Five Florida baseball players named Perfect Game All-Americans
OMAHA, Neb. — The University of Florida baseball team had five players collect 2023 All-America honors from Perfect Game/Rawlings on Thursday. Left-handed pitcher/first baseman Jac Caglianone outfielder Wyatt Langford, shortstop Josh Rivera, second baseman Cade Kurland, and left-hander Cade Fisher.
Caglianone and Langford were listed on Perfect Game’s First Team at utility and outfield, respectively. Rivera was honored as a Second Team infielder while Kurland (First Team) and Fisher (Second Team) hauled in Freshman All-America status. Most notably, Friday’s announcement marks the first-career All-America recognition for Fisher.
Additionally, Caglianone and Langford earned their third All-America awards of the 2023 campaign. Rivera’s Second Team nod marks his second of the season as well as his highest-career All-America honor, with Kurland picking up his third Freshman All-American mention.
For Caglianone, the Tampa, Fla. native was honored as the publication’s Two-Way Player of the Year after being snubbed for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award earlier this week.
Florida opens play at the 2023 College World Series in Omaha, Neb. With a Friday night showdown against No. 11 Virginia at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, June 16 on ESPN.
Caglianone named two-way player of the year for Gators
Caglianone was named the best two-way player of the year by Perfect Game as well. The publication wrote this about the Gators’ superstar.
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With the recent surge in legitimate, high-level two-way talent in the college game, we have decided to add this category to the list of our postseason awards. Having been compared to Shohei Ohtani on more than one occasion, Jac Caglianone has done things at the college level that have never been witnessed before.
The 6-5/245 talent from Tampa, FL possesses arguably the most, raw lefthanded power with the bat and the strongest left-handed arm on the mound of any player in the history of the college game. On several occasions this spring, Caglianone produced home runs that registered up to 120 mph off the bat while throwing a pitch that also eclipsed the 100-mph mark.
His torrid bat speed saw him lead the nation in home runs throughout the season as he slashed .336/.766/.402 to go with 13 doubles, 31 home runs while collecting 84 RBIs. On the mound, he used his fastball that sat in the upper-90s and abrupt breaking ball to hold opponents to a .184 batting average. In 16 starts, he went 7-3 with a 3.78 ERA, only allowing 46 hits in 69.0 IP while striking out 81 batters. It will be interesting to see where MLB scouts see his long-term talent but regardless, he will enter the 2024 season as arguably the No.1 talent in that class.
