Gators add Mercer transfer Colby Thomas
In recent days the Florida Gators have seen several players leave via the transfer portal. Thursday they were on the other end, picking up a commitment from Mercer outfielder Colby Thomas. Thomas tweeted his commitment Thursday afternoon.
Thomas will be a junior in 2023 with two years of eligibility left. He enrolled at Mercer in 2020 and was an instant starter. Thomas started all 16 games in the outfield & earned a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American honor in the abbreviated season. He led Mercer with nine doubles, five home runs, 23 hits & 18 RBI, while batting .333.
Thomas made 53 starts in 2021, batting .247 (47-for-190) with 12 doubles, a triple, and ten home runs, and nine stolen bases.
Last season, Thomas was named to the All-Southern Conference first team after hitting .325 with 17 home runs, 45 RBI, 14 doubles, two triples, and 11 stolen bases. He missed the last 16 games of the season with a torn labrum, but the injury shouldn’t affect him at Florida in 2023.
Thomas is ranked No. 94 on MLB Pipeline’s prospect rankings. MLB Pipeline called Thomas “one of the better athletes in the 2022 college class.”
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“A 37th-round pick by the Orioles out of a Georgia high school in 2019, Thomas led the Southern Conference with five homers in 16 games as a Mercer freshman during the shortened college season the following spring,” MLB Pipeline wrote of the Gators’ newest player. “He’s showing more discipline this spring and has played his way into the top three rounds, making him the Bears’ best prospect since Kyle Lewis went 11th overall in 2016, though his season ended in early May after he injured the labrum in his right (throwing) shoulder and required surgery.”
Thomas highlights
Gators will be active in the portal
The Gators have had six players enter the transfer portal this offseason. The transfer portal is changing the landscape of college sports and baseball is no exception. In the past years, Kevin O’Sullivan was hesitant to use the transfer portal. O’Sullivan and his staff have always been strong recruiters at the high school level. The Gators regularly pull in top-ranked classes and O’Sullivan was hesitant to change.
With the 2020 cancellation and subsequent addition of an extra year of eligibility, baseball teams across the country have gotten older. In 2022 the Gators had 21 freshmen (true and redshirt) on a roster of 35. Their youth showed throughout the season. That, coupled with the success of transfer BT Riopelle, has helped change the way O’Sullivan will approach this offseason. Expect the Gators to be very active in the transfer portal.
