Hunter Barco, Jud Fabian and Colby Halter were all ranked inside the top 20 in Baseball America’s top-50 college prospects for the 2022 MLB Draft.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Three Gators have been ranked as top-50 college prospects for the 2022 MLB Draft by Baseball America in left-hander pitcher Hunter Barco, outfielder Jud Fabian and infielder Colby Halter.
With three players making the list, Florida is tied for the most top-50 college prospects in the nation. Not only is Florida one of just two programs with three players to garner inclusion, but all three Gators were ranked within the top-18 college prospects in the game.
Considering that fellow Gator right-hander Brandon Sproat is widely considered a top-50 prospect by certain publications, the 2022 Florida team could rival the program’s 2018 draft class – which produced a school-record three first-round MLB Draft picks. Infielder Jonathan India (fifth overall – Cincinnati Reds), right-handed pitcher Brady Singer (18th overall – Kansas City Royals) and right-handed pitcher Jackson Kowar (33rd overall – Kansas City Royals) all had their names called in the first round that year.
Leading the way at No. 7, Barco is coming off a 2021 campaign in which he was named to the Newcomer All-SEC Team and Southeast-ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Second Team. Pacing the Gators with 10 wins in a team-high 16 starts, Barco finished the year with a 4.01 ERA, .239 batting average against and 94 strikeouts in 83 innings pitched. The second-year performance came on the heels of a standout freshman season in which Barco went 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 26 strikeouts across 19.1 frames.
Landing at No. 15 on the list, Fabian is returning to Florida for a fourth season after producing a 2021 campaign that saw him become just the fifth Gator to hit 20 home runs in a single season en route to collecting Third Team All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA. Thanks to a .249/.364/.560 batting line with 30 extra-base hits, 51 runs, 46 RBI and a .971 fielding percentage, Fabian was also named Southeast-ABCA/Rawlings First Team, First Team All-SEC and to the SEC All-Defensive Team. Overall, the Ocala, Fla. native is a .249/.366/.512 career hitter with 32 homers, 25 doubles, 102 runs and 85 RBI in 132 games.
As a true freshman in 2021, the 18th-ranked Halter wasted no time carving out a starting role on a Gators roster filled with a surplus of talent. Playing in 49 games including 44 starts, Halter slashed .302/.379/.453 while seeing significant innings at second base and third base. Halter totaled three home runs, two triples, 11 doubles, 32 RBI, 31 runs, 19 walks and one stolen base across 159 at-bats in his first season in Gainesville.
Dating back to head coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s hire in 2008, Florida’s 10 first-round draft picks is tied for second in the country. 95 total Gators have been selected in the MLB Draft during that time, which ranks second in the Southeastern Conference.
