Gator Baseball 2024 OFFICIAL ROSTER/Transfer Tracker/Lineup???

Brandon did well as closer for us but I don’t think he’s a closer. He’s got 3 maybe 4 pitches. Thats usually a starter. Dane dunning didn’t start for us either and we used him in important situations. He wasn’t a closer either.
To me it’s going to be Neely Fischer jac with Liam a weekday starter.

 

You think you’ll know the starting rotation next friday?

 

Have you seen a schedule anywhere? I heard practice started today. Do you know when the scrimmages will be?

 

I thought they were starting next week too, but one of my buddies said it started today. During fall, they were pretty good about posting updates on the twatter page. I haven’t seen anything yet.

 

Dugout Club dinner with the team is Friday. There will be talk of plans for the season, but that may not produce meaningful info on the lineup. I'm just trying to be patient and focus on basketball, but that's not helping much.

For Rade: if you HAD seen Peterson's fall work, he wouldn't be a wild card at all. He was as ready as any of the top frosh from past seasons. We can't be certain that will carry over to the season, but every sign in the fall suggested that he's a weekend guy.

 

Predicting Florida starting lineup and batting order | GatorCountry.com

 

So if Neely starts who is the closer? Slater?

 

FWIW Here are some of Sully's comments at. the Dugout Club team dinner. He didn't go far beyond Nuke LaLoosh-style media answers, but there was a little substance included. Some of the group's questions were useless, including why don't players names appear on their uniforms? and will parking get better?

• Before taking questions, Sully mentioned that Landon Russell has given himself the nickname "Lightning," which refers to his plan to steal a lot of bases. The players loved hearing that. Sully later mentioned that Russell's first concern needs to be his on-base percentage.
• Preseason practice starts at 2:30, Friday, Jan 26, and will normally be at that time Tuesday-Friday, plus one weekend day. He said close to season start, they'll practice under the lights.
• The only lingering injury for a player likely to get playing time later is Coppola, whom he said has nearly completed his throwing rehab and should move to real pitching later in the season- no specific schedule. He didn't mention Evans, which I gathered meant he's healthy.
• The only major rule changes are tied to the clock. Pitcher warm ups have been 8 pitches before innings 1-4, 5 in later innings. He said now they can throw as many times as they wish within the 120 second period between innings. Batters now must step into the box before the clock reaches 8, rather than 10.
• The batting order and pitching order will be decided before the first game and will be adjusted during the season. In other words, we can go ahead and predict starters, but we'll find out when the games start.
• The funny CWS T-shirt- joking about keeping track of mound visits- was his wifes idea. They had it made at an Omaha mall after the game. He said it seemed a great idea at the time, but when he woke up the next day, he decided not to wear it. His wife overruled that and he was pleased by the positive response from fans and media.
• After a question from a codger- there are a lot of codgers in the club- who doen't like the NIL, Sully said we all have to face changes in our lives, including changes that are disruptive and changes we don't like. NIL is a change that has happened that won't disappear anytime soon, but must be addressed. He didn't specifically urge fans to donate to Florida's NIL group, but it was clear he wants us to do that. He said he spoke to UF Trustees earlier today about the need to build Gators' NIL capacity. He said last season's LSU players received roughly 20 times more in NIL money than Gator players. He added that NIL can change kids lives, starting with giving them day to day spending money to helping finances of their families. NIL is an issue for the Dugout Club. UF's and FV's legal eagles say Florida's NIL law excludes booster groups associated with teams from making donations for NIL. While the club has a friendly relationship with UF sports, it is an independent entity over which UF has no formal control. I disagree with the UF interpretation, but haven't been asked to share my opinion. One action the club has taken is to change the structure of their biggest fundraiser- a golf tournament- to be formally an activity of Florida Victorious with the club providing volunteers to run it. Other such activities are coming. FYI- FV will apply baseball specific donations to benefit baseball players.
• Another question was about the value of power hitters in the big ballpark in Omaha. Given that Gators set records for CWS HRs last year, I didn't get the negative tone of the question. Sully said Omaha HRs mainly depend whether the wind is blowing in or out. He added that HRs matter a lot during the regular season and help get a team TO Omaha- can't win it if you don't get there. In particular, he said, power hitting and power pitching are necessary to succeed in the SEC.
• He said he will continue to concentrate on recruiting top HS players, but will use the portal to fill gaps and build talent. Other programs don't get the quality HS talent Gators get and depend more on the portal, but risk having many transfer players who stay only a year or two and hurt continuity in those programs.

One late edit: Every player on the roster was present at the dinner except for Blake Brookins. I don't know if that means anything at all, but Sully didn't mention it one way or the other. He didn't have a strong fall, but has a good history and a body that appears built for baseball, including speed. I hope he just didn't feel like Italian food with people the age of his grandparents.

Another NIL note I find interesting is that Florida Victorious lists 12 of the 14 players returning from last season receive NIL money through them. The exceptions are Thomas and Clemente. The list surely is out of date and I'm sure newcomers will be added sooner or later

 

Your legal eagles may want to re evaluate whether boosters can be involved with nil. You can’t “recruit”, but since the laws were changed, boosters are allowed to cut deals. There’s a whole section on this on the uf site, and I believe they have an office on campus with people to help guide you to make sure you stay legal.

Guidelines for Name, Image, and Likeness

It is probably easier to just bring in FV and get them involved in any of your events. Any funds raised by you guys can be earmarked for baseball, and they’ll know how to distribute the money within the rules. Unless some of you have personal businesses that could use the athletes for advertisements or events, funneling through the FV collective is probably the best way for most to donate.

 

I think he said "1 minute 20", meaning maybe 80 seconds? I'm guessing he misspoke, though I'm hoping he didn't.

It was a really good event. The two lines helped move dinner along and, more importantly, I got much better luck with my table than last year*. I sat next to Cade Kurland. What a mature and affable young man! He mentioned some interest in going for an MBA while he's here (maybe a BT-esque path if going pro in baseball doesn't work out). He confirmed that he's taken reps only at 2B and is not in the mix at all at short. Luke Heyman was also at my table. Didn't chat with him as much, but seemed like a good kid, too. He's still looking for a walk-up song and I thought of Filter's "Hey man, nice shot" literally seconds before the players were asked to leave their tables and go up front. Didn't get to suggest it to him. (OK, the song is actually about a Pennsylvania politician offing himself on live tape... but maybe still less violent than Nelson Maldonado's walk-ups...)

Also had GatorGal at my table -- nice to connect a face to a name! And.. GG, the name I couldn't remember/find -- Seth Buckminster! That's the ump who got run out of MLB and then MiLB for messing up safe/out calls in 2014/2016. I poked around a bit more on umpires and Brian deBrauwere -- the rabbit-ears jackwang who chucked Brandon Neely -- left M/Mi-LB about the same time. Both deserve to be next to Jeff Head on the Mount Rushmore of college baseball umpiric incompetence.

*My 2023 was Tejeda -- now at FSU and looked malcontent a year ago -- and Blair -- who never saw the field except for ceremonial first pitches and whose GDC dinner body language was consistent with him knowing his future.

 

Well, here's our answer about the weekend rotation and closer straight from O'Sullivan to Dooley.
Florida Baseball: Kevin O’Sullivan talks about 2024 Gators baseball

 

Cade, Liam, Jacjac. Hopefully that means Neely in the bullpen, not a midweek guy. He’ll be much more useful to the team playing in multiple games a week.