Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – As the Major League Baseball calendar prepares to flip into the 2025 campaign, a collection of nine former Gators hold status as top prospects in their respective organizations.
 
Headlining the contingent are two-time teammates Jac Caglianone and Brandon Sproat, who both rank as top-100 overall prospects in the sport. Fresh off being drafted sixth overall by Kansas City, Caglianone is the No. 17 prospect in baseball while Sproat follows closely behind at No. 40.
 
Also earning mention in their organizational top prospect lists were right-handed pitcher Hurston Waldrep, southpaw Hunter Barco, outfielder Jud Fabian, right-hander Christian Scott, outfielder Sterlin Thompson, righty Brandon Neely and right-hander Franco Aleman.
 
Below is a complete breakdown of Florida players in their organizational prospect rankings.
 
Gators in Organizational Top Prospect Rankings (9)
1B Jac Caglianone – MLB Pipeline (KC No. 1, OVR No. 17), Baseball America (KC No. 1, OVR No. 48)
RHP Brandon Sproat – MLB Pipeline (NYM No. 1, OVR No. 40), Baseball America (NYM No. 2, OVR No. 61)
RHP Hurston Waldrep – MLB Pipeline (ATL No. 3), Baseball America (ATL No. 3)
LHP Hunter Barco – MLB Pipeline (PIT No. 8), Baseball America (PIT No. 15)
OF Jud Fabian – Baseball America (BAL No. 9), MLB Pipeline (BAL No. 10)
RHP Christian Scott – Baseball America (NYM No. 3)
1B/OF Sterlin Thompson – Baseball America (COL No. 7), MLB Pipeline (COL No. 13)
RHP Brandon Neely – Baseball America (BOS No. 26), MLB Pipeline (BOS No. 30)
RHP Franco Aleman – MLB Pipeline (CLE No. 30)
 
What They're Saying About the Gators
 
MLB Pipeline on Caglianone
"While calling him the "next Shohei Ohtani" might be unfair, Caglianone was the best two-way player in the nation at Florida, as confirmed by his win of the 2024 John Olerud Award given to college baseball's best hitter/pitcher. He has some standout tools both on the mound and at the plate, though big steps forward as a hitter this spring led most scouts to prefer his left-handed bat over his left-handed arm. The Royals were glad to select him sixth overall in the Draft and announced they remain open to Caglianone's two-way status, at least to begin his career. The 21-year-old signed for $7.5 million. A 6-foot-5 physical beast, Caglianone has top of the class left-handed raw power, and he gets to it, as evidenced by his 68 home runs over his final two seasons on campus. He's very aggressive in the box and there was concern about his tendency to chase pitches out of the zone (44 percent chase rate last year), but he doesn't strike out a lot and makes a lot of hard contact. He cut his miss and chase rates in 2024 and had a miniscule strikeout rate this spring. He's solid defensively at first base as well…"
 
MLB Pipeline on Sproat
"…The 6-foot-3 right-hander can touch triple-digits, as he's done a few times on the pro side, and he'll typically sit in the 95-97 mph range. He'll get some armside run on the heater too, so batters have to worry about more than just the velocity. His upper-80s changeup shows decent enough separation and good fade to give him another weapon that's worked in both college and the pros. He'll show a mid-80s slider and an upper-80s cutter -- two different pitches with varying amounts of horizontal break that have given upper-level hitters fits. There is also a 78-81 mph curveball that ranks behind the rest of the group in usage. While his K rate jumped in 2023, Sproat still walked 10.3 percent of the batters he faced for the Division I runners-up. His control has been more reined in during his quick ascent through the New York system as he reached Triple-A by August. He's become the Mets' best pitching prospect and has the arsenal depth and electricity to be a potential No. 2 starter in the Majors."
 
MLB Pipeline on Waldrep
"After two years of showing dominant stuff at Southern Miss, one as a reliever and one in the weekend rotation, Waldrep entered the transfer portal and moved to the University of Florida for his junior year. The Team USA alum served as the Gators' Saturday starter and continued to show off an impressive power repertoire, with uneven results. He showed enough for the Braves to take him with their first-round pick, then watched him race up the organizational ladder, touching all four full-season stops and finishing at Triple-A. There is no question about Waldrep's stuff playing against good competition. He left college with a career 13.5 K/9 rate, then struck out 12.6 per nine during his pro debut last summer. His bread-and-butter is an absolutely unhittable splitter, an upper-80s pitch that generated a miss rate north of 60 percent both at Florida and at the upper levels of the Braves system. He doesn't always command his fastball well, but it has plenty of velocity, up to 99 mph consistently. He also has a hard upper-80s slider that is plus at times and misses a lot of bats as well."
 
Baseball America on Barco
"Barco was a first-round talent out of high school but instead landed on campus in Gainesville, where he was part of Florida's rotation for three seasons. The Pirates popped him in the second round of the 2022 draft and signed him for $1.52 million. He had Tommy John surgery in May of his junior season and didn't make his pro debut until July 20. He split the 2023 season between the Florida Complex League and Low-A Bradenton… The Pirates selected Barco after he'd had his surgery because they believed his upside was worth the wait. In limited action, they began to see some of his potential. His two-seam fastball sat between 92-94 mph with solid sinking life, and his four-seamer sat in the same range with excellent horizontal break. Barco pairs his fastballs with a short slider in the low 80s. The Pirates had Barco tweak the grip on the pitch during instructional league to give it more of a gyro shape. He also throws a split-changeup in the mid-80s. In combination, Barco has weapons to attack both vertically and horizontally. He's a strong worker who is motivated to get back to the version of himself he showed before the surgery."
 
MLB Pipeline on Fabian
"His entire career, Fabian has displayed a tantalizing combination of power and speed aside of the holes in his game. He generates legit bat speed and power from the right side of the plate and has good wheels and excellent instincts on the bases. He racked up 27 homers and 32 steals in only 142 Minor League games – including 15 and 12 respectively last summer in only a half season at Bowie. The tradeoff is his swing-and-miss, which was always a part of Fabian's game. He struck out in 45 percent of his at-bats at Bowie. He's shown he can make consistent contact without sacrificing power at times, but all the whiffs severely cut into Fabian's upside. His speed and instincts benefit him as a defender. Fabian's ability to read balls off the bat and run efficient routes point to a long-term future in center field, and he possesses one of the better outfield throwing arms in the Orioles system. The athleticism, baseball IQ and all those loud tools should enable Fabian to grow into a middle-of-the-field impact bat in the big leagues if he can consistently handle high-quality pitching and cut down on the swing-and-miss."
 
Baseball America on Scott
"…Scott has the best mix of stuff and starter traits in the system. That is a credit to both him and Mets pitching development. A sinker/slider pitcher in college, Scott has remade his repertoire in pro ball to feature a four-seam fastball, slider, split-changeup and occasional curveball. He also added greater core strength and stability to help key his breakout. Scott pitches at 94 mph and touches 98 with plus ride and horizontal life. He throws a ton of strikes with his fastball and can get whiffs with it both in and out of the zone. Scott also throws strikes with a solid-average mid-80s slider that he favors when working ahead in the count. His mid-80s split-changeup has rapidly become a key pitch for whiffs and chases. He throws an occasional curve to steal a strike. Scott has plus control and holds runners well…"
 
MLB Pipeline on Thompson
"In two years at the University of Florida, Thompson established himself as one of the best pure hitters in Division I baseball. After hitting .354 with a 1.006 OPS in his Draft-eligible sophomore season with the Gators, the Rockies drafted him No. 31 overall in 2022 with a compensation pick they got for losing Trevor Story to the Red Sox via free agency. Though he missed more than a month with an elbow injury in his first full season, Thompson still established himself as the best pure hitter in the system, mashing his way to Double-A and finishing by hitting .338 in the Arizona Fall League. The left-handed-hitting Thompson has a nice package of approach, game plan, pitch recognition and swing mechanics that have led to success pretty much wherever he's been. He likes to use the whole field, showing extra-base thump and consistently hard contact. He definitely has the bat speed and strength to eventually forecast 15-20 homers a year without selling out for power."
 
MLB Pipeline on Neely
"…He led the Southeastern Conference with 13 saves as a sophomore, then began and finished last season as the Gators' closer while serving as their No. 1 starter in between. He came up huge in the postseason to help Florida reach the Men's College World Series before signing with the Red Sox for $700,000 as their third-round pick. Neely relies heavily on his fastball, which sits at 92-95 mph and operates at 97, getting chases and missing bats thanks to its huge armside run and some carry. His mid-80s slider is more powerful than sharp, playing as an average pitch most of the time. He hasn't shown much feel for his upper-80s changeup, which is too firm and lacks consistent movement. Operating with an up-tempo delivery with a short arm action, Neely doesn't look like a typical starter. He doesn't have any difficulty throwing strikes, however, and the Red Sox will put him in the rotation when he makes his pro debut in 2025. His repertoire, mechanics and competitiveness point to a long-term future in the bullpen.

MLB Pipeline on Aleman
"A 38th-round pick by the Braves out of a Florida high school in 2018, Aleman bounced from Florida International to St. John's River (Fla.) CC to Florida over the next three years. He continued to intrigue scouts but never had consistent success, finally turning pro as a 10th-rounder in 2021. He found his niche as a full-time reliever last year and was spectacular following a July promotion to Double-A, where he didn't allow an earned run while posting a 38/5 K/BB ratio in 24 innings. Aleman's stuff improved in shorter stints, especially in the second half of 2023. His fastball averaged 96 mph for the year and sat at 96-99 while reaching 101 with a flat approach angle and tough carry. His mid-80s slider became sharper and was a wipeout pitch at its best..."

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