Fresh off an appearance in the national semifinals in Omaha, Florida is using its significant brand awareness to lure in top targets in the transfer portal. And the Gators appear to have landed another in Samford right-handed pitcher Michael Ross.
D1Baseball.com’s Kendall Rogers reports he is hearing that Ross, the SoCon Pitcher of the Year, has committed to the Gators.
MIchael Ross is coming off a bounce-back campaign in 2024 after missing the entire 2023 season due to injury. As a redshirt junior in 2024, Ross put together a 13-0 record in 15 starts.
He fielded a 3.27 ERA and worked 96.1 total innings, striking out 88 while walking just 21.
That kind of an arm would do wonders for Florida, which suffered from inconsistent pitching at times during its run to Omaha. Of course, Rogers is draft eligible, so the Gators will need to avoid him taking the professional route this summer.
That was an issue for the program last year, when Florida landed UCLA pitcher Kelly Austin in the transfer portal, only two watch Austin sign with the Houston Astros. Florida sorely missed the kind of arm Austin would have brought to the roster.
In any case, the Michael Ross addition is a huge scoop for the Gators, who have been active on the transfer portal trail.
Florida lands outfielder Kyle Jones
In addition to Michael Ross, Florida also landed a commitment from mega-talented outfielder Kyle Jones via the transfer portal this week.
Jones played at Stetson, where he turned into one of the top outfielders in the country.
He was tabbed the ASUN Freshman of the Year after leading the Hatters in batting average, runs, doubles, stolen bases, and on-base percentage. Jones drove in 29 runs while crossing the plate 46 times on the season and holds a .346 batting average entering postseason play.
He finished the season leading the Hatters with a .355 batting average. Jones also posted a .459 on-base percentage. He drove in 32 runs, swiped 23 bases and hit five home runs as a freshman.
The Gators will lose outfielders Jaylen Guy, Tyler Shelnut, and likely Ty Evans to the MLB Draft. Michael Robertson is only a redshirt sophomore with two years of eligibility left but has already graduated from Florida. He could also return next season. Florida has yet to start exit interviews with the team since returning to Gainesville on Thursday.
On3’s Nick de la Torre also contributed to this report.
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