Gator Baseball 2023 Official Roster Tracker/Lineup???

Hope we see Shelnut at third on Wednesday. Sully has to give someone else time at third and can't just leave Halter out there until he figures it out. I'd be okay with Thomas as well. If Shelnut is at third then Cags could DH and let Riopelle play first.

 

Currently after 4 games, the high school senior Cade Kurland leads the Gators in AVG, OPS, SLG%, and OB%. Not bad for a crumb cruncher.
2023 Baseball Cumulative Statistics - Florida Gators

 

After last night I think some focus on positives might help move on from that let down. If you know me I can always find something positive to talk about when looking at the statistics. Mind you this is all still a small sample size but I feel strongly in these from experience. So here goes....

1. Simply put Sproat, Waldrep, Caglianone, Neely, Fisher, Slater, and Ficarrotta have all got off to a great start, each recording over 3 innings pitched. If these seven arms stay healthy, we are going to be tough to beat over a 4 game stretch.
2. I expect Sproat to improve from here. Sure you can't do much better than a no hitter thru 5.2, but Friday was not as clean as he can pitch. The one thing that needs to be remembered about Sproat's improvement, when he gets into trouble he minimizes the damage very well.
3. Cade Kurland is a rising star in this league. The high school senior leads the Gators in BA, OPS, SLG%, and OB%. Even more amazing is, of the Gator hitters with at least 10 ABs, Kurland has the fewest strikeouts with 1. Now compare that to Riopelle with 6 strikeouts. One future caveat will be how Kurland handles SEC pitching and the long season.
4. I think we all would agree the starting lineup should now be set in concrete, even the weekend starting pitchers. The Gators haven't been able to say that one week into the season in quite a few years. If you need my take C-Riopelle/Heyman, 1B-Cags/Riopelle, 2B-Kurland, SS-Rivera, 3B-Shelnut, LF-Langford, CF-Robertson, RF-Evans, DH Cags if not on 1B, Sproat(FRI), Waldrep(SAT), Cags(SUN). These 8 hitters alone (not Heyman) have a batting average of 400.
5. The hitting numbers are spread out among so many different players. The last few years have mostly been a few key players with the bottom half of the order struggling. Kurland leads in several categories but Evans and Cags are very productive. Riopelle and Rivera are doing well and we aren't even talking about Langford yet or Robertson's potential.
6. As to errors, I believe if the lineup settles down for this weekend then errors will to. My only concerns would be Shelnut's throws across the diamond, Riopelle's throws to second, and Evans making plays interesting in RF. Everyone else has been solid in practice.
7. Here's a good nugget for you. Of the 8 hitters we focus on, all 8 of them have an OB% of 400 or higher and Langford is the lowest at 400.
8. Robertson leading off is tied for most runs scored 7 and walks 5. Hopefully his hitting continues to improve this weekend, now batting .316. Look for Robertson to challenge Evans for the doubles lead (5) by SEC play.
9. Should Sully mess with the batting order? I say no. If it ain't broke then don't try to fix it. But what about Kurland hitting so low? I'm just throwing this out there, what if Kurland had been hitting second for the first 5 games? I didn't just say that did I. Imagine if a pitcher was facing Robertson on first and the batters Kurland, Langford, Cags, and Riopelle. That might be too much to ask for a freshman only 5 games in.
10. Hey its Charleston Southern and USF so none of this really matters yet. We are just trying to read the tea leaves (sweet tea that is) on what the season holds. And I for one am keeping my expectations very high.

 

One strange stat that a few of you will have interest to follow. No intention to make any more of this than the mention of. I noticed in last night's game Robertson's walkup music is "Our God is an Awesome God" and today I realize his batting average is 316. It was his first time as a Gator getting 3 hits in 1 game. His batting average went from 214 to 316. I'm not sure if he changed his walkup music but whatever it is seems to be working for him now. Mikey I suggest you keep doing what you are doing.

 

I was thinking about sitting on this interesting stat because of the lack of competition but it might not be as relevant after the weekend. I saw the Gators are leading the nation in doubles so far this year with 18 in 5 games. But what's more impressive in comparable is they have only given up 1 double to the competition. I'll try to keep tabs on it after the weekend.

 

Here's a just for fun batting order. Don't make anything more of it than the comments please.

SS - Rivera = most steals so far and OB% of .522
2B - Kurland = team leader in BA and only 1 strikeout, he puts bat on ball with a .692 OB%
LF - Langford = no comments needed but we should expect more productivity out of Mr. Langford
1B - Caglianone = .500 BA and crushing the ball right now
RF - Evans = hitting .421 with 5 doubles in 5 games, RBI leader with 11
C - Riopelle = always a HR threat but leads in SO
3B - Shelnut = his bat has won the position, now if his glove can do the same
DH - Thomas = highest BA of any non starter .500 with 2 doubles in 6 AB
CF - Robertson = some say he should not bat first, I disagree, but let's experiment and see what happens

 

Good catch, he also has a BA of 500 but only 2 ABs so I put Thomas in there because of the 2 doubles. Several of us have seen him hit and he has the ability.

 

I just wanted to make sure this got posted somewhere. Its the first game that Kurland was in the leadoff position. This might be the remember when lineup.
2/25/2023 Game 7 against Cincinnati.

 

After 8 games the numbers are starting to average out a little better. Obviously they are still high based on the comp but we can compare to see who is hot and who is not. This will be more on the stats leaders for those that don't care to look them up yourselves and to track with later in the year. The numbers will be much more telling after the Miami series.
So here are the batting averages based on a minimum of 10 ABs with the top 3 in each major category.

4 Kurland, Cade-------- .542
24 Rivera, Josh--------- .448
14 Caglianone, Jac----- .414
15 Riopelle, BT--------- .407
36 Langford, Wyatt---- .393
28 Heyman, Luke--------- .385 <3 starts
2 Evans, Ty------------- .344
11 Robertson, Michael- .316
6 Shelnut, Tyler-------- .261
5 Halter, Colby--------- .211
25 Schiekofer, Richie----- .200 <3 starts

OPS - Kurland 1.65, Cags, 1.55, Langford 1.37
OB% - Kurland .607, Langford .550, Rivera .541
Runs - Langford 14, Rivera 13, Kurland & Cags 10
Hits - Kurland & Rivera 13, Cags 12
2B - Evans 5, Langford 4, Kurland 3
HR - Cags 6, Kurland & Rivera 3
RBI - Evans 15, Rivera, 14, Cags 13
TB - Cags 31, Kurland 25, Rivera 24
SLG% - Cags 1.07, Kurland 1.04, Heyman .846
Walks - Langford 7, Rivera & Robertson 6
SOs - Riopelle 7, Shelnut 6, Evans 5

Kurland's name is in all but 2 categories(RBIs and Walks), not counting SOs which is only twice for Kurland in 24 ABs. He's such a well rounded HS kid.
Cags and Rivera are next in with all but 3 categories.
Heyman(.385), Thomas(.429) and Prevask(.500) need more chances at bat. Hopefully they get the chance this week on Tues/Wed.
Strangely the only category Riopelle(.407) is top 3 in is SOs which he is familiar with. I guess he is behind some really productive hitters. Ya think!
Sully said Robertson might be back hitting on Wednesday. Hopefully he is full speed (pun intended) for Miami.
I always find it interesting that some players when they find success at the plate start hitting a bunch of easy fly balls.
Except for Caglianone where flight path is of no concern how far they will go.
Kurland has at least 2 hits in every game he has started.

 

Now the pitching ERAs after 8 games, not including anyone that has not completed a full inning.

14 Caglianone, Jac 2.38
12 Waldrep, Hurston 3.27
8 Sproat, Brandon 5.06
3 Fisher, Cade 2.70
22 Neely, Brandon 3.00
46 Ficarrotta, Nick 3.18
17 Tejeda, Yoel 4.50
13 Slater, Ryan 4.76
41 Purnell, Blake 6.75
27 Jameson, Fisher 10.80

Our team ERA is 3.76. Last year on the season it was 4.22. 3.76 seems high though against the comp so far. Relievers are a concern for the most part.
Now I wonder which relievers match up better with the starters. Lefty Fisher has to be up for either Sproat or Waldrep, Neely maybe Cags, the rest TBD.
Since Fisher pitched on Sunday, I don't think Sully will start him Tuesday but instead on Wednesday, if at all, unless he is going to hold him until Miami.
Last year Sproat's ERA was 3.41 so he should improve over time, you would hope.
I've underlined who Sully has to be thinking are his go to arms for now. 8 arms aren't getting you thru most weekends so more development is needed.
I'm wondering why we still haven't seen Finnvold yet. That could be another arm to use. Still waiting on Clemente and Coppola.
Abner, Arroyo, Nesbitt, and Ursitti all are under 1 inning and all have not given up an earned run but have all been yanked on short stays. There maybe some opportunity here, but Sully seems to be searching for productive arms out of the bullpen, not specialists at this time.
Tuesday I hope we see Tejeda and Finnvold some and hopefully an inning here or there from the last 4 mentioned if we get a big lead.

 

Now for some fun, here is my batting order whenever Robertson comes back as a starter in CF

2B - Kurland - if it ain't broke don't fix it and it definitely ain't broke
LF - Langford - up almost 150 points in the last week
1B - Caglianone - Cagzilla is coming your way
SS - Rivera - perhaps our most productive hitter if not for Kurland
C - Riopelle - I feel like he is ready for a big week
RF - Evans - great first week, not so much these last three
DH - Prevask - or Heyman or Thomas all need more at ABs
CF - Robertson - if he gets on he will steal or Halter can bunt him over
3B - Halter - can he keep it going, if Robertson is on perhaps the pitcher's attention is not on Halter

Special note: Heyman has recorded a single, double, triple and a homerun in only 13 ABs.