Florida might be 19-11 after seven weekends of college baseball, but the Gators still have a ton of talent on the roster, according to D1Baseball's midseason position rankings update.
A trio of starting pitchers — Jake Clemente, Aidan King and Liam Peterson — are among the top 150 starters, and reliever Luke McNeillie is a top-100 arm out of the bullpen. All four of Florida's starting infielders — Bobby Boser, Cade Kurland, Brendan Lawson and Colby Shelton — rank inside the top 50 at their position as well.
There's a lot of baseball left to be played, though, and these lists don't include the most recent series loss to Ole Miss. A lot can change over the next two months, but these are the Gators standing out at the midway point.
RHP Liam Peterson — No. 8 Starting Pitcher
Liam Peterson is the next great pitcher to come out of Gainesville, and that's been apparent since the moment he stepped on campus. He made the weekend rotation as a freshman and battled through some tough outing in 2024, worked on his mechanics over the summer and returned as the unquestioned ace of the 2025 Florida roster.
Baseball America tabbed Peterson as the No. 3 overall player and the top pitcher in the 2026 college draft class. A first-round pick appears likely, and Peterson has played the part for most of the year. Through four non-conference starts, Peterson allowed just two runs over 22 innings of work and struck 34 batters to just six walks. Things have been tougher since the start of SEC play. Peterson gave up four runs and walked three in a loss to Tennessee and missed his next start with what's been reported as general soreness. He returned to the rotation on Saturday against Ole Miss, but the Rebels touched him up for five runs over 4 1/3 innings.
It's hard to say how much the injury has affected Peterson's game. The stuff is there, but he's not always sharp. His fastball can touch 98 mph and both his slider and changeup have the potential to be plus pitches by the time the 2026 draft rolls around. At the halfway point in the 2025 campaign, Peterson holds a 3.38 ERA, 39.3% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate over 29 1/3 innings. If the Florida ace can maintain the control he's shown this season, he'll only move further up this list over the second half of the season.
MIF Cade Kurland — No. 9 Second Baseman
Florida's highest-ranked bat is a player who has missed more than half the season. Cade Kurland has only appeared in 13 games for the Gators this year after dislocating his shoulder during the second game of the Miami series. He's played in three games over the past month and hasn't looked right since the injury.
Kurland has held down the second base spot for Florida since he was a freshman. Now a junior, he's considered a top draft prospect at the position despite facing injuries last year and this year. Before the shoulder injury, Kurland was batting .353 and riding a seven-game hit streak. He walks (10) as much as he strikes out (10), with a 19.6% rate in each column, and is enjoying the best offensive year of his career, metrically — .289 ISO, .490 wOBA, .360 BABIP and 156 wRC+. Those numbers could fall against the SEC schedule, but there's no doubt that Kurland has started the year off well.
D1Baseball ranked him No. 22 among second basemen in the preseason. Now he's a top-10 player at his position. Hopefully, he can return to being a lineup regular soon. Florida's offense could use another consistent bat in the lineup.
MIF Colby Shelton — No. 11 Shortstop
Colby Shelton has been the most consistent bat for Florida this season, with a team-high .364 batting average and 43 hits. The ...
