Florida’s Jac Caglianone ranked top 1B in NCAA by D1Baseball
Florida first baseman Jac Caglianone was already considered one of the top players at his position heading into the 2024 season, and he is set up to end the year as the No. 1 player on D1Baseball’s positional rankings.
Wake Forest’s Nick Kurtz entered the year ahead of Caglianone, but Florida’s slugger overtook him by the midseason update after Week 6. At the time, the race wasn’t close, and Kurtz was in danger of slipping out of the race for the top spot. Since then, Kurtz has mashed the ball, adding 13 home runs and 39 runs batted in to his resume in six weeks.
Still, Caglianone’s numbers are far and away the best among college first basemen. He’s slashing .410/.511/.847 to Kurtz’s .324/.532/.820, winning the OPS battle by 0.006 points. Caglianone’s 53 runs batted in aren’t good enough for the nation’s high point, but it’s the most among SEC players on the list.
Most importantly, Caglianone has only struck out 17 times compared to 30 walks. He’s matured at the plate and refined his eye. There’s no more big swing and miss with two strikes, and he’s the rare case of a left hitting well against a pitcher of the same hand.
With 26 home runs, Caglianone is chasing history at Florida. He needs seven to tie Georgia’s Charlie Condon for the nation’s lead, but that’s how many Caglianone ended 2023 with after a College World Series run that went to the last possible game. It seems impossible with just six games left in the regular season and only a handful of guaranteed postseason games, but Cags has defied logic plenty of times.
Two other Gators crack top-50 lists
Second baseman Cade Kurland and shortstop Colby Shelton are the only other two Florida position players to make one fo D1Baseball’s Week 12 lists. Both began the season in the No. 5 spot on their respective lists, but Shelton ends the season at No. 28 and Kurland at No. 48.
Luke Heyman started the season ranked No. 23 on the list after slashing .314/.366/.555 with 12 home runs and 39 runs batted in as a freshman, but a rough 2024 has him unranked to end the year. Heyman moved up to No. 15 on the Week 6 update, but he’s been bad against conference opponents, lowering the hopes of turning pro as a draft-eligible sophomore.
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