
Even if it means hitting a few less home runs, it will be worth the tradeoff for him to put the ball in play more often.
3. What kind of role will the freshmen have?
At least two of the four freshmen outfielders figure to be in the 2023 opening day lineup, so this will be a critical year in their development. O’Sullivan likes to give his newcomers as much playing time as possible, so don’t expect them to just be cheerleaders from the dugout.
Robertson would make a lot of sense as a late-innings defensive replacement for Langford in left field when they have the lead. He’s probably the best bunter on the team as well, so he could pinch hit in some small-ball situations.
Evans should be the top right-handed hitter off of the bench, so expect him to come in when the Gators need an extra-base hit against a left-handed pitcher late in the game.
Robinson and Prevesk will probably find playing time more difficult to come by for them simply because of how good the players in front of them are.
Infielders/Catchers
The players: Kris Armstrong, Kendrick Calilao, Jorge De Goti, Deric Fabian, Mac Guscette, Colby Halter, Rene Lastres, BT Riopelle and Josh Rivera
Outlook: This should be the deepest group of catchers that the Gators have had since the Mike Rivera and J.J. Schwarz days of 2015-17.
Guscette is the incumbent starter. He’s the best hitter among the three backstops, and he’s good at framing pitches, blocking balls in the dirt and communicating with the pitchers. He does need to be more accurate with his throws, though, or games are going to turn into track meets again like they did last year at times.
Riopelle is the most experienced catcher, as he started 65 games at Coastal Carolina over the last three years. He was named Second Team All-Sun Belt in 2021. He’s the best all-around defensive catcher on the roster, and he also has the most power at the plate. He probably won’t turn in the best batting average, though, which is probably the only thing holding him back from claiming the starting role. You should still look for him to possibly start one game per weekend to begin the season.
Lastres has a rocket launcher for a right arm, but he’s been a bit inconsistent with his accuracy, and he’s looked overmatched at the plate for much of the spring. Once he gets those things figured out, he could be another Mike Zunino.
As for the infield, Calilao and Halter should form a very reliable right side. Halter has looked much improved defensively at second base, and he should have one of the best batting averages on the team. Calilao is rock solid defensively and has a knack for delivering clutch hits. He can also play right field if needed.
The left side of the infield is the biggest question mark. Rivera had issues with strikeouts last season, and he committed 13 errors in 201 chances. He improved defensively as the season went on, and he played really well during the first couple of weeks of the fall. However, he suffered a right wrist injury that required surgery, and he still wasn’t throwing to first base in scrimmages as of Monday.
The younger Fabian will likely start at third base once Rivera returns. He’s played well defensively in practice, but he’s been up and down offensively.
Armstrong can play first base or third base but will probably be the primary designated hitter eventually. He has the most powerful swing on the team, as he hits balls well beyond the outfield wall with ease in batting practice. He did strikeout in 31 percent of his at bats last year, so he’ll be looking for improvement in that area as well.
Three Questions
1. Who will win the catching battle?
Guscette is the favorite to start on opening day, but this appears to be one of the tightest position battles on the team. You can make strong arguments in favor of either Guscette or Riopelle.
As mentioned previously, Riopelle has the better arm and is more of a home run threat. However, Guscette is the more consistent hitter, and he has some more familiarity with the veteran pitchers.
So, will O’Sullivan go with the guy who has the potential to make more impact plays (Riopelle) or the steadier player (Guscette)? Obviously, both are going to play plenty throughout the season, but it’ll be interesting to see how O’Sullivan manages this position.
2. Will Calilao finally receive consistent playing time?
Calilao has had a weird career to this point. He led the Gators in RBI as a freshman in 2019 and tied for third in the shortened 2020 season. He opened the 2021 season as the starter in right field, and yet, he quickly lost his job to Thompson.
He served as a pinch hitter for most of the next two months before reemerging as the starting first baseman in mid-April.
He’s not the most physically impressive-looking ballplayer. He’s not very fast, and he’s not going to hit 15-plus home runs. Because of that, it’s easy to overlook him in favor of a hotshot freshman that probably has a higher upside.
But Calilao is just a really good college baseball player, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. He gets on base at a high level and delivers clutch hit after clutch hit.
Once again, there’s the possibility that Calilao could face competition for his spot in the lineup, whether it comes from Evans or Guscette when he’s not behind the plate. Can Calilao hold them off and be a starter for a full season this time around?
3. How much better will Rivera be defensively?
Anybody who attends practices knows that student managers sometimes have to fill in and play a position or two during scrimmages because of a lack of numbers. There was a time last year when you had to wonder if the Gators would’ve been better off with one of them playing shortstop in games instead of Rivera.
He committed six errors in the Gators’ first nine games. Some of them were fielding mistakes, while others were throwing errors. There wasn’t just one underlying issue.
He’s fielded better this offseason during the brief time that he’s been allowed to throw the ball, but his improvement will be tested over the course of a 60-plus game season.
The Gators are going to be relying on some freshmen and unproven veterans on the mound, so it’s important that the Gators have a reliable shortstop. They can’t give away extra outs as often as they did last season. That starts with Rivera.BB