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Florida Gators Look Strong after Day 2 of MLB Draft

The MLB Draft took a toll on the Florida Gators, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

Kyle Lander

Florida Gators shortstop Colby Shelton is expected to return for another season in Gainesville
Florida Gators shortstop Colby Shelton is expected to return for another season in Gainesville / Mitch Alcala / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Day 2 of the MLB Draft concluded on Monday with the Florida Gators being one of the more fortunate teams in the country. 

That’s not to say they didn’t lose some of their most impactful players. The Gators were dealt heavy blows with the losses of Jac Caglianone and Brandon Neely in the first three rounds and Jameson Fisher in the tenth round to the Colorado Rockies. 

However, albeit at the expense of players living out their dreams, the Gators got back in the win column after their starting shortstop didn’t hear his name called within the first 10 rounds. 

It most likely is the case that Colby Shelton returns to Florida for his junior year now after not being taken on Day 2. The slot value has dipped massively from where he was expected to get drafted and it makes more sense that he will be wearing the Orange & Blue next campaign over a minor league uniform because of that. 

He only spent one season in Gainesville, but they needed Shelton back in the fold for next year badly. They hadn’t grabbed anyone in the portal that was an out-and-out shortstop yet with the hopes that he would be back in 2025.

Getting him back means Florida returns a guy who had 20 homers last year and can be one of the Gators' more dangerous bats in the lineup in the post-Caglianone era.

Additionally, his strong defensive ability would have been severely missed. 

Many questioned his defense following his one year with Alabama, and he showed all scouts that not only can he play defense, he can play defense at one of the premier positions in the infield. In 66 games played, he only made six errors and held a fielding percentage of .974. 

However, Shelton isn’t the only one the Gators have to worry about returning. Outfielder Ty Evans was draft eligible as a junior and there was a chance he could have heard his name on Monday. 

Evans returning to the Gators is important because there were still question marks surrounding the third outfielder spot. Florida is probably comfortable throwing Ashton Wilson out there again given his postseason run, but Evans most likely returning now gives them another solid hitter who can hit in any of the first four spots in the order. 

In addition to these two key 2024 pieces, several stars of the 2024 Florida Gators recruiting class will make it to campus next spring after not being drafted on Monday as well. 

They did lose Kellon Lindsey to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round, but that is the only high school commit they lost to the draft up to this point. 

Right-handed pitchers Jackson Barberi (No. 99 on MLB Top 250 Prospects), Aidan King and Joshua Whritenour (No. 160 on MLB Top 250) all announced that they were honoring their commitments via X. Furthermore, shortstop prospect Kolt Myers also took to X to say he would be in Gainesville. 

The only prospect yet to officially state he is going the college route is highly rated shortstop Brendan Lawson. Although he is largely expected to make it to campus after not hearing his name called by Day 2 of the draft. 

Florida still has the rest of the draft to navigate before they are in the clear, but making it past the treacherous Day Two and having none of the previous names called yet will be major for the 2025 season.

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Kyle Lander
KYLE LANDER

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