Florida Baseball 2024 Position Preview: Relief Pitchers

After discussing which pitchers could start for Florida in 2024, it’s time to look at which arms could be used in relief this season.

Kevin O’Sullivan only has a few returners in his bullpen, and they should be leaned on heavily as a mostly rookie staff finds its footing ahead of SEC play.

Leading the way — well closing the way, technically — is preseason All-American Brandon Neely. Ryan Slater and Blake Purnell are two familiar names who should get the call regularly. Behind them, it’s mostly freshmen.

Let’s take a look at the rest of Florida’s pitching staff ahead of the 2024 season.

Closer: RHP Brandon Neely

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Although there were talks of him moving back to a starting role, Brandon Neely has a chance to be the best closer in the SEC, and perhaps all of college baseball. He ended 2023 with the sixth most saves in the country and most in the conference.

Neely has starter stuff on the mound. His fastball has touched 96 mph but is more consistently 92-94 mph, and his low-80s slider is his main putaway pitch. If he can develop his curveball or changeup a bit more, Neely should be one of the first relievers taken in the draft this summer.

Key Veteran: Blake Purnell

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It’s been a tale of two seasons for Blake Purnell at Florida. He burst onto the scene as Florida’s most-used arm in 2022, hurling more than 50 innings over 36 appearances for the Gators. But everything got turned around in 2023.

Purnell’s already-low strikeout rate plunged even further, and his walk rate more than doubled. His ERA tripled and batters were hitting the ball in the air far more often against him.

Still, there’s plenty of optimism surrounding Purnell heading into the season. Now a veteran arm on a young staff, he’ll get opportunities to prove himself. His low arm slot makes his low-90s fastball play fast, and he has both a changeup and slider to induce the ground balls he needs.

Long Relief: Ryan Slater

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Ryan Slater has the best numbers of any returning reliever on the roster besides Neely. He’s consistent in his long relief role and the metrics are all trending in the right direction — walk rate down, strikeouts rate slightly up and FIP down nearly a whole point.

There’s a chance that Slater takes over a starting role in the midweek, but he’s probably better served out of the bullpen. His fastball is in the low-90s and can touch mid-90s, he throws a slider for a breaking pitch and has a high high-80s changeup.

Returning Arms: Fisher Jameson and Jake Clemente

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The two other returning arms in Florida’s bullpen are Jake Clemente and Fisher Jameson.

Jameson is the more tenured Gator, entering his third year with the program, while Clemente is just starting his journey after missing his first season with an injury.

Things didn’t go well for Jameson in 2023. His ERA ballooned from 3.72 in 2022 to 13.50 and he was only trusted for 12 2/3 innings of work. Still, Jameson is viewed as one of the breakout candidates in this bullpen. His slider can dip to the low-80s and generate a good amount of swing and miss, and his fastball is touching the mid-90s, per reports.

He finished the summer with a 3.21 ERA and 21 strikeouts in the Cape Cod League. Don’t be surprised to see Jameson finish the year with 30 innings under his belt.

Clemente is another breakout candidate out of the ‘pen, but he features a mid-to-upper-90s fastball along with a slider and changeup. The slider is his go-to secondary, but this is a guy who is going to use his velocity (touching 97-98 mph at times) to attack hitters and get ahead in the count. He should be another 20-plus inning guy for the Gators this year.

The New Righties: Hunter Jones, Alex Philpott, Grayson Smith and Reilly Witmer

Now it’s time to talk about the freshmen, and there are a lot of them.

It’s always hard to tell which arms will stand out, especially when there is so much talent, so let’s group these guys by throwing side. First up, the righties: Hunter Jones, Alex Philpott, Grayson Smith and Reilly Witmer.

Witmer is 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds with a low-90s fastball that’s touching 95 mph. His slider bounces around the 80-mph mark and his changeup is in the mid-80s; both generate good swing and miss. This could be a future closer for Florida, so expect Sully to give him chances in high-leverage situations, especially early on.

Philpott and Smith both need a little time, but it’s easy to see them getting innings this year. Smith has a fairly standard arsenal with a low-90s fastball, low-80s slider and a mid-80s changeup, but he’s going to grow and refine each of those pitches throughout the season.

Philpott stands at 6-foot-5-inches and 178 pounds, and he knows how to spin the baseball. His fastball has a ton of vertical movement on it and his slider is over 2,600 rotations per minute — major league average is about 2,150.

Gators Wire got a chance to see Jones at the FHSAA state championships in May, and he was on fire. He led the North Marion Colts to a 4A title over Miami Sunset, striking out a career-high 13 batters. Expect Jones to make a bigger impact next year, but this

The New Lefties: Jacob Gomberg and Robert Satin

The two lefty relievers in this freshman class are Jacob Gomberg and Robert Satin.

Gomberg is one of three players from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on this team, but he didn’t pitch at all for the Eagles last year. Fortunately, he’s entering 2024  without any injuries, and he should get some opportunities as Florida figures out who its main left-handed relief option is going to be. Gomberg slider has been described as “disgusting” by several coaches and players, but the real test will be throwing it against SEC bats.

Satin isn’t your traditional SEC arm, but his high-80s-to-low-90s fastball plays with a funky delivery. He was another dominant arm at the state championships a year ago, but now he’ll have to prove his stuff plays in college. If fall was any indication, he’ll be just fine as long as he pitches to contact.

Out For The Year: Cade McDonald and Christian Rodriguez

Christian Rodriguez and Caden McDonald are two first-year arms we won’t see this year. Both are recovering from Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire season.

Rodriguez had draft offers coming out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, but he opted to go to college and play for the Orange and Blue. It isn’t by coincidence that Rodriguez wears Brandon Sproat’s No. 8 either. There’s a high ceiling here, whether it’s as a starter or out of the bullpen.

Rodriguez features a three-pitch mix with his changeup serving as his best pitch. Gators Wire has been on location several times where his fastball was up to 95-96 mph on a scout’s radar gun.

McDonald flipped from UCF to Florida back in June. He was a two-way stud at Sickles High School in Tampa and another one of the Gators on display when Gators Wire visited the FHSAA state championships. McDonald worked with both a curve and a slider in high school, backing up his low-90s fastball.

There is a chance that McDonald hits this year, depending on when his surgery was. He was already looking to follow a similar path to the one Jac Caglianone took at Florida, which saw him hit while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Read more

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Story originally appeared on Gators Wire