A handful of Florida Gators hear their name called every draft cycle, typically a few inside the first five rounds. The 2025 class looks to be no different with six Gators on D1Baseball’s list of the Top 150 College Draft Prospects ahead of the spring season.
Shortstop Colby Shelton (63rd), right-hander Jake Clemente (79th), left-hander Pierce Coppola (101st), infielder/outfielder Blake Cyr (113th), second baseman Cade Kurland (125th) and catcher/first baseman/outfielder Brody Donay (150th) all made the cut.
Florida baseball fans should be familiar with five of those six names from last season, the lone addition being Cyr, who transferred from Miami.
No. 63: SS Colby Shelton
Shelton transferred to Florida ahead of the 2024 season from Alabama, with the promise of being the Gators’ everyday shortstop instead of being shifted to third base by the Crimson Tide. Defensively, Shelton impressed but still has work to do to remain at short in the pros. MLB teams interested in him might view him more as an offensive second baseman come draft time.
Offensively, Shelton will enter the 2025 season as Florida’s most feared bat and hit in the middle of the lineup. He has a chance to lead the team in home runs, with power being his most projectable tool.
It’s notable that a .254/.375/.551 slash line and setting the program record for homers by a shortstop (20) last season was viewed as disappointing, but the dip from a .300/.419/.729 freshman year can be attributed to a flatter swing and focus on defense. The flattened swing resulted in a 4% increase in line drives, but he also hit the ball on the ground 6% more often. Getting that flyball rate back up above 50% should help his numbers in a metal-bat league.
After shining offensively as a freshman and defensively as a sophomore, Shelton’s junior year is the time to put it all together. Areas of focus will be cutting down on a career 25.6% strikeout rate and returning to form in isolated power (.429 in 2023, .297 in 2024).
No. 79: RHP Jake Clemente
Clemente, a standout two-way player out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, spent his first season on the shelf at Florida, recovering from a shoulder injury. He made 19 appearances with two starts and posted a 5.34 earned run average over 28 2/3 innings. His strikeout-to-walk ratio neared 2.00 — 39 strikeouts and 20 walks — last year and he had a breakout summer in the Cape Cod League.
On the Cape, Clemente emerged as the Brewster Whitecaps’ most…
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