Gator Baseball 2022 Roster/Lineup/Batting Order

Reports coming in that both Pogue and Nesbitt are available in the bullpen for this weekend.

 

If you go back to March 20, 2021 in last season just after we played Texas A&M, Mac Guscette has hit a total of 7 hits since then or 7 for 44. If you recall Mac got off to a great start last year with Hickey starting the year behind the plate most of the early games. Guscette hit so well he had a .444 average on the season during that A&M weekend. Then his hitting started dropping and hasn't stopped dropping since. Sully might like his timing with the pitchers behind the plate but his hitting production is troubling.

 

It still depends who we are facing. Riopelle is great against RHP so he could still get behind the plate for some of those games. Lastres has a stronger arm so he might be better if the other team steals much and if we are facing a LHP but know he has issues with passed balls. I'm unsure who Barco wants behind the plate but if its Guscette then its Guscette. As far as first goes, I'm fine with either BT or KC.

 

The missed tag tonight at Miami is the third time this year that Mac misplayed a play at the plate. I forget the other game but he had two missed opportunities, one from a dropped tag and the other he drifted away from the plate and missed the tag.

 

Saturday at Miami we could get Sproat, Finnvold, Nick Fic, and Slater. Sully will be in the mindset to win the day.

 

I have not gotten any update on Coppola other than bulging disk. Its unsure if he will be able to pitch from time to time as his back allows or if he goes ahead and shuts it down with surgery.

 

No word on the starter for Sunday. I have every reason to think its Manning. I best news is Sully has most everybody else ready to go. We could see Finnvold, Slater, Neely, or Abner. Even Purnell, Pogue, or Nesbitt isn't out of the question.

 

Don't you want to see it again. I know I want to see it again.....

 

Thoughts after the victorious Miami weekend.
1. Unfortunate that Barco had an off day because that Friday game would have been a great one if Barco makes it to the 7th against Palmquist. But you have to tip your cap to their starter for a great job.
2. Even with Barco's day, lots of good things to talk about with our pitching staff with Purnell, Nick Fic, Sproat, and even Manning. Yes Manning is still a little rough around the edges but I believe this was his first big start on the road. So I'm happy he did so well and the bats woke up early to give him the cushion.
3. Halter continues to remind me why he deserves to be our leadoff hitter. The updated stats have him leading the Gators regular hitters in batting average .407, OPS 1.206, runs 17, hits 22, doubles 5, slugging % .722, HBP 4, and a OB% of .484. The kid's a baller. Period!
4. Thanks to Miami Jud now has an even better walk to strikeout ratio with 14 walks and 12 strikeouts. Who here thought Jud would have more walks than strikeouts so far? He also is second on the team with an OB% of .459 and has his average up to .283. Sure his strikeouts may lead the team at 12 but he has also scored as many runs as Colby Halter which is what you want out of your 2 hitter.
5. Can this team bunt or what! Where did Coach Sully go? I say team because we have now seen sac bunts come from 5 different players. Its one thing to have a really good bunter in the 9 hole, or that lead off guy that's always a risk to get on any way he can, but its much harder to defend a team that can lay one down at any time. Credit to Sully for preparing these hitters to be ready.
6. And what about our defense! We have had a few bad throws but our infielders are not kicking the ball around at all. Even the pitchers are fielding any bunts as well. Again credit Sully for working on that in the preseason. Amazing what they can do if they focus on the basics.
7. Our team ERA is now down to 2.33 but our opponents are up to 7.85. That's more than a 5 and a half run difference. Our hitters have a .300 batting average and our pitchers are holding our opponents to a .200 average on the nose. We have a 140 to 103 strikeout advantage and only given up 41 walks to our hitters 57 walks.
8. Credit goes to Blake Purnell who has now thrown 14 innings pitched and still a zero ERA with only 1 run scored. If we get Coppola back, Sully is going to have Purnell, Nick Fic, and Coppola ready whenever he needs them to shut down an opposing offense and give our hitters a chance to score some unanswered runs. We can win a bunch of games with those guys at the ready.
9. We have 5 games this week to get ready before the FSU/Alabama week following. Seton Hall gives Sully one more look at his weekend rotation of Barco/Sproat/Manning which is good thing. I still find it odd that Sully did not announce a starter for Sunday before the weekend. Makes me wonder was something up. Don't forget we are looking to see if Pogue and/or Nesbitt to begin their comeback this week. That will give Sully even more options to fill out this pitching staff.
10. I wonder if there has been any one big reason why our pitching staff has improved like it has since last year. After last season we had 5-6 guys transfer out, had a number one recruiting class come in, and also had some coaching staff changes with Coach Kopp joining. So you wonder which one area may have contributed the most? Were those transfers a bad seed, are these true freshmen that much better, were there problems with the coaches before and the fresh ideas from Coach Kopp the fix we needed?