Nice little blurb about the Gators in an ESPN article regarding winners from the MLB Draft (
Kiley McDaniel: My favorite and least favorite MLB draft picks)
Day 2 thoughts
Score one for the Gators
One of the big winners of Day 2 was the University of Florida. The Gators' two top veteran starters, Tommy Mace and Jack Leftwich, both went undrafted, but fit in the second and third rounds, respectively, based on talent. Both put out big signability numbers and had the potential to go higher with a strong spring but didn't get the chance.
On top of that, Florida saw two top-100 talents -- prep commits LF Sterlin Thompson and SS Colby Halter -- not get drafted through five rounds. Thompson will be sophomore-eligible in 2022 and was a second-round talent with a big hit/power combo on some clubs' boards. Halter is a hit-first, heady player from the Jacksonville area who plays the middle infield but has more average-type tools. Similar things were said about fifth overall pick Austin Martin when he opted to go to Vanderbilt -- admittedly a best-case scenario for Halter. Prep commit LHP Timmy Manning also would have gone in the top five rounds if he were signable.
Also talented enough to go in the
fourth or fifth round: 2B Jacob Young, 3B Cory Acton and RHP Christian Scott. The Gators should be loaded next season.