Gator Baseball 2022 Roster/Lineup/Batting Order

Is that "lookupable"???

 

Recap from tonight's shorter version of the scrimmage. Thanks to Gatorgal for being there. Sully called it early due to a persistent rain with the Blue up 3-0. It seemed he didn't want to stop until Barco got 5 good innings. Then with the rain letting up a bit he stopped it with Barco having an outstanding showing.
Here's the lineup for Blue....
P - Barco
C - Guscette
1B - Calilao
2B - Halter
SS - Rivera who was throwing
3B - Deric Fabian
LF - Langford
CF - Jud Fabian
RF - Thompson
DH - Armstrong

This is significant because this appears to be the starting lineup for Friday. All players were fully dressed, none of those practice uniforms that are hard to read the numbers for the Orange and the Blue. The tech crew used this as their run thru for opening day, announcing every batter and every pitcher. This certainly seemed like a run thru for all parties involved. I was surprised we didn't have an ump so a grad asst/coach stood behind the pitcher to call strikes. As Gal said it was a generous strike zone. The plate stayed dirty for most of the night. I also liked the turnout for practice. It seemed like a normal midweek game turnout. People were even sitting out on the berm and in the soft chairs above the berms.

The batting order for the Blue was jumbled and hopefully not the plan going into Game 1. The order with results were as follows.....
1- Halter (0-3)
2 - Jud (1-2 with a walk)
3 - Thompson (1-3)
4 - Calilao (1-1 with a walk)
5 - Rivera (1-2, 1 rbi)
6 - Armstrong (0-2)
7 - Guscette (1-1 HBP)
8 - Langford (1-2 with a HR and 2 RBI)
9 - Deric Fabian (0-1 HBP)
This cannot be the order since Langford was batting 8th. Langford or Armstrong should be the 4th hitter and not Calilao. I don't see Halter leading off either even though some have mentioned him. It does seem like Jud has settled in batting second and Deric is batting 9th. Armstrong has been batting later in the order this week so he could bat somewhere between 4-6. Overall it is clear at the plate, so goes Jud and Sterlin, so goes this team.

I'm not discussing the Orange because they went hitless and certainly are the backups. Sproat on the other hand needs lots of attention here. He went 3 and 2/3 giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, walking 2 and 2 hit batters, with 3 strikeouts. Since he started for the Orange tonight it appears Sully has him as the Saturday starter. If that's the case I say we better buckle up and hang on this Saturday. Any inning he is capable of going 3 up 3 down but once again his pitches usually don't fool batters. Most of the Blue batters were sitting on fast ball. Before Langford came back up a second time I was already pointing to the left field wall waiting to watch one fly and Langford did not disappoint. Like we've said many times, Sproat just doesn't get much movement on his fastballs. He was trying to mix up his pitches more but most of our batters know he has to rely on his number 1 to get batters out. If Sully wants him on Saturday oh well but I don't think it can last unless something clicks like control, consistency, and confidence. Where have we heard that before???

Saving the best for last has to be Hunter Barco, our Friday night ace. The dude is money. Sure it might have been unfair not having an ump behind the plate but most of his pitches were good. It was Sproat who got more generous calls. Barco is ready for this Friday and Liberty better get ready to swing. I mean Hunter struck out the side twice in 5 innings and didn't allow a hit. The only thing close was Talbott reaching out to catch an outside pitch that he curled one down the right field line and bounced just foul in the corner. Everything else seemed routine to handle. We better enjoy Barco for the last year we have him.

 

A few special notes....
The nights most dedicated fan goes to the photographer, Cindi Chambers. Cindi stayed active through the rainy night, wearing her full rain gear, camera included. I know she is only there because she enjoys it and deserves our thanks for many of the great Gator baseball phots we have seen over the years.

Best play of the night goes out to whoever was the first base coach. The second time that Halter came up to bat he pulled a line drive right at the first base coach who was broadly standing with a wide stance directly at the batter. I'm not sure he hesitated or what prompted him but he chose to jump up with his legs still apart in hopes to clear the line drive under the wicket. I think he believed the ball was looping but instead it was a hot line drive that had his name on it. Let's just say the crowd was amazed at how much hangtime he had. If not it would have ended badly. The crowd that was sitting to the left of home plate looking down the first base line all gave a rousing applause with laughs had by all.

More important was the verbal coaching Sully was calling out to Sproat when he got behind a batter. Several times you could here Sully yelling Come On Come On Come On to keep Sproat determined to get through the inning. It shows Sully wants him to be the Saturday starter but certainly he needs improvement.

And for those tracking Jud, even though he went 1-2 with a walk, his one out was a deep fly ball to the right field wall in the rain. Hey he was trying to go opposite field and went with a good pitch. Jud remains looking calm at the plate and rarely swings at a bad pitch. I get some of the doubters out there but in practice Jud is a different hitter so far. Now let's see if he continues when the real baseball starts this Friday.

 

I changed the lineups in the OP. Here's how I would break it down after tonight's key scrimmage. Not much to move around other than switching Armstrong with Calilao starting at first.
Line-Up
1B - Calilao/Armstrong
2B - Halter/De Goti
SS - Rivera/Fabian 2.0
3B - Fabian 2.0/Armstrong
C -- Guscette/Riopelle
LF - Langford/Talbott
CF - Fabian/Robertson
RF - Thompson/Prevesk
DH - Armstrong/Langford/Riopelle

 

Here's how I see the batting order even though tonight was jumbled. I wouldn't mind seeing Wyatt and Kris move up 1 each and Rivera end up batting 5th or 6th but I leave Rivera batting 3rd based on Sully's comment at the presser. The bottom four are the most up in the air other than Deric batting 9th, but even he could easily move up. One thing I do know Wyatt and Sterlin are seeing the ball very well right now. I can't wait to walk in that stadium on Friday and see the lineups posted. Here's the update I made to the OP.

Batting Order???
RF - Sterlin Thompson (L)
CF - Jud Fabian (R)
SS - Josh Rivera (R)
LF - Wyatt Langford (R)
DH - Kris Armstrong (S)
C - Mac Guscette (R)/BT Riopelle (L)
1B - Kenny Calilao (R)
2B - Colby Halter (L)
3B - Deric Fabian (R)

 

Those are good viewpoints. My .02 would be
1. Yep got to show it when the lights come on.
2. Langford kind of reminds me of Langworthy in LF. Not a wow fielder but real consistent.
3. Plenty of pieces to figure out. Know this if Rivera's arm gives out Deric is our starting SS.
4. If Sproat is Saturday then Coppola should go Sunday.
5. I have no idea. I will say Hartman is usually the first to come in as reliever in practices for our main pitchers. Funny thing is he is very loud and expressive with his grunts and yells after strikeouts.
6. Coppola, Abner, Hartman, Neely are the ones to watch early on as freshmen. If that translate to SEC play remains to be seen.

 

The funny thing is more of a saying than the way it sounds. Its more of how oddly loud he can get with his fastball. He reminds me of some of the tennis players, and no, not the Russian females.

 

With 5 days to go here's our second baseman...
Colby Halter - Baseball - Florida Gators

 

I must confess I missed the info that Halter batted .302 last year and is our highest returning average. Obviously he could be our lead off man with that average in today's game. I guess I didn't recall him doing much with his bat last year and stats have him with only 1 stolen base. With that let's see who Sully picks on opening day and I'll gladly say some of you were right.