Florida baseball will send another high-impact bat to the Major Leagues in Sunday's MLB Amateur Draft (5 p.m., ESPN and MLB Network).
Two-way Florida Gators star Jac Caglianone is projected as a top five overall pick by most major MLB mock draft websites. MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo projects Caglianone to go fifth overall to the Chicago White Sox, while Perfect Game projects Caglianone to go third overall to the Colorado Rockies.
The highest drafted player in UF history was catcher Mike Zunino, who went third overall to the Seattle Mariners in the 2012 MLB Draft.
How does Jac Caglianone compare to other Florida baseball stars?
Last year, UF slugger Wyatt Langford went fourth overall to the Texas Rangers and moved up the Texas system quickly, rising from Single A to Triple A last year before landing a spot on the Rangers' roster out of spring training. Langford was named AL Rookie of the Month for June and became just the second rookie in Texas franchise history to hit for the cycle when he pulled off the feat on June 30 on Sunday Night Baseball against the Baltimore Orioles.
Caglianone became the first SEC player to ever hit 30 home runs in back-to-back seasons, breaking his own school record with 35 home runs. For the season, Caglianone batted .419 with 35 home runs and 72 RBIs, reaching base in 52 straight games to close his college career.
In addition, Caglianone, a lefty, earned the John Olerud two-way college player of the year honors after going 5-2 with a 4.76 ERA in 16 starts. It's unclear at this point whether Caglianone will continue his goal of being both a pitcher and hitter in professional baseball, but Florida baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan said he's become a more well-rounded player, noting his defensive improvement at first base.
"It's obvious that he's got special hitting ability, but what he's been able to do at the other parts of his game, defensively he's just a difference maker on that side of the ball," O'Sullivan said. "He runs the bases really good. We were down I think five at one point, at that point of the game and he made the right decision not to tag, because his run did not matter when the ball's hit down the left field line. He makes really good decisions."
Two more Florida baseball players could get picked high in the draft
Two more Florida players — right-handed pitcher Brandon Neely and shortstop Colby Shelton — are both rated as top 200 draft prospects and could go within the first five rounds of the draft. Shelton batted .254 with 20 home runs and 56 RBIs, while Neely went 3-4 with a 5.13 ERA and 5 saves.
Here's what former Colorado Rockies GM and MLB Network analyst Dan O'Dowd thinks about all three of UF's high draft prospects.
Florida baseball P/1B Jac Caglianone
O'Dowd referred to Caglianone's swing as "elite."
"When you look at the fundamentals of the swing, the way he moves his hips and the stretch that he gets," O'Dowd said. "Kind of that boomerang effect and the bat lag he gets behind it where his bat head stays completely behind him, while his whole lower half is gone. So, there’s a complete disconnect between the top and lower half so he doesn’t have a one-piece swing."
The question going into Caglianone's junior year, O'Dowd said, was whether he could improve his plate discipline. Caglianone answered that by dramatically improving his strikeout-to-walk ratio, from 68-17 in 2023 to 26-58 in 2024.
"He made adjustments," O'Dowd said. "When I saw him against good pitching, he had a two strike approach ... the College World Series, when they tried to elevate four-seam verticals on him, he got on top, hit some hard line drive ground balls up the middle when he got behind in the count."
O'Dowd said it would be intriguing if a professional team considered using Caglianone as a relief pitcher instead of a starter, if he wanted to continue his two-way dream. He also said he wouldn't move him from first base to a corner outfield spot, which some draft analysts have suggested.
"I just don’t want to do anything that’s going to mess with the bat," O'Dowd said. "I don’t want him being physically fatigued or worrying about a new position. I just want him to focus on first base. He’s made progress there. He can get better there, and he has to at the Major League level because that’s a position where you save errors through the course of the year."
As for whether Caglianone can make a Langford-like rise and reach the majors in 2025, O'Dowd said: "The guy can move quickly as long as he shows the ability to hit velo in pro ball and not chase. As soon as he shows that, he’s not going to be long for the big leagues. I mean I didn’t think Wyatt was a close as Jac was honestly. I thought there was more swing and miss in his game coming out the University of Florida than there is Jac’s."
Florida baseball SS Colby Shelton
O'Down said Shelton's bat profiles more a second baseman than a shortstop or corner infield spot. Shelton struggled with plate discipline throughout the 2024 season at UF with 82 strikeouts to 35 walks.
"The kid is going to hit for power," O'Dowd said. "The question I’m hearing is going to be, the walks to strikeouts are a little concerning and will he have some swing and miss to get to his power, so is there a better bat to ball hitter in there."
O'Dowd suggested that Shelton could benefit by returning to UF for another year, depending on his draft position.
Florida baseball RHP Brandon Neely
O'Dowd is high on the potential of Neely, who bounced from closer to the starting rotation back to closer for UF during an up-and-down 2024 season.
“He is a multiple inning dominant arm that’s really highly competitive," O'Dowd said. "I don’t think this guy is going to spend a lot of time in the minor leagues."
Neely appeared in 28 games, including six starts in 2024 for UF. In 79 innings, Neely struck out 108 batters while walking just 28.
"This guy could be a 60 appearance, 100-inning, 110-inning type guy," O'Dowd said. "That is so valuable right now because you’ve got to cover so many innings at the big-league level, starting pitching isn’t doing it. So, I don’t like him as a starter because I don’t see a real third pitch, but I love him in that role.”
“
