Shelton to Florida

I knew it!!!

I mentioned that I wanted this player since he put his name in the Transfer Portal a few days ago, and I am elated to hear that he's coming to Gainesville to play next year. He'll be a true sophomore next year too.

 

Lol….1 along with 61 strikeouts. He did have 33 walks and 10 HBP however

 

He started at SS at Berkeley Prep for 5 years (8th through 12th grade), so maybe he'll get a shot there. Not sure if he has the arm strength or range that Rivera has (not many college players do), but that definitely could be an option.

 

05/29/2021 - 2021 BF National Florida ShowcaseColby continues to show that he is one of the best in-game hitters in the 2022 class. After a solid BP showing with lots of barrels and an exit velocity of 100 mph, he went into game play and tripled and homered. His HR came on a breaking ball in a left-on-left matchup. Colby is an athletic defender who ran a 6.91 in the 60 and has life in his body at SS. He has very reliable hands, a quick exchange, the ability to throw from different slots and the internal clock you look for in an IF prospect. Overall, there is a lot to like here and he merits close following.
What was interesting is that a lot of the showcase reviews of Josh had him projected at 3rd base.

 

INF Colby Shelton added to the 2024 roster thread. Thanks JD.

 

Rivera improved exponentially over his time at UF. Hopefully Shelton will make similar strides in the field.
When the portal fog settles it will be fun to predict next years line up and speculate without the benefit of fall ball. I think it will be somewhere between rebuild and reload.

 

Has this actually been confirmed anywhere yet?

 

I haven’t seen anything but jd seems to be connected on baseball news.

 

Doesn't fit with our plans for next season, then. Word out on the street is that Sully is working on a revolutionary new approach to the game. All bunts, all the time.

 

I’m a big fan but not always the best when it comes to the scouting side of things. Would Colby have the range and ability to play short if Shelton was at 3rd? I know Shelton at SS and Colby at 3rd is more likely but I’m just curious

 

Done deal as Shelton announced this morning. This move has been kept under wraps since last week and thought the official announcement would come after the CWS.

Shelton is a massive get and like the OP said, there is more to come.

 

Here's Shelton's tweet:

 

Fielding numbers are ugly, as others have mentioned, but that .300/.419/.729 line sure is tasty.

 

I love the Bama negative tweets back at him for lack of loyalty and being paid off. You lost your head coach to gambling issues, you do not retain your interim coach, and you hired a new coach. And you think because of this some of those kids are not going to decide not to go into the portal to find something else. Maybe he wants stability the rest of his playing career and wants to play closer to home and then maybe wants to get to Omaha. No shock in something like this happening and as said let us see what happens next in the portal.

 

Great get Sully! If he is a McConnell type-- all hit but limited D put him in LF replacing Wyatt. He seems to have good speed so OF might suit him best.

 

I'm sure for Sully to get him a position or two for the Gators has been discussed or else he would not have announced. That said if he doesn't improve his defense he could end up in the outfield or he could end up our DH with Heyman playing catcher. Outfield makes sense if Shelnut has a spot back at 3rd. Shelton would get the nod over Fabian at SS cause of his hitting but Fabian is hitting better than last year and might win the spot from his defense. My guess jdgator would probably agree on Fabian at SS as well. So will Halter come back? I don't expect him back. Does Shelnut come back? I think he does but if we win it all who knows. Where does Shelton fit in? I think he starts the early season at 3rd, but plays 1st when Jac pitches. Once errors climb he sees time in the OF and also is in the DH spot on occasion.

 

Most HS teams have their best players at short or on the bump. Mickey Mantle played short in HS. No surprise that Sully recruits a lot of shortstops.

If he needs development with the glove he can always DH for a year because it is clear that he can hit and hit with power. You have to think that Heyman will don the tools of ignorance next season with Riopelle gone so DH is open when Cags doesn't pitch.

 

Can't have a bad arm playing third.

 

Not sure if there are any analytics on type of errors he made but his camp reviews etc at short were pretty good. For those that played short and at some point took grounders at third (I did during BP) it is an entirely different world than short. As I stated above he did not make an error the last 19 games and I think he had 1 in the last 26 games so it was a drastic improvement.

 

Starting with the youngest kids' leagues, coaches with any sort of clue will put the team's best player at SS. Mickey Mantle was a SS in the minors. Hank Aaron had been moved to 2B by the time he came through Jacksonville in about '52. Probably most of the current Gators played SS as a youngster. It's a sign that a player has a decent glove, speed, agility, maturity and field sense. Of course, in youth leagues, the best players also end up doing some pitching, too.

Sully won't hesitate to stick a player in a position that will get the team back to Omaha.

I almost wrote that that the exception would be catcher, since that requires skills that can take time to learn. Then I remember that Gator radio color guy Eric Castaldo spoke to the Dugout Club last year and said he came to the team without a set position, but there wasn't a solid catcher, he never had played catcher, but he told Joe Arnold he could do it. Within a couple of years he was the starter and was good at it. I agree that catcher's gear is the tools of ignorance, but he seemed to be a decent surgeon when he cut on my belly. When I met him, I almost said, "You know, there used to be a Gator catcher named Costaldo."