Pete Alonso, New York Mets, First Baseman
Pete played 3 seasons for the Gators(2014-2016) and received numerous awards and recognitions while playing in Gainesville. As a Freshman he was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and a Second Team Freshman All-American. Then as a Junior he was a Semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and was named a First Team All-American and to the All-SEC Second Team. He was drafted in the 2nd Round with the 64th Overall Pick in the 2016 MLB Draft by the New York Mets. Despite all of his accomplishments in college, his biggest achievement came in his rookie season for the Mets. In the 2019 season Pete, as a rookie, led the entire MLB in home runs with 53, earning him the NL Rookie of the Year as well as an All Star nomination. Pete also has been very successful in Home Run Derbies, as a 5 time competitor. He is a 2 time winner, tying him with Prince Fielder and Yoenis Cespedes for 2nd most all time. This season was not the best for the Polar Bear, in a contract year he slashed .240/.329/.459 with bombing 34 homers and 88 RBIs while playing all 162 games, for the first time in his career. This comes a year after recording back to back years with over 40 bombs and over 115 RBIs. Pete will be a key hitter for the Mets in their postseason run and will look to get a huge pay day in the offseason whether from the Mets or a new franchise.
Harrison Bader, New York Mets, Center Fielder
Bader spent 3 years repping UF(2013-2015) and is one of the best outfielders to ever wear Orange and Blue. As a Freshman he was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team, as a Junior to the All-SEC Second Team, and as a Senior was named a Second Team All-American along with being a Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist. He was drafted in the 2015 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 100th overall pick in the 3rd round. Harrison debuted for the Cards in 2017 and stayed in St. Louis until he was shipped to his hometown team the Yankees in 2022. In 2023 he was waived by the Yanks and signed with the Reds for a very short stint before returning to NY, but not to The Bronx rather to Queens, signing with the Mets in the offseason. This signing reunited him with former teammate Pete Alonso, as they both shared time in ’14 and ’15 playing for Florida. The move was a good one for Bader as he had his best season since 2021, the year he won the NL Gold Glove for Center Field. Despite platooning for most of the season with other outfielders, Bader appeared in 143 games, slashing .236/.284/.373 while providing a .986 fielding percentage in Center Field. Bader will look to play a role in the Mets’ postseason as they look to make a run through the NL, starting with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Christian Scott, New York Mets, Starting Pitcher
Scott was at Florida for 3 years(2019-2021) making him one of the few Gators to play at old McKethan Stadium and at Condron Family Ballpark. As a Freshman he made a team high 22 appearances on the mound and had a 6-3 record with a 5.19 ERA. After a Sophomore year cut short by Covid-19, he returned as a Redshirt Sophomore where he once again led the Gators in appearances with 26 appearances and had a 4-2 record with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. He was drafted with the 142nd overall pick in the 5th round by the New York Mets in the 2021 MLB Draft. He made his debut for the Metros this year on May 4th against the Marlins in his home state. Scott ended the season with a 4.56 ERA and a 0-3 record in 9 starts. His season was cut short when he was placed on IL due to a sprained UCL in his elbow and has not returned to the majors since. The Mets will be without Scott’s services in the postseason due to this injury which caused him to undergo a hybrid Tommy John’s surgery to repair his elbow.
Danny Young, New York Mets, Starting Pitcher
Danny, no relation to Jacob who I’ll talk about next, played for the Orange and Blue for 3 years(2013-2015). He served as a reliever in his time playing for the Gators, in his last 2 years in Gainesville he had a perfect 7-0 record. During his stellar Senior year campaign he posted a 2.15 ERA, with a 0.96 ERA in SEC play. The southpaw was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 8th round of the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft with 242nd overall pick. Young however had to wait 7 years before cracking a major league roster, debuting for the Seattle Mariners before being waived and selected by the Atlanta Braves. In 2024 he joined the New York Mets where he has spent all season, producing a career high in appearances with 42 and a 4-1 record where he posted a 4.54 ERA. Danny has been selected to the Mets postseason roster, meaning it is likely he’ll get his first taste of October baseball this year.
Jacob Young, Washington Nationals, Center Fielder
JY spent 3 years at UF(2019-2021) and along with Christian Scott was a rare player that played at both the McKethan and at Condron. In his career he slashed .330/.400/.447 in 497 at-bats, appearing in 131 games including 123 starts, he spent most of his time in left field as one of the best defensive outfielders Florida has ever seen. His most notable accomplishment in the Orange and Blue came March 7th when he broke Tim Olson’s 21-year-old record with a 30-game hitting streak, the fourth-longest streak in. SEC history, spanning over the course of three seasons(2020 was only a 17 game season that was cut short due to Covid-19). This record still stands as it was tied last season by Jac Caglianone. In 2021 Young was drafted by the Washington Nationals with the 203rd overall pick in the seventh round of the MLB Draft. He debuted last season with the Nats playing in 33 games. This season however he appeared in 149 games, playing center field in all 149 of them. Young slashed .256/.315/.331 this year with 3 home runs and 36 runs batted in, however JY’s biggest contribution to the team was clearly in the field and on the base path. He tied Trea Turner for the most stolen bases in a season by a Washington Nationals rookie with 33, which led the team this year; he also scored 75 runs this season, second on the team. Young led the league in OOA(Outs Above Average) with 20 and had a field run value of 16, which is in the 99th percentile of players. As he had such a great year patrolling the outfield for the Nats, a Golden Glove is most likely on the way for JY, joining Harrison Bader in former Gators to have won a Gold Glove for center field.
Hurston Waldrep, Atlanta Braves, Starting Pitcher
Hurston only spent 1 year in Orange and Blue(2023), but he was a very big part of the Gator’s success even in his limited time. He was named a second-team All-American and had a 10-3 record with a 4.16 ERA while striking out 156 batters, the second most in a season by a Gator, only one strikeout behind Alex Faedo’s record set in 2017. Waldrep however did set the Gators single season record for the highest K/9(strikeouts per 9 innings) with a 13.81 rate topping John Burke’s 32-year record of 13.3 set in 1990, a deadly splitter helped him achieve this record as it was widely seen as the best breaking pitch in all of college baseball that season. Wally was drafted in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft going 24th Overall to the Atlanta Braves. Hurston spent little time in the minor leagues before being called up to the Braves and made his first ever Major League start June 9th against the Washington Nationals. His time in the majors was short and not so sweet, he only made 2 starts with the Braves before being placed on the IL. Waldrep did not return to the majors after being sent down for a rehab assignment. Waldrep’s season stats ended quite poorly, possibly due to a rushed debut by the Braves or his injury affecting his performance, he started 2 games, pitching 7.0 innings, recorded a 0-1 record with a 16.71 ERA and a 2.429 WHIP, striking out only three. This is far from over for Waldrep as he will get many more chances to pitch in the Majors and perform like the Waldrep we fondly remember from the ’23 season.
Jonathan India, Cincinnati Reds, Second Baseman
India played 3 years in Gainesville(2016-2018) where he was a key part of the 2017 National Championship team. As a Gator Jonathan was graced with many awards and recognitions, in 2016 he was named to the All-SEC Freshman team and named a Freshman All-American, then in 2018 he was named the SEC Player of the Year, the third Gator to do so, was named to the All-SEC First Team and the SEC All-Defensive Team, was a consensus First Team All-American, and finally was a Semifinalist for both the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy. As he was such a decorated player in college, India was selected 5th overall in the 2018 MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds, the third-highest draft pick in school history behind Mike Zunino and Wyatt Langford. Indy spent 3 years in the minors before debuting for the Reds in 2021, which still stands as the best year of his young career. He was named the NL Rookie of the Year in ’21, only 2 years after former teammate Pete Alonso won the award. This year India put up his best season since his rookie campaign, he slugged .248/.357.392 with 15 homers, 28 doubles, and 58 runs batted in. He appeared in 151 games for Cincinnati, playing second base for 133 of those games. India is a core piece of the young Reds roster that struggled this year going 77-85, but will look to make a playoff push next year.
A.J. Puk, Arizona Diamondbacks, Relief Pitcher
A.J. played 3 years for Florida(2014-2016), just missing out on the National Championship year, in his final year as a Gator he was apart of the most lethal pitching staff in Gator history featuring Puk, Snead, Faedo, Singer, Kowar, and Dunning, who all made contributions in the MLB, and other very notable pitchers such as Michael Byrne and Shaun Anderson. Puk was almost overlooked due to how good the staff was as despite recording a 3.05 ERA, holding batters to a .190 batting average against, and 101 strikeouts in 73.1 innings, he did not receive any All-American nods nor even any All-SEC Team selections. Despite being snubbed from any college awards, he was still picked with the 6th overall pick in the 1st round of the 2016 MLB draft by the Oakland Athletics. Puk made his Major League debut for the A’s in 2019, but is now on his 3rd team after being traded to the Miami Marlins by the A’s and then to the Arizona Diamondbacks by the Marlins in the middle of this season. Despite being a starter for UF, he has found his role to be as a relief pitcher in the big leagues. This year for the DBacks he pitched in 30 games, tossing 27.1 innings allowing only 15 hits and 5 walks while striking out 43 batters, he ended the season with an impressive 1.32 ERA, a much better ERA than he recorded for the trade from the Marlins which was 4.30. The DBacks just missed out on the postseason this year so Puk won’t get to experience October baseball for a 2nd straight year.
Brady Singer, Kansas City Royals, Starting Pitcher
Brady was a Gator for 3 years(2016-2018), as a Sophomore he was a key component of the National Championship team in 2017 in which he started Game 1 of the College World Series Finals where he K’d 12 LSU batters in a winning effort. More remarkably however, Singer had one of, if not the best season for a Florida Gator player of all time as a Junior. He had 12 wins and 3 losses in 17 starts where he recorded a 2.55 earned run average and a 0.94 WHIP, while tossing 114 strikeouts and only giving up 22 walks. For such dominance he was named the National Player of the Year by Collegiate Baseball and D1Baseball.com, an unanimous First Team All-American, awarded the Dick Howser Trophy, named the SEC Pitcher of the Year, and yet somehow was not the winner of the Golden Spikes Award only ending as a Finalist. Brady was then selected 18th overall in the 2018 MLB Draft by the Kansas City Royals, the team he still pitches for today. He made his debut in the shortened 2020 season and quickly engrained himself into the Royals starting rotation. Now in his 5th year with the team, in 127 pitching appearances, he has started 124 of them. This year Brady started a career high 32 games on the mound, tied for second highest on the team, where he tossed a career high 170 innings while recording a 3.71 ERA and a 1.275 ERA with 9 wins and 13 losses. Brady’s biggest accomplishment in his professional career so far has to be representing Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, along with his former teammate from Florida, Pete Alonso. Singer and the Royals are playing the Orioles in the Wild Card and Brady is set to start game 3 if it is needed.
Alex Faedo, Detroit Tigers, Relief Pitcher
Alex played for the Gators for 3 years(2015-2017) and left after leading UF to their only National Championship as the CWS Most Outstanding Player. As a Junior he was a Second Team All-American, for the second straight year, an All-SEC Second Teamer, and was a Semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award. He had 9 wins and 2 losses that year, recording a 2.26 ERA and striking out a Gator single season record 157 batters which led the nation in 2017. As good as he was in the regular season, he was even better during the NCAA Tournament, going 27.1 innings, allowing only one run, and K’ing 44 batters. He finished his career with the highest win percentage in school history at .824 with a 28-6 record, with 349 career strikeouts standing third in school history, and as the only Gator to ever win the CWS Most Outstanding Player. Faedo was drafted in the 1st round with the 18th pick by the Detroit Tigers in the 2017 MLB Draft. He debuted for the Tigers in 2022 pitching in 5 games all as a starter, however he has now shifted to a reliever role for Detroit as this year he has made 37 appearances with only 6 being as a starter. This year had 5 wins and 3 losses with a career low ERA at 3.61. His season was cut short August 30th when he was placed on the IL and has yet to return. The Tigers made the postseason and are set to face the Houston Astros, sadly I doubt Faedo will make any appearances in October.
Wyatt Langford, Texas Rangers, Left Fielder
Wyatt represented Florida on the ball field for 3 years(2021-2023) and despite only appearing in 4 games his Freshman year, he ended his career tied for 6th in career home runs by a Gator. This is aided by his insane Sophomore year where he tied Matt LaPorta for the most home runs in a season by a Gator with 26, which now only ranks third due to Jac Caglianone. This is not the only record Langford set that Cags now holds however as Langford broke Brad Wilkerson’s 25 year record for highest career slugging percentage with .746, while Jac ended slugging .760. Despite losing some of his records to his teammate, Wyatt is still very accomplished and decorated in his own right, 2 time First Team All-American, 1 time All-SEC First Team and 1 time All-SEC Second Team, and a Golden Spikes Award Finalist. He ended his career ranking top 10 all time at UF in all these stats: fielding percentage(T-2nd), batting average(5th), home runs(6th) and on-base percentage(7th). When he was selected 4th overall by the Rangers in the 2023 MLB Draft, he became the 2nd highest Gator player ever taken, only behind Mike Zunino. Wyatt didn’t even spend a year in the minors as he made the Rangers 2024 Opening Day Roster and started for the Rangers right away. Despite the fact he may not win the AL Rookie of the Year like many predicted, Langford had a very successful rookie year, he became the first player since Jackie Robinson to to hit an inside-the-park homer, a walk-off grand slam, and hit for the cycle in the same season, and was the first rookie to ever do so. The Rangers season ended without a postseason berth, so Wyatt won’t get to showcase his clutchness in the postseason just yet.
Dane Dunning, Texas Rangers, Starting Pitcher
Dane played for UF for 3 years(2014-2016) where he worked as both a starter and reliever for the Gators. As a major leaguer he still is in the limbo of being in the starting rotation, but also being used out of the bullpen plenty as well. As a Sophomore, Dunning made 14 starts out of 16 pitching appearances, making him tied for 2nd in starts made. Then as a Junior he was Florida’s main guy out of the pen, making 33 appearances, 28 in relief. He carried a 6-3 record and a 2.29 ERA that year, in the NCAA Tournament he pitched 15.1 innings in the and only allowed 1, giving him an ERA of 0.60. He was selected with the 29th overall pick in the 1st round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals. Dunning was traded to the White Sox before making his major league debut in 2020, then in the offseason after his rookie season he was traded to the Texas Rangers, his current team. He has done time as both a reliever and starter for the Rangers, in the past 2 years about 65% of his pitching appearances have been starting. Dunning won a World Series Ring last season and appeared in 3 games for the Rangers in the Rangers’ postseason run, totalling 2.1 innings pitched allowing 3 hits and no runs. This season as a primary starter, had a record of 5-7 with a 5.31 ERA, a career worst. As the Rangers did not make the postseason this year, he will look to bounce back from a rough season next year and while he doesn’t currently have a contract signed for the 2025 season, he will surely be re-signed or picked up by a new team with a need for a serviceable arm.
