Across the Diamond: Gators Online gives the scout on Florida baseball
Tennessee baseball is set for another Southeastern clash this weekend as the Vols travel south down to The Swamp to take on the Gators for a Thursday-Saturday bout at Condron Family Ballpark.
Nick de la Torre of Gators Online answered some questions from Volquest on this year’s Florida Gators baseball team.
Question: How can Tennessee slow down Jac Caglianone, both in the box and on the mound?
de la Torre: “If I had that answer some Major League team would pay me a ton of money. I think the biggest thing Caglianone has done has matured. There was that start in Knoxville last year where he lasted all of 35 pitches while walking six and allowing more runs than he recorded outs. Last year Jac just couldn’t move on from pitch to pitch batter to batter. He’s much more mature now in that aspect. Physically he’s throwing his changeup a lot more to right-handed hitters and his cutter has been sharp all season.
At the plate, good luck. Arkansas manager Dave Van Horn said it best last weekend, “I mean, he swings at pitches that are eye-high and hits them over the lights. He swings at bad pitches, but he hits them, and he hits them hard.”
He’s second in the country with 26 home runs but has only struck out 15 times. He went 66 plate appearances between his last two strikeouts. He had a 122 exit velocity in Miami and we’ve routinely seen 116-117 off his bat. Everything is barreled. I’ve actually been surprised, given how hot and cold Florida’s lineup can be outside of Jac, that he hasn’t been intentionally walked more. He really hasn’t shown any holes in his swing or his approach this year and it’s a lot of fun to watch. Pitch with caution.”
Question: What happened to the starting pitching this year?
de la Torre: “Kevin O’Sullivan preaches first pitch strike and first two out of three for strikes. It’s a pillar of his program so much so that teams typically jump on fastballs early in counts. This staff just doesn’t throw strikes, whether it’s the starters of the bullpen. Their giving up an average of 13.97 walks and hits per game.
Cade Fisher was really good as a freshman out of the bullpen but he didn’t develop his changeup. It’s hard to pitch on Fridays in the SEC with a 91-93 MPH fastball and a slider. Florida’s Saturday starter was freshman Liam Peterson and I watched him carve Florida’s lineup all fall, so I don’t have an answer as to why he’s struggled this spring.
Brandon Neely is coming off of his best start. Florida had to move him from the bullpen, so it’s taken him a while to stretch out his arm and go deeper in games. He’ll pitch Thursday.
Pierce Coppola, the unicorn as I called him since he spent the last two years on the shelf, is also starting to round into form. The 6-8 lefty has first round potential if he can stay healthy. He’ll throw Saturday.”
Question: What’s the mood of the fan base right now and how dyer is it to win this series with only three to go?
de la Torre: “Florida fans, I think, are angry and frustrated. It was never going to be easy replacing Wyatt Langford, Josh Rivera, Hurston Waldrep, BT Riopelle but the Gators have a really talented roster. They just don’t play a winning brand of baseball. They don’t consistently do the little things that winning clubs do. They’ve been home run dependent to score runs, which leads to big swings and multiple situations where Florida has had second and third, less than two outs and the next two batters strike out while trying to hit a ball 800 feet rather than just putting something in the air or slapping it the other way.
They aren’t as good as last year’s team but they have severely underperformed this season.”
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