The 2024 college baseball season for the Florida Gators seemed like a lost one. That is, until the NCAA Tournament. Despite a lackluster regular season and a quick exit in Hoover, Florida stormed back to Omaha and the College World Series.
No matter what challenges these Gators face, it seems that head coach Kevin O’Sullivan can get them to the promised land. He’s been to Omaha nine times, including a championship in 2017 and runner-up finishes in 2011 and 2023, not to mention six SEC regular-season titles. O’Sullivan, the Gators’ coach since 2008, has never missed a regional in his time in Gainesville, making for the second-longest active NCAA tournament streak behind Vanderbilt.
“We’ve been fortunate to have some really good players come through here that have basically put our program in the position that it is right now,” O’Sullivan told the Gator Tales podcast. “So it’s our responsibility to continue this, hopefully, for another 10 years.”
It’s a different cast, but it helps that the Gators brought their entire coaching staff back intact.
“The culture takes time to build, right,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales. “Particularly this year, with getting Ty Evans back, and Pierce Coppola back, and Colby Shelton back, and Luke Heyman back—they all had a chance to sign professionally—but to get those guys back is so invaluable for those younger players. … When we went to the World Series in ’10, ’11, ’12, it’s difficult to make a run, it’s even more difficult to make the next run. And then you go the the Series in ’15, 16, ’17, ’18 and then you’ve got to start over again.
“And now we’re in that mode again, where we went in ’23 and ’24. So every time you try to get over that next mountain and continue to build in the momentum you have, it gets a little more difficult. … You’ve got to stay on top of things, especially the way college athletics is, with all the changes that are going on, it seems every day there are different rules or parameters that are being put in. So we’ve got to constantly adapt to those things.”
Seventeen players return from last year. Between that, and nine transfers, the Gators again have enough talent to keep things interesting.
THE LINEUP
The Gators lost one of the best hitters in the history of college baseball in Jac Caglianone, but Florida’s lineup still looks stout heading into 2025.
“We have depth offensively, probably more depth than we’ve had in some years,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales.
The Gators were very home-run reliant a year ago, so, O’Sullivan spent the offseason trying to make the offense more versatile, especially by finding some speed in the transfer portal.
“We made a concerted effort once the season was over. You know, you kind of evaluate everything, not just as a staff but through your roster, in, ‘How can we take that next step to win the last game of the year?” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales. “We want to find some different ways to score runs rather than a three-run homer. And I think (Justin) Nadeau and some of these other guys, Kyle Jones and Blake Cyr, they can run, they can bunt, they can do some different things. … To win the SEC you’ve got to have power arms and power bats. But when you get out to Omaha… the first thing you do is you look at the wind, and which way the wind is blowing in it can be a little bit suffocating a bit.
“So now hopefully we’ve got some versatility to where we can score runs different ways. “
Style-wise, O’Sullivan compares this bunch to his 2017 team, his only squad to win a national title. That extends beyond hitting ability.
“I think our defense is gonna be extremely good,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales.
Outfielders Cyr and Jones transferred from Miami and Stetson respectively. Cyr hit .298/.418/593 in two years at Miami, and hit 17 home runs as a freshman in 2023 before injuries surpassed his numbers last year. Cyr was excellent on defense during fall exhibitions in Jacksonville.
Jones was a big base stealing threat as he racked up 23 for the Hatters while manning center in 2024.
“We’ve got a dynamic center fielder from Kyle Jones in Stetson,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales. “Our fans are gonna see a lot of him as the season gets started.
Evans has hit .273/.347/.521 in two seasons as a Gator, swatting 27 home runs over 517 plate appearances. He’ll likely start in right. Evans suffered a wrist injury last year but looked great in Florida’s fall exhibition vs. Jacksonville.
O’Sullivan is bullish on his defense. Part of that is how pleased he is with how much Luke Heyman improved behind the plate. Heyman’s hit .275/.352/.512 over 520 plate appearances in two years as a Gator.
“He’s matured as much as any player on our team, honestly,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales. “He’s taken a leadership role. He understands the catching position so much more than he did last year and in his first year. I think with offensive-minded catchers, which he is, sometimes they have a hard time separating the offense and the defensive part. The best we’ve ever had with that was Mike Zunino. … He understood that when he went behind the plate, the offensive side of it was over. He needed to bear down and concentrate and help the pitcher on the mound be as good as he could be. And I think Luke’s certainly gotten to that point now.”
The Gators return second baseman Cade Kurland and shortstop Shelton up the middle.
Shelton made a surprising transition from playing third at Alabama to short in Gainesville. He’s a career .275/.394/.630 hitter with 45 home runs over 559 plate appearances. The Nationals took him in Round 20 of last year’s MLB Draft.
Kurland struggled in SEC games, batting .225/.321/.417 with six home runs after starting all 30 games.
The first-base starter could be returnee Brody Donay, who’s hit .252/.335/.552 with 26 home runs between a year apiece at Virginia Tech and Florida. But O’Sullivan indicated to Gator Tales that he’s being pushed by a freshman.
“The interesting one we probably have right now is Brendan Lawson, who’s a freshman from Canada,” he said. “He turned down an awful lot of money to come to school. Big left-handed hitter. He’s a shortstop-slash-third baseman, but we’re probably going to start him at first place to get his bat in the lineup. It’s too good a bat to keep out of the lineup right now.”
South Florida transfer Bobby Boser is the likely third baseman after hitting .286/.386/.580 with 31 home runs over 475 plate appearances there. O’Sullivan considers him a “utility player.”
“He was their 3-hole hitter. He went through a couple of injuries last year but he’s a pretty good player,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales.
O’Sullivan says he’ll experiment early in the year with different combinations, a luxury afforded by having veteran outfielders Ashton Wilson and Hayden Yost back.
Wilson came alive for Florida during itsmagical 2024 NCAA Tournament run as he was named the MVP of the Stillwater Regional.
We would not have gotten to the point (we got) last year without Ashton Wilson,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales. “What a phenomenal, great story that was. He’s certainly going to be a big part of this.”
Yost tore his ACL on May 15 but has had a phenomenal recovery from surgery.
“He’s back and he’s 100% and he’s as good as any of them, so, we feel like we’ve got five outfielders who can certainly fill those positions,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales.
Transfers from Jacksonville and Texas Tech (respectively, Justin Nadeau and Landon Stripling) are also candidates to fill the designated hitter role for the Gators in 2025.
Nadeau had a .395 batting average in 142 plate appearances and Stripling had a walk-off hit against the Jacksonville Dolphins in the Gators’ fall exhibition.
“A pesky little hitter who’s got really good bat-to-ball skills,” is how O’Sullivan described Nadeau to Gator Tales, adding he can play infield or outfield.
Stripling can play several places on defense and also hit.
“Just a professional hitter. He can play first, third, probably can play some corner outfield as well. Gives good at-bats all the time,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales.
THE PITCHING
Florida’s pitching was uneven a year ago, but the Gators return a slew of talented arms who should be better in 2025.
“Once again, we’ve got depth. The most important thing, I think the starting pitching will work its way out but we’re gonna have to figure out our bullpen and the one or two guys we can trust at the end,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales.
Jake Clemente, Liam Peterson, and Coppola are three players that have a chance to really shine within the starting rotation. Coppola and Clemente had good K-rates in 2024 at 31% and 29% respectively.
Peterson will likely throw the first pitch of the Gators’ season after fanning 77 men in 63 innings in his collegiate debut last season.
“I think he’s earned the right to be our Friday starter,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales. “Obviously, we kind of forced the issue with him last year. He was our best option. And there were some ups and downs. But he’s certainly handling himself and the way he’s walking around, he’s a to more confident. So I’m hoping he’s gonna be able to have a big year for us and he needs to have a big year. For us to be as good as we need to be, you have to have that one guy who sets the tone for everybody.
Clemente started the first game in the Stillwater regional in what was also his freshman season last year after he’d redshirted in 2023.
“Jake Clemente had a really good, strong last half of the year last year. Went to the Cape Cod League League, made the all-star team, actually started the all-star game, he’s been throwing the ball really good,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales.
The 6-foot-8 Coppola was the No. 89 prospect for the 2021 MLB Draft, according to Baseball America. Since then, Coppola threw 4 1/3 innings in 2022, hurt his back, had surgery, missed the rest of that season, then, had a shoulder injury in the Gators’ 2022 fall series that cost him 2023. He finally returned two months into 2024 in a limited role and now will hopefully get a chance to shine.
“I’m excited about him,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales. “Obviously he’s fighting through those injuries he had the last couple of years but hopefully he’s at a point now where he’s over those.
A key transfer that may make waves within the rotation is Billy Barlow from Clemson. He finished with a 4.28 ERA in 2024 and forced a lot of ground balls (24% rate) and O’Sullivan saw enough of him carving up the Gators in Clemson to know he could help.
“Kind of lit us up a little bit so once he went in the portal, we jumped on him,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales.
O’Sullivan wants his closers to be experienced, throw strikes, hold runners on and field their position well. That makes second-year righty Alex Philpott a candidate for the role.
“Always been a strike-thrower, had the hand injury last year, kind of set him back a bit,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales. :He’s put on 20 pounds. The last four outings in the fall, all of a sudden, he was like 94 to 97 and he’s always thrown strikes. He holds runners. He fields his position.
“There’s not a whole lot of swing and miss but there’s a lot of strikes. And if his velocity holds up the way it did at the end of the fall, he’s certainly an option for us. At least you know you’re gonna get strikes.”
Luke McNellie is a more dominant presence (26% strikeout rate to Philpott’s 21% last year) but put too many runners on (19%, compared to Philpott’s 13%)/ He had closing experience last year and kept home run balls at a minimum (3.7% HR rate). He got the win in the final game of the Clemson super regional, all in his first collegiate season.
Two freshmen that can help now are Aidan King and Jackson Barberi. The two righties were ranked very high in high school in their respective states. King was a top 15 RHP in Florida and Barberi was the No. 1 overall right-hander in Georgia and a top 50 player in the country.
“(King) had a tremendous, tremendous fall,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales.
Barberi, a right-hander who was ranked 99th by MLB Pipeline among draft prospects last year, to campus. MLB Pipeline gave Barberi “55” grades on his fastball and slider and a “50” for his change-up and was a late-bloomer in high school
Another second-year returnee, Frank Menendez, should also help. The lefty allowed as many free passes as he had strikeouts in his 16 1/3 innings, but also didn’t allow a home run.
JUCO transfer Matt Jenkins (Santa Fe), another second-year collegiate who needs refinement (57 walks, 60 strikeouts last year) but is tough to hit (two home runs allowed in 57 innings).
“Little green right now but he’s starting to figure it out,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales.
Christian Rodriguez, the 2023 MaxPreps national high school player of the year after he posted an 0.69 ERA, a .109 batting average against and 117 strikeouts in 70 2/3 innings, has yet to pitch for the Gators entering his second year on campus. Rodriguez had Tommy John surgery in 2023 but could help this year.
“I’m not quite sure when he’ll be 100% but he’s getting close. … Obviously we’ll take it easy on him early in the year but certainly, he’s someone to look out for,” O’Sullivan told Gator Tales.
POTENTIAL STRENGTHS
Experience across the board is plentifulThere is power again even without Caglianone—six Gators hit at least 12 home runs last year—and how there’s a little more speed and athleticism with Jones and some of the other transfers. The pitching staff is set to be nasty if the returners show some growth and newcomers like King and Barberi. Improved defense should allow more margin for error with the Gators’ developing pitchers.
POTENTIAL CONCERNS
There’s no “replacing” Caglianone, one of the greatest players in SEC history. The pitching, though supremely talented and a key reason the Gators got to Omaha, has yet to prove much over an extended period, and health has been a concern with many arms. O’Sullivan rightly recognized that the Gators were too dependent on the long ball last season with a lineup that didn’t get on base enough due to lower walk and higher strikeout totals as compared to the league’s better teams—will the offseason portal adds and improvement from the current roster fix that?
FINAL ANALYSIS
Changes are being made to this Florida team in 2025. Back-to-back trips to the College World Series indicate what the Gators’ standard is and this team has the potential to get there again this season. O’Sullivan is on the short list of the most successful coaches in SEC history and has proven time and time again he can get a team to Omaha no matter the circumstances. There are just enough questions across the board that the Gators may not contend for the league’s regular-season title, but enough talent to think that, with health and the right draw, Florida can go about as far as any team in the league at the end.
– Alfred Ezman and Chris Lee