Gator Baseball 2023 Official Roster Tracker/Lineup???

Some questions from my Top 10 I'll be looking to answer at today's scrimmage. Inquiring minds want to know.

4. Does Robertson earn the start in CF? I think he has. Its all about the right combination of the three outfielders to see who Sully goes with. Robertson has the edge with his speed at CF and on the base paths. Now he has to show he can get on the base paths.
7. Can Heyman or Lastres become dependable starters at catcher and bump Riopelle out of his spot? I'm not sure but good competition is a good thing to keep players working hard at getting better.
8. Who is going to step up and be the closer? I could probably lay awake at night pondering this one if I wanted to. Certainly Slater, Abner, Hartzog, and a few freshmen could see time late in games.
9. Will Rivera actually be the team leader thru the season? By that I mean what he shows on the field. Is he one of the best SS in the SEC? Does he keep his batting average up, get on base when needed, and find ways to bring in runs in key situations? Its one thing to bark out orders but its another to show everyone else how to get it done.
10. Where does Langford bat in the order? Is he still our leadoff because Robertson or Halter can't hold down the spot? Obviously he could be most dangerous batting second or third but even more important is who hits behind him? Probably the best answer is where ever he helps this team score the most runs.

 

EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA step right up, get your updated practice schedule right here!
Preseason Baseball: Updated Week Two Practice Schedule - Florida Gators

 

I find it interesting that Sunday's scrimmage is not until 6 pm. I love getting some night time baseball in already. Time to bundle up.

 

I'd like to start first of all with an apology to Mr. Langford for making the comment that his bat seemed to be somewhat in a slump with not much productivity. I'm happy to report the slump is no more. Today Wyatt went 3 for 4 with two homeruns and a sharp hit single. He led off the bottom of the second (game started in the second) with a high fly ball that just cleared the wall in right center falling into the Gator bullpen. Its was about a 375 shot. Then in the fourth with a man on, Wyatt hit a bomb off the batter's eye out there about 420 feet. Next at bat was a sharp single back up the middle between second and the shortstop. His last at bat was a fly out to right. That was the first three runs for the blue for the day. Welcome back.

 

And now with the rest of the story. Well I really wish I could drop in my notes from today but I made the ultimate rookie mistake. After seven innings of notes I hit the button on my phone to drop all apps and I forgot to save my practice notes I had started. Did that suck or what! Instead I'm left to give you a few ideas of what I saw. I don't want to attempt to rebuild them because most of them would probably be wrong. So here is what I have. My apologies to Gatorgal who knows how to do it right.

Blue Starters
1b Shelnut
2b Thomas
SS Fabian
3b Alvarez
C Riopelle
LF Talbott
CF Langford
RF Evans
P Waldrep

Orange Starters
1b Lastres
2b Kurland
SS Rivera
3b Halter
C Heyman
LF Schiekofer
CF Robertson
RF Prevesk
P Caglianone (yes Sproat was not out there today???)

Notes : About 25 scouts showed up to watch Waldrep and after he was done in 3 innings half of them left, Langford was the big bat of the day with 2 homers and a single going 3-4 with 3 RBIs, Kurland had at least 2 hits that I remember both soft line drives in the outfield, Brown has got some wheels on him, Riopelle did very little to impress for seven and a half innings, BT had two bad throws down to second in the Orange's first at bat, BTs second throw was airmailed into center and allowed a run to score. In the top of the 9th Lastres hit a double to the wall in LCF that scored two and gave the Orange a lead of 5-3 in the 9th. Riopelle stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 9th with a runner on, two outs, and hit a BOMB out of the park to right. Game ended in a 5-5 tie.

Pitching : Some of the pitchers we saw today were Waldrep (3), Cags (3), Fisher (3?), Jameson (2?), Finnvold (1?), Ursitti (2?), Neely (2). I had all of them in my notes but I can't recall exactly how long the relievers went. I do know the big story for me was Neely closed it out for the Orange in the 8th and 9th and was on the mound when Riopelle hit the bomb to right. Waldrep gave up two runs in 3 innings. The first one was on Riopelle because of his bad throws in their first inning on the field. He was unable to get either runner stealing second and then threw one into CF to score a run. Cags was fine but his biggest mistake was not having Langford on his team. You take Langford out of the batters he faced and Cags doesn't give up a run. Instead it was 3 runs in 3 innings. Fisher looked like he was hitting his spots with good command but still gave up a few hits. Jameson and Finnvold did alright, nothing great, Ursitti got into trouble in the 9th and Lastres made him pay with the big double. 3 runs crossed the plate in the 9th for Ursitti. Neely looked good in the 8th but made the mistake pitch to BT in bottom of the 9th to ruin the win for the Orange with the 2 run homer. In the end it was a day in the first week of practice that the pitchers were still trying to settle in. The big question is where was Sproat? I would have thought he would pitch facing off with Waldrep. Since it was Cags I have to believe Cags has the upper hand as the Sunday starter. Did Sproat maybe pitch on Tuesday? I don't know but hopefully someone will fill us in if they were there for Tuesday's practice.

Defense was great with only one error other than Riopelle's throw into CF. One ball was in the dirt at 1b and rolled away but it was a short hopper that Rivera couldn't get to in time to make a good throw. It was a base hit all day in college ball. The error was on Schiekofer (I think) out in LF that he couldn't get under a pop up on the LF line and dropped it. Earlier he did the same thing but made a diving stab to save the out. I maybe wrong on who was out there in left for those plays. That said Schiekofer is looking a little shaky out there in LF. I still say Langford should be in left and Robertson earns center. Heyman threw a base runner out with a good throw down. I believe it was the blue that tried a double steal with runners at 1st and 3rd. The SS (Rivera?) threw the runner out trying to run home with a good throw.

Hitting : I enjoy watching Kurland at the plate. The kid knows how to put bat on ball. Obviously he has good hand eye coordination. Both his hits were solid line drives at the right angle so no one had a play. I believe Rivera had two hits as well. Josh could be heard all game long out there at SS showing everyone how to do it. We have our much needed defensive team leader for the year. Other hits that I recall were Halter with a ground ball to right, Fabian with a ground ball back up the middle, and a few others that I can't recall.

 

4. Does Robertson earn the start in CF? Nothing shown today but Langford is still our best option in LF.
7. Can Heyman or Lastres become dependable starters at catcher and bump Riopelle out of his spot? Heyman was good behind the plate today. All catchers had a passed ball or two. Lastres with the big double but Riopelle had the hit of the day.
8. Who is going to step up and be the closer? Surprise surprise Neely was in the closer spot today and gave up the bomb to end it in a tie. Not good, NEXT.
9. Will Rivera actually be the team leader thru the season? Most certainly
10. Where does Langford bat in the order? He is still batting leadoff along with Robertson but Wyatt had the best bat today by far. Robertson much at all.

 

Great info APK, I was hoping Sproat might have pitched the day before. It makes sense that Brown was the one in LF. My eyes struggle with guys in the outfield since they don't turn around much so you can spot their numbers.

 

I did see Coppola on Wednesday. Before the last inning started he came jogging by from one dugout to the other to deliver some gear to another player. He was in shorts and t-shirt though and made me think he had the day off. I was encouraged that he was at least jogging because someone with a bad back probably wouldn't be jogging. Jogging is along way from taking the mound though.

 

I'm hoping to be there Sunday night for the scrimmage. Maybe someone can be there Saturday as well. I would think Sproat will pitch one of those days. With no Coppola I wish someone would ask for an update from Sully before the season starts.

 

Question for the panel....
I'm wondering from all of you that are unable to attend practice if you have any questions or answers that we should be looking for. For instance do you think this team has any weakness or a key position that needs more attention? That way any of us there might be able to comment on what we see. I don't see many problems with this team. Sure Kurland is the young unknown but I think he looks ready to step in. Evans in RF has already shown his ability but can he step it up even more in this second year? My main concern is who will end up in the middle relief and closer roles. Mid week starters are always a secondary thought so that will have to wait until the weekend rotations get figured out. Your thoughts, anyone....