Florida baseball dropped to No.8 (previously No.4) in D1Baseball’s latest poll after dropping their lone midweek game to UCF and taking two of three vs Saint Mary’s over the weekend.
Things won’t get any easier for Kevin O’Sullivan’s ballclub as the Gators are set to face the only two undefeated teams left in college baseball this week, FSU and No.4 Texas A&M.
New midweek starter
In a week that could have multiple pitching changes, Florida will trot out freshman Alex Philpott against FSU. The Tampa, Florida native has logged one start this season against UNF, where he tossed three scoreless innings in the win, allowing two hits and two walks. On the season, Philpott has worked to a 2.57 ERA across 14.0 innings pitched, striking out 15 while walking seven.
The decision to move Philpott back to midweek games came after freshman RHP Luke McNeillie couldn’t get past the first inning in each of his last two midweek starts against Stetson and UCF, allowing ten earned runs on nine hits in 1.2 innings pitched.
“They’re not freshmen,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said on his young arms. “They pitched in the fall, they pitched in the spring, they pitched against Georgia in front of a crowd, they pitched at home, they pitched away. They’re going to have to grow up in a hurry. We knew going in that this part of it was going to be a little bit of a challenge for us because they’re so young, but they’re going to have to grow up in a hurry.”
O’Sullivan uses the early non-conference slate to give his younger pitchers opportunities to earn his trust, but it hasn’t gone as planned in 2024.
“Everything is on the table right now,” O’Sullivan said on if Philpott will earn a midweek starting role.” We are three weeks in, we keep running guys out there, and at some point you have to make decisions on how people perform, and that’s it.”
Philpott has a chance to continue impressing the Gators’ staff against a dangerous FSU lineup that ranks 2nd in batting average, 31st in home runs, and 9th in on-base percentage this season. If Philpott pitches well, he could earn a permeant spot in Florida’s bullpen on the weekends heading into SEC play.
Potential weekend rotation changes
Florida has not found good starts from their starting pitching this season, recording just two quality starts through 15 games, both coming from Sunday starter Jac Caglianone.
“Right now he’s our Friday night starter,” Kevin O’Sullivan said on Caglianone after the Saint Mary’s series.
The transition to Friday night won’t happen overnight as he threw 98 pitches against Saint Mary’s on Sunday. As O’Sullivan stated, it’s possible Caglianone pitches on Saturday this weekend against Texas A&M and Friday the following week against LSU, easing him into the Friday night role.
The other factor is that Caglianone is a two-way player and the Gators need his bat in the lineup. Pitching at this level can be draining, so Florida’s staff will have to keep an eye on how he handles the bat after pitching on Friday nights.
“We are going to talk to Jac about it,” O’Sullivan said on moving Caglianone to Friday night. “We are going to have to be real careful with his arm, because we still want him to be able to play first base twice on the weekend. I think it’s manageable, but that’s certainly something we will have to talk to Jac about.”
It doesn’t sound as if O’Sullivan is making any wholesale changes to the weekend rotation right now, but simply mixing up the order in hopes to provide a spark for his pitching staff.