Gators' Freshman Pitchers Proving They Belong

Gators head coach Kevin O'Sullivan, center, talks to pitcher Tommy Mace on Wednesday night as catcher Cal Greenfield listens. (Photo: Alaina DiGiacomo/UAA Communications)

Gators' Freshman Pitchers Proving They Belong

Thursday, March 1, 2018 | Baseball, Scott Carter

The No. 1-ranked Gators host Stony Brook this weekend at McKethan Stadium.

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jonathan India saw this coming. Perhaps not as clear as he saw the two pitches he knocked out McKethan Stadium on Wednesday night, but India faced the Gators' latest batch of freshman pitchers enough prior to the season to sense they had the right stuff.

Good stuff, nasty stuff and hard stuff, too.

"They are unbelievable,'' India said. "They are all throwing mid-90s, spotting up, good off-speed. I'm excited for them."

Why not based on what the freshmen hurlers have done 10 games into the season.

Coming off the first national title in program history, most projected the Gators' bid to return to Omaha resting largely on their pitching. That is nothing new for a program that has produced five pitchers taken in the first round and 22 in the first 10 rounds under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan.

The return of starters Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar and Tyler Dyson, plus closer Michael Byrne, who set a school record a season ago with 19 saves, earned Florida the top spot in the preseason national polls. That foursome -- after Alex Faedo did his part to get them there -- combined to keep LSU's potent offense quiet in winning the best-of-three championship series last June.

A look at Florida's freshman pitchers the past two seasons:

SEASON	Wins	Losses	Saves	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	SO	BB	WHIP
2017	14	5	3	4.94	149.1	156	83	82	140	71	1.52
2018	2	0	2	1.75	36	24	8	7	39	8	0.89

If Florida's pitching staff had holes, it was in those innings between the starting rotation and Byrne. O'Sullivan also had to find his midweek starters. As the Gators enter this weekend's three-game home series against Stony Brook, the pitching has been better than advertised if you can believe that.

Freshmen Jack Leftwich, Tommy Mace, Hunter McMullen and Jordan Butler have continued to impress well beyond those fall and spring intrasquad games that made India take notice.

A quick synopsis:

A 6-foot-4, 210-pound right-hander from Orlando, Leftwich allowed only two hits and one run while striking out five in his first career start, a win over Florida Atlantic on Feb. 20.
In his first career outing on Opening Night, Butler struck out four over two scoreless innings. He has made two starts, including Tuesday's win at North Florida in which he tossed six shutout innings.
Mace has made four appearances – he started for the first time in Wednesday's win over North Florida – and has limited opponents to just four hits and two runs (one earned) in 9 2/3 innings. He pitched four scoreless innings Friday in relief of Singer at Miami to earn a save.
McMullen stuck out the side in his first career outing on Feb. 18 against Siena and like the aforementioned trio, regularly hits above 90 mph on the radar gun.

"They contribute a lot,'' sophomore left-hander Andrew Baker said. "They are really doing a lot for the team. They are going to be really big going later into the season."

Baker replaced Mace in Wednesday's 8-3 win over North Florida and retired all seven batters he faced. He was among a group of freshmen pitchers a season ago that helped Florida win the national title, with Dyson, Kirby McMullen and Garrett Milchin the most polished of the group.

While rookie pitchers making an impact is nothing new for the Gators, this year's freshman class has delivered from the start, helping the Gators to nine wins in their first 10 games.

51881 — Jack Leftwich during his start against Florida Atlantic. (Photo: Alex de la Osa/UAA Communications)

"You never really know how they are going to respond when they get underneath the lights,'' O'Sullivan said. "I've been obviously – 'pleased' would be an understatement. I think they have been outstanding. They are not walking people, they are attacking the strike zone, their pace has been outstanding, they've been engaging the defense. It's been encouraging."

Mace, a 6-foot-6 right-hander from Sunlake High in the Tampa Bay area, received a no-decision in his first career start. Working on a pitch count between 45 and 50 pitches, Mace allowed two hits, two runs and struck out two over 3 2/3 innings.

"He looked really confident and really comfortable,'' Baker said.

Mace surrendered a solo home to Tanner Murphy in the first inning but retired the next nine batters he faced until a single in the fourth inning. Afterward, Mace discussed the outing with the calmness of a 10-year big league veteran.

"Not really too nervous. I think having the team behind me is kind of a stress reliever,'' he said. "I wasn't too stressed out about giving up a solo home run. Just go back and compete on the next pitch."

Mace said most of the freshmen either were teammates or played against each other on travel teams before they got to UF. Now that they are teammates getting an opportunity to pitch right away in college, they like to compare their performances.

"Obviously it's a competition,'' Mace said. "It's kind of our job. We all have to be good and if you're not going you're not going to play. We like to chirp around and say, 'hey, you're doing good this night but I'm going to do better the next night.' But it's all healthy competition within the team."

India saw their promise right away.

"They work hard,'' he said. "That's why they are doing well."

For a program that has had six pitchers drafted in the first four rounds the past two years – highlighted by first-rounders A.J. Puk, Dane Dunning and Faedo – there appears no drop-off in sight.

The Gators have a reputation among professional scouts as a program that develops pitchers equally, if not better, than some minor league organizations. The biggest challenge: identifying talent.

"It's just recruiting and getting out to see as many games as you possibly can,'' O'Sullivan said. "There's no easy secret. You can't recruit behind a computer. You've got to go out there and actually see the games."

The Gators have Thursday off. However, the calendar says March 1, the start of college baseball's latest recruiting cycle. O'Sullivan plans to go watch a game and, just in case you are wondering, to check out the pitchers.