Outfielder Wyatt Langford, right-handed pitcher Brandon Sproat and right-hander Hurston Waldrep were all ranked inside MLB.com’s top-20.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida baseball placed three players on MLB.com’s rankings of the top-20 college prospects for the 2023 MLB Draft in outfielder Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=15097>, right-handed pitcher Brandon Sproat<https://floridagators.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=15106> and right-hander Hurston Waldrep.
The Gators are the only program in the country to have three players ranked inside the top-20, led by Langford at No. 4 overall. Sproat and Waldrep round out the list at No. 16 and No. 19, respectively.
Langford is draft-eligible for the first time in 2023 and is coming off one of the greatest seasons in the history of the Orange & Blue. The Trenton, Fla. native tied Florida’s single-season home run record and paced the Southeastern Conference with 26 long balls en route to First Team All-America status. As one of two Gators to start all 66 games last year, Langford slashed .355/.447/.867 while adding three triples, nine doubles, 73 runs, 63 RBI and seven steals to his resume.
Back in Gator Country for a fourth campaign, Sproat collected Southeast All-Region Second Team honors in 2022 after pitching to a 9-4 record and 3.43 ERA across 89 2/3 frames. Hailing from Pace, Fla., Sproat was tremendous for the Gators down the stretch, going 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA and .218 batting average against in his last six starts of the season. The right-hander wields a 3.92 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 117 1/3 career innings.
Waldrep enters his first season as a Gator after transferring in from Southern Miss during the offseason. Highly regarded as one of the top arms in the nation, Waldrep was named a 2022 Third Team All-American by D1Baseball after churning out 90 frames of 3.20 ERA ball with 140 strikeouts – translating to 14.0 strikeouts per nine innings. The Thomasville, Ga. native was equally brilliant in limited action as a freshman in 2021, working to a 3.35 ERA and .217 batting average against with 16 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings of work.
Across program history, Florida has produced 215 individual draftees. Since Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/staff.aspx?staff=33>’s 2008 arrival, 99 different Gators have been drafted – good for second in the SEC.
Florida’s 2022 fall season<https://floridagators.com/news/2022/9/1/baseball-florida-georgia-exhibition-highlights-gators-2022-fall-slate.aspx> kicks off on Sunday, Oct. 9 and features exhibition games against Georgia in Jacksonville (Oct. 28) and Stetson at Condron Family Ballpark (Nov. 6). The Gators will also revive the Orange & Blue Series, which is scheduled for Nov. 10, 11 and 13.
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