Gator Baseball 2023 Official Roster Tracker/Lineup???

Reiterating my thoughts on batters....
1. Heyman has to be used more as a hitter. He needs to be a DH when Cags is on 1B and Riopelle is at catcher. He's batting .455 which leads the team and that's with 22 ABs. If he's not playing or DH then he needs to be your first option as a PH when you really need a hit.
2. For the last year and a half Colby Halter has not hit RHP very well. Only start him when a lefty is starting or sub him in as the pitchers change. Give Thomas more of an opportunity at 3B for now or use Shelnut against RHP. Thomas has great range and a good first step so maybe he can handle the hot corner. Halter also leads the team in errors and has even only started in 7 of the 12 games.
3. Without looking, guess who our top 3 players are in OB%? Number 1 is not Kurland, it's Langford at .550. Number 2 if you guessed Kurland, you'd be wrong again. It's Rivera in at .509. And number 3 of course is Kurland, right? Nope, why it's Mikey Robertson at .500. Kurland is at .490. My point is, and I've been saying it, Robertson gets on base somehow some way. Therefore, at some point, I expect a move for Robertson back up to the top of the order. Not yet, but it's coming, probably soon after SEC play begins. But what would that do to the lineup? That's in my next post.

 

And now for the batting order/lineup I hope we see on Sunday....
2B - Kurland
LF - Langford
P/DH - Caglianone
SS - Rivera
1B - Riopelle
C - Heyman
LF - Prevask (Evans so far is 1-8)
3B - Thomas
CF - Robertson (bunts if needed and gets on base before the top of the order)

 

Yep Yep @gator1977 and I were talking about that as well. That was a huge turning point even though I doubt it was a double play. I felt the ump had a terrible angle (out of position) to make that call. He got stuck behind the plate and didn't anticipate that throw to the plate to get set for the angle needed. Plus the TV cameras view we saw in the stadium did not show the plate in any replay. Therefore the umps had no other choice than to go with the call on the field instead of finding him safe because they could not tell if he touched the plate before the tag.

 

And @ocalaman rattled my brain about Jameson. What in the world was Sully doing sending him back out there for the 8th. Sure he came in and needed just one out in the 7th. Sully gets lucky that the long fly ball to end the 7th landed in a glove just one step shy of the outfield wall. Then Jameson comes back in the 8th and proceeds to give up 3 more well hit balls, some more than others. Thankfully it only took Sully 4 well hit balls to imagine that maybe Jameson should not be out there, ON A WEEKEND! The only out he got was almost a homerun to end the 7th so let's get him right back out there in a tie ball game.

 

Robertson's OB% is now .525 and up to second on the team behind Langford at .554. His batting average continues to rise, now at .345 going 4 for 8 with 2 walks against Miami. Kurland is still our leadoff man but it won't be long until the conversation will pick up on where they each should bat. I hope Sully will go with the order of Robertson, Kurland, Langford, Cags, Rivera, Riopelle, etc. It also needs to be said that Rivera stands just as much opportunity to leadoff as Robertson and Kurland. I prefer Rivera in the 4-5 spot because he gets more timely hits and anchors this team.

 

I'm with you exactly the same and don't forget Sully still hasn't figured out Heyman (hitting over 400) could be the best answer for DH with those guys playing their normal position. That way if Halter plays 3B he's the only low average bat with an above average defense.

 

So is anyone wondering tonight if we might see Miami again as a 2 seed in a Gainesville Regional or do you think they get sent somewhere like East Carolina or Tennessee?

 

Ok here's the batting order deep dive changes that I see developing in the next few weeks.

CF Robertson, Michael .345 - second best OB% of .525, fastest player and can bunt his way on, 3rd in walks, BA up 130 points since 2/21
2B Kurland, Cade .449 - best BA, most hits, hits better with runners on, doesn't seem to be letting up against tougher competition, 3rd in JRs
LF Langford, Wyatt .438 - second in HRs, best OPS, most runs, most doubles
1B Caglianone, Jac .385- NCAA HR leader with 10, tied for most RBIs, most total bases
SS Rivera, Josh .383 - team leader. walks leader, 3rd in HRs, third in OB%. I look for Rivera to swap spots with Kurland deep in the season if needed
C/DH Riopelle, BT .353 - Big Time clutch hitter, best days are ahead if he keeps his SOs down
DH/C Heyman, Luke .455 - BA leads team, most under utilized hitter, needs to hit more, has hit safely in the 5 games he started
RF Evans, Ty .296 - leads in SOs is concerning, tied for most RBIs, OB% is second lowest among starters
3B Halter, Colby .214 - defensive specialist at this point, not showing the hitter he could be, must improve finding ways to get on base

If Robertson and Kurland both falter in SEC play then I see Rivera as possibly the leadoff. Let's hope that doesn't happen for the sake of the lineup.
Kurland has the chance to be the SEC Freshman Player of the Year if he keeps this up.
Caglianone has the chance to be the SEC Player of the Year if he keeps this up.
These numbers are still inflated and should settle in by the end of March. Then we can watch to see who is making improvements in SEC play.
I look for Prevask and Shelnut to be our best PH options for now, even though Shelnut's BA is dropping, unless Heyman is available.
Heyman has 22 ABs so his 455 BA is not from a small sample size. As a catcher he leads the team with 2 triples. What else do you need to say.
Last year Evans was mainly a 250 hitter so hoping he can stay around 275 or higher would be very helpful. Prevask could help in RF as well.

Today's nugget if you made it this far.....
Evans hit his second homerun of the year today as a 2 run walk off run rule in the 8th against Miami. His only other homerun was a 2 run walk off run rule against Cincinnati in the 8th. Now let's see if he can do it again.

 

Now some pitching numbers to decipher. I'm posting only the ERA and OPS because many of the pitching numbers are still settling.....

Caglianone, Jac ------2.08 .81
Waldrep, Hurston ---4.76 1.24
Sproat, Brandon -----4.86 1.02
Nesbitt, Tyler --------0.00 3.00
Ursitti, Anthony -----0.00 .75
Fisher, Cade ----------1.74 .97
Slater, Ryan ----------3.60 1.20
Tejeda Jr., Yoel ------4.05 1.65
Hartzog, Clete -------4.50 1.50
Neely, Brandon ------5.40 1.20
Arroyo, Chris ---------6.75 2.25
Abner, Philip ---------7.71 3.86
Ficarrotta, Nick ------7.88 1.38
Purnell, Blake --------9.00 1.50
Jameson, Fisher ----24.75 3.25
Finnvold, Carsten --36.00 4.00

Even though many of these numbers are small sample size I think we can look at the ERA to OPS comparisons to make some sense out of them.
Cags has been great and his numbers might continue to fall if Sully keeps him on a 6 inning plan unless his PC is low going into the 7th.
As I've said Waldrep will have the most SOs at year's end but I think he will have the most walks as well. He's just that kind of pitcher.
I still say we have not seen the best out of Sproat. Give him the edge in experience over Waldrep when SEC play starts.
As for the relievers, the glaring numbers are with Ursitti with a zero ERA and the lowest OPS. Give the kid a chance Sully, one inning at a time.
Neely's ERA got inflated today because of the flu but his OPS is not far from where it should be. Both numbers should improve.
Fisher probably can't get much better but him and Neely give Sully a solid duo LHP or RHP to close anytime.
Slater is doing well and hopefully will improve over the next six games. He should be our go to middle reliever as of now.
Looking down in the high ERAs Nick Fic stands out with his 1.38 OPS.. That says his ERA is elevated but Sully should still count on him to improve.
Blake Purnell on the other hand, I don't trust that 1.50 OPS. He is a wait and see with short stays only.
Big questions, how does Coppola fit in and when does he make his first appearance to get his work in?
After Coppola starts to contribute staying healthy, does Sully start to narrow the reliable relievers pool as the season goes?
Eventually does Coppola become the midweek starter (4th starter for NCAAs) to prep him for regionals or is he only used on weekends?

And the most compelling question for this week....
Does Sully reallocate relief pitching resources to beef up for the FAU games and try to win both or does he leave it alone to sweep Sienna this weekend?