Two Gators named preseason All-Americans by Perfect Game
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The preseason accolades continue to roll in for the Florida Gators baseball program. Thursday outfielder Wyatt Langford and right-handed pitcher Hurston Waldrep were selected as preseason All-Americans by Perfect Game.
Langford is coming off of an All-American season in 2022, while Waldrep is ranked as D1Baseball.com’s 14th-best college prospect for the 2023 MLB Draft.
Entering the 2023 season as a potential Golden Spikes Award front-runner, Langford is coming off one of the greatest seasons in Gators’ history. Langford slashed .355/.447/.867, and the Trenton, Florida native tied Florida’s single-season home run record with an SEC-leading 26 dingers. The 2022 First Team All-American started all 66 games for the Gators a season ago. He finished with three triples, nine doubles, 73 runs, 63 RBI, and seven steals. Perhaps most impressively, he turned in a 1.000 fielding percentage across 125 chances while playing in the outfield fo the first time in his career.
Joining Langford as a PG Preseason All-American is Waldrep, who enters his first season in Orange & Blue after transferring in from Southern Miss during the offseason. Highly regarded as one of the top arms in the nation, Waldrep was named a 2022 Third Team All-American by D1Baseball after churning out 90 frames of 3.20 ERA ball with 140 strikeouts – translating to 14.0 strikeouts per nine innings. The Thomasville, Ga. native was equally brilliant in limited action as a freshman in 2021, working to a 3.35 ERA and .217 batting average against with 16 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings of work. That track record carried into this past fall, where Waldrep fired four scoreless frames against Georgia and Stetson, highlighted by an immaculate inning against the Hatters.
At present, Langford and Waldrep are ranked as the No. 3 and No. 10 overall prospects for the 2023 MLB Draft according to MLB Pipeline, respectively.
Florida’s 2023 season officially opens at home on Friday, Feb. 17 with the first of three games in a weekend series against Charleston Southern. Fans will have plenty of opportunities to cheer on the Gators at Condron Family Ballpark, as 20 of Florida’s first 22 games take place at home.
Gators preseason honors
Florida’s 2023 Preseason All-America Honors
Wyatt Langford – First Team (Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game)
BT Riopelle – Third Team (Collegiate Baseball)
Brandon Sproat – Second Team (Collegiate Baseball)
Hurston Waldrep – First Team (Collegiate Baseball), Second Team (Perfect Game)
