I agree on future MLBer. However, would be nice if they were good enough to play pro ball is the thinking. If anything, have competition each year. Typically called depth. I guess we don’t have any.
I haven’t bothered to look up all of the stats but here are a few: 2017 Team (conference only stats): Christian Hicks - .265/.311/.319 Deacon Liput - .262/.362/.318 Dalton Guthrie - .234/.313/.360 Austin Langworthy - .230/.326/.284 Jonathan India - .263/.329/.421 2022 Team (incomplete but conference only): Guscette - .368/.429/.579 Kendrick Calilao - .279/.354/.395 Josh Rivera - .289/.333/.333 Colby Halter - .220/.310/.340 D Fabian - .158/.267/.263 I skipped some of the bigger names since most people aren’t questioning whether Thompson, J Fabian, Langford are SEC type players. My point in this point is we have a memory of Dalton Guthrie being awesome. Guy could field. No doubt. But he wasn’t a great hitter. Nor was Deacon Liput. Nor was Austin Langworthy. Really, Really good college teams have Kendrick Calilao’s… Ultimately this isn’t a talent issue in my opinion. The roster is “good enough” but I think there are some people underperforming and they haven’t been benched/changed their approach. That is on Sully in my opinion.
Good stuff.....I think there is an impression some guys were more prolific hitters than they actually were. Nolan Fontana was always in the 280's his entire career. Richie Martin career under 300, SEC career 259....plenty of examples. Bader was a great career hitter, but hit 222 his final SEC season
I agree. My whole point to this was to show these guys have been here for close to 3 years (based on average) and I have yet to see any of their approaches change. Minus Jud cutting down on his K’s….
Some excellent points being made today. One thing I will say is that I think Jud is making himself a couple extra million by coming back for another year. His strikeouts are way down, his walks are way up and MLB doesn't care about power hitters who can play CF like Fabian hitting over .300. They care about his slugging percentage and Fabian has improved over last year in virtually every aspect of his game. He will be drafted higher this year than last and will get paid handsomely for gambling on himself. At least that's my humble opinion. Personally, I've always like Calilao. He was clutch his freshman year and does struggle from time to time at the plate. But he's a solid first baseman (at least the best on our roster) and hitting between .250 and .300 is fine by me. The difference I see between the 2017 team and the 2022 team is on the mound. That team had quality starters, a quality bullpen and Michael Byrne to close out games. Compare Faedo, Singer, Kowar, Dyson, Horvath, Rubio, Milchin (then) & Byrne to Barco, Sproat, Slater, Manning, Ficarrotta, Neely, Abner, Purnell. Not even close.
Just catching up with this thread- On first read JDGATOR's assessment seems a bit harsh but he makes many excellent observations and what stands out for me is the lack of player development. Guys that are in their 3rd or 4th year here and have made little progress or in some cases regressed. Nearly all of them were highly recruited and have had their moments but there hasn't been dramatic steady improvements. This year, I had expected Thompson and Halter to have outstanding- breakout- years but after great starts both have stalled some. Rivera seems to have hit his ceiling with the bat which is too bad as at one time Sully had considered him in the 3 hole. Jud has cut down on Ks and walks more and has the big pop now and again but he's never been a big moment guy and has never come close to hitting .300- he probably should have taken the money last year. Langford is the revelation and hope he continues to improve- plus his speed is better than expected and D is not bad. KC- well- not going to rag on him but I think we agree that he hit his ceiling a few years back and his D of late has been less than stellar. D Fabian will be a solid player but not quite ready for primetime at bat. Guscette solid but just ok; Riopelle great addition and leader. And of course, there is Armstrong who seems to have disappeared- he needs his reps to perform and for some reason (in doghouse?) doesn't-- puzzling how he is not in the lineup every game. On pitching: you can make a case for lack of player development as well but will hold off.
Agree on the pitching- the contrast with 2017 is clear to see- but guys like Manning were expected to be quality pitchers and now seem lost- is it his talent or does it have to do with player development - working with his mechanics and psyche -- that is what good coaching and mentoring is all about. Sproat may be putting it togethee so that's a good sign. Sorry to say but I disagree on Jud going higher in the draft this year- I don't see any Gators player going first round unless Barco turns it up a notch or two. To go first round as a position player you have to be the best or top two at your position in the year's crop-- I don't see that for Jud but hope I'm wrong.
Langworthy wasn’t young in 2017. Nor was Guthrie. I don’t buy the “guys aren’t improving bit”. Thompson has improved. Jud has improved. Langford (obviously no data from last year) has improved. Guscette is hitting better than last year. Last year apart from the A&M series, he was anemic at the plate. Calilao is flat. Armstrong hasn’t improved (not much data this year though). Rivera is what he is. Great tool set that can’t seem to quite rise to it yet. The issue is the defense has regressed significantly. Now fielding .979 which is fine, not great, and in the SEC play it is .969 which is on the poor side. And of course the pitching side as Jekyl and Hyde appear to exist for nearly every pitcher which is far from ideal.
I should add, there have also been a serious lack of adjustments to how the team is being defended and pitched. That is concerning as well. Not so much a player development issue as much as a situational coaching issue.
I know you know this, but Nolan Fontana had a .416 career OBP. He is the perfect example of why batting average doesn't tell the whole story.
Jud was the 41st pick in last year's MLB draft, which was the 4th pick in the 2nd round. The slot value for him was $1.8 million. The Red Sox offered him $2.1 million and he turned it down. Based on last year's draft, if he just moves up 18 slots he'll get $3 million+. Move up to the Top 15 and he goes above $4 million. As of a March 9, 2022 on Prospects Live, Fabian is projected at #21, Barco at #26, Thompson at #28. Most write-ups I've seen about Fabian are that if he reduced his strikeouts and proves to evaluators that he's at least an average hitter, which he surely has done, then he will easily jump into the first round. Right now he's 1st in the SEC in home runs, 8th in the SEC in slugging percentage, 5th in runs scored, 3rd in walks, and not even in the top 15 in strikeouts (last year he led the SEC by far). So he's doing the things MLB scouts wanted to see. And we'll just have to agree to disagree and see how it turns out in July.
Totally agree on that.....as Billy Beane says "he gets on base a lot, do I care if it's a walk or a hit"
You provide a lot of numbers about draft positions, slot money, and projection lists about all of the possibilities for all of the players possibly involved in the first two rounds of the upcoming draft. Every organization looks at slot money with their own rose colored glasses. @ocalaman, all I know to say is stay in the position of “eyes wide open”. There is no intent on my part to sound negative—but having been there—it comes back to the business of baseball vs the game of baseball and everyone has seen at some level anyway that separation which boils down to MLB/Owners on one side and players on the other. The only point I’m trying to make is don’t put all of your faith and eggs in the same basket…..the business side can be hard.
Ocalaman, I wish Jud and all our draft eligible players the very best of luck in the draft... but you cite March 9 projections, if one looks at recent MLB draft projections Jud is #45 and Barco is in the 50s at the moment and that seems about right. By comparison in the draft, Alonso was # 64 and Bader was #100 player picked-- Bader as outfielder was Jud's equal, has better speed and had better numbers- less power but better average. We shall see- the key is to play up to your potential the rest of the way and help the Gators win as many games as possible. We gotta win 16-17 SEC games to keep the flame alive. Go Gators
For those who question whether our ballplayers have improved significantly or not since arriving on campus. If you go by recruiting services, the Gators have had top 5 recruiting classes for the last 9-10 years- ranked 1 to 5 the last five years. So the question: the recruiting rating services are not very good gauges of talent or there is staff misjudgment of talent or there is limited player development. Pick one, two or all three.
Yeah but, those guys you mentioned were clutch and delivered in big moments. I’d also ask this: Looking at certain players averages both negatively and positively, when do changes occur? Guscette and Rivera need to move up in the order. Armstrong needs some opportunities at third.
Logic would tell us that there are multiple factors....including some you don't mention like injuries, transfers, work ethic of a player, etc.
Maybe not prolific but tough and clutch. Always fought at the plate Mindset was “I’m gonna hit” even when struggling. NEVER gave at bats away. Always made the pitcher work. Moved runners over. The difference I see is we give way too many at bats away and don’t fight at the plate consistently.
