GAINESVILLE, Fla.- Florida Baseball moved closer to unanimous preseason No. 1 status, as Baseball America became the fourth outlet to list the Gators at No. 1 in their preseason ranking.
Florida was previously named No. 1 in preseason rankings released by D1Baseball, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, and Perfect Game.
The Gators, who finished the shortened 2020 season with a 16-1 overall record, were Baseball America’s top-ranked team in its final three rankings last year. Monday’s preseason ranking marks the 45th time since 2011 the Gators are the outlet’s No. 1 squad. It is also the fifth time (2011, 2012, 2016, 2018) Florida enters the season ranked No. 1 by Baseball America, the second-highest total in the 40-year history of the outlet’s rankings.
Florida faces seven teams ranked in Baseball America’s preseason release, including a season-opening series against No. 11 Miami which will also be the first series at Florida Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field.
* vs. No. 11 Miami – Feb. 19-21
* vs. No. 9 Florida State – March 16 (Tallahassee), April 13 (Gainesville)
* at No. 18 South Carolina – March 26-28
* vs. No. 4 Ole Miss – April 2-4
* at No. 19 Tennessee – April 9-11
* vs. No. 6 Vanderbilt – April 30-May 2
* at No. 14 Arkansas – May 20-22
Outlets with preseason rankings still to come are the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Florida returns eight of nine position starters and all three of its weekend starting pitchers from its 2020 team. The Gators finished the 2020 campaign ranked 16th nationally in team earned run average (2.41) and 12th nationally in home runs (21). Florida’s bullpen, the vast majority of which returns for 2021, posted a 1.76 ERA across 76.2 innings pitched last season.
Six of the returners are ranked<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.baseballamerica.com_rankings_2021-2Dmlb-2Ddraft-2Dtop-2Dprospects_&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=udYkY91CBGAkB69yL-2zfPs_7BZofyyy9qkmKURjDQc&s=8XJOP1dRPwbSCoeuaFCd5LnSq_1R8A1Xgu90OM2856k&e= > in Baseball America’s 2021 Major League Baseball Draft Top 200 Prospects, a figure which ranks second nationally.
* Jud Fabian, OF – No. 11
* Tommy Mace, RHP – No. 38
* Ben Specht, RHP – No. 92
* Jack Leftwich, RHP – No. 139
* Nathan Hickey, C/INF – No. 183
* Christian Scott, RHP – No. 191
The strong contingent of returners is accompanied by D1Baseball’s No. 6-ranked class of newcomers.
“The Gators already had the most talented roster in the country returning to campus this fall,” Aaron Fitt says in the site’s breakdown<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__d1baseball.com_recruiting_2021-2Dnewcomer-2Dbreakdowns-2Drecruiting-2Dclasses-2D6-2D10_&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=udYkY91CBGAkB69yL-2zfPs_7BZofyyy9qkmKURjDQc&s=qFfuFcjarU_g7lqrZhOA4gLjzp3KJOY3OHuiZqfIOVI&e= >. “And the rich got richer with this class, which gives the Gators another bumper crop of impact position players in the freshman class as well as a premier freshman lefty and a marquee arm from the juco ranks.”
Fitt labels left-handed pitcher Timmy Manning, infielders Colby Halter, Jordan Carrion, and Sterlin Thompson, and junior college transfer right-handed pitcher Franco Aleman as the stars of Florida’s crop of newcomers.
