Florida Gators Baseball Starting Underrated in Preseason Rankings

The Florida Gators are ranked a bit lower than usual in the recently released preseason poll

The Gators might be a tad underrated to start the season / Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

Last year, the Florida Gators were ranked No.4 in Perfect Game’s preseason top 25. Coming off a devastating college World Series loss, they looked to get back to Omaha and finish the job.

Only one of those things happened. Now, just a year later, the Gators landed at No.11 in this year's rankings, their lowest preseason ranking since 2022.

They sit behind four SEC conference opponents and rival Florida State.

Florida had a disappointing regular season but managed to pull off a miraculous playoff run and finished as one of the four remaining teams alive in the College World Series. Even then, the expectations are a bit lower than usual.

Just this offseason, Florida was named one of the top five best programs in baseball by D1Baseball. Despite that, the heavy losses of star Jac Caglianone, closer Brandon Neely and others seem to leave question marks around the program heading into the new year.

The doubts are understandable, but this Gators roster is being underrated.

Portal Reinforcements

With the Gators lineup losing two impact bats in Caglianone and Tyler Shelnut, Kevin O’Sullivan turned to the transfer portal for reinforcements.

Florida picked up huge commitments from multiple impactful transfers over the summer. They not only filled open spots in the lineup but improved some spots as well. The focus seemed to be on in-state talent, as six of the eight transfers come over from schools in Florida.

One of their biggest gets will surely be Blake Cyr. Cyr, a former Freshman All-American, will likely hit at the top of the lineup for the Gators. The Miami Hurricanes transfer was D1Baseball’s No.10 ranked transfer and is ranked the No. 40 draft prospect by Baseball America. He hit .298 over his first two years in college with a 1.011 OPS and 24 home runs.

Kyle Jones will also be a player to keep an eye on. The transfer from Stetson may be in line to hit leadoff for the Gators, after hitting .355 with 23 steals for the Hatters in that role. While his bat and speed are impressive, his defense stands out. He was an NCAA gold-glove finalist in his first year. D1Baseball believes he has ‘day-one draft potential’.

On top of both Cyr and Jones, names such as Bobby Boser, Billy Barlow and Landon Stripling bring experience and potential to the roster.

Impact Returners

Though there will be many new faces to Condron Park this year, likely the most important addition to Florida’s 2025 roster is the players they retained.

Last year's starting shortstop Colby Shelton and right-fielder Ty Evans both were eligible for the MLB draft, and though Shelton was selected, both announced their returns to Florida.

Shelton had a somewhat down year in 2024 compared to his impressive freshman season at Alabama, but still hit 20 home runs and had an OPS of .925. He came up big on multiple occasions in Omaha, and his glove looked much improved on the year.

As for Evans, an injury cut his breakout 2024 season short. Before breaking his wrist, he was hitting a career-best .316 with 13 home runs and an OPS of .987. His bat had been hot since the 2023 College World Series, where he hit five HRs in six games.

The two will be sure to bring power and experience to the Gators lineup in the new year, and both are expected to have huge impacts.

Incoming Freshman

On top of impactful transfers and returners for the Gators, Florida brings in the No.10 recruiting class in the nation this year. The class was ranked No.6 before losing two players to the draft but is still full of talent.

While adding bats seemed to be a priority in the portal, the freshman class is pitching-heavy. Nine of the thirteen Gators commits are pitchers, with Niko Janssens, listed as a two-way player, pitching in fall scrimmages, making it ten.

Only McCall BieMiller and Janssens are listed as lefties, seemingly opening the door for the two to get early usage. The Gators returned just two lefties from last year.

Coach O’Sullivan has not been afraid to play freshman in the past. With the Gators needing arms, expect multiple guys from the ‘24 class on the field.

When talking to Key West commit Felix Ong during his recruitment, it was clear each prospect would have the opportunity to ‘earn a job’.

Greater Things to Come

Though the expectations are lower this year for the Gators on the diamond, there is a real shot this team could be improved.

While expecting a return to the CWS semifinals may be a bit too much to ask, there is no doubt an expectation that this team finishes better than the 36-30 record of last season.

Granted the loss of Jac Caglianone will be massive, but the Moneyball-esc approach of replacing him in the aggregate could be beneficial. The Gators' lineup, on paper, seems to be much deeper than their past squad, including threats up and down the lineup. As well, the addition of some talented Freshman arms could be crucial for their Bullpen depth.

If coach O’Sullivan and the Gators showed us anything last year, it is to never count them out, and I would not count the Gators out of finishing better than their preseason projections.