Colby Thomas, an outfielder from Mercer, has announced that he is transferring to UF. Hit .325/.451/.734 last year with 17 homers. 34 walks against 32 strikeouts. Had a nice freshman season in the 2020 COVID year, struggled a bit in 2021 (though he still hit for power and drew walks) and was great last year. Only sour note: he's draft eligible and he's a reasonably well-regarded prospect, so there's a chance he never gets to campus.
Saying he is transferring to Florida might be a ploy to get more signing money. I am OK with that. It is the business part of baseball.
The only positive thing for UF (although not for the kid) is that Thomas had surgery on his right labrum in May and that will give some MLB teams some uncertainty in the upcoming draft. Still no certainty Thomas shows up at UF but there is a pretty good chance and if he does, he would be a major addition.
A couple sources still projecting top 4 rounds. Not many of those guys come back. We can hope because he does seem like a great addition. Thomas + Evans + Langford in the OF would be pretty potent!
he not gonna draft that high, he a tad slow and holes in his glove. He does have a good arm and bat so he will be an asset if he can recover from surgery with no issues
Interesting that Barco won’t be back to until next June or July and won’t be full strength or possibly see full Velo return until August or later and he’s still projected top 75. So a torn labrum might not be a big deal to scouts. I’d say he’d drop 3-4 rounds at least but if Barco holds to top 3 rounds this guy ain’t dropping much.
shane— First off don’t trick yourself into thinking torn labrum surgery is not a big deal. I can personally speak for two rotator cuff surgeries on my right shoulder obviously from pitching and one labrum tear on my left from the weight room. Both are tough rehabs. And as far as the draft goes two things-1) good luck predicting that and 2) they evaluate pitchers and position players differently for some reason on surgery rehabs.
Like any rehab (back to athletic performance) it depends on the dedication of the player to bring himself back to full game performance abilities.
they are a big problem in football. It's usually 6 months full recovery then 3-6 months for strength to be 100%
Not sure if you’ve seen the kid play but your scouting report is not real accurate. Thomas actually batted lead off for Mercer and has solid to plus speed and athletic ability to the point where some scouts think he can play CF at the next level.
And by the way, Mercer’s catcher, Collin Price, entered the portal also. He is one of the top collegiate catchers in the country and like Thomas, could be drafted fairly early (Rounds 6-8) next month. He hit .315 with 18 HRs this past season.
yes, smart money is for him to play a season at UF and put up some numbers. Lots of eyes will be on the outfield next year at Condron ballpark
I hope he comes to us, has a great season and becomes yet another Gator who gets picked high in the draft.