Florida Baseball: Three stats Gators want to continue to excel at in 2023
![Florida utility Wyatt Langford #36 reacts to scoring as teammates congratulate him in the dugout during the fifth inning Tuesday, March 29, 2022 at 121 Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville. The annual game, Fresh From Florida Sunshine Showdown, between the Florida State Seminoles and the University of Florida Gators, resumed after two year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Florida downed Florida St. 6-3. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]Jki 033122 Uffsubaseball 23](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F2a4e13f79d8001096ec3a2011883df9fb3d766bb1ac0d454c72fadb4b247957c.jpg "Florida utility Wyatt Langford #36 reacts to scoring as teammates congratulate him in the dugout during the fifth inning Tuesday, March 29, 2022 at 121 Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville. The annual game, Fresh From Florida Sunshine Showdown, between the Florida State Seminoles and the University of Florida Gators, resumed after two year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Florida downed Florida St. 6-3. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]Jki 033122 Uffsubaseball 23")
We chronicled yesterday three stats that the Florida Gators want to improve upon heading into 2023. But it’s not like all was bad for Florida baseball last year, the squad did go 42-24 and acted as a host for the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
For the Gators to build upon last year, here are three stats they will want to continue to do well at in 2023.
Florida Baseball: Walk this way
One stat Florida struggled at in 2022 was batting average, with a team average of .273. Despite their struggles at generating hits, the Gators proved to be patient enough at the plate to generate a high number of walks.
With 290 walks, the Gators were 40th in the country in walks generated. While Florida probably would like to generate even more considering they were only 8th in the SEC in walks, it is still better than the 172nd they finished for batting average.
Florida Baseball: Chicks dig the long ball
Despite the low batting average, Florida still managed to finish 58th in total runs scored. While that still needs to be higher to sustain success in the SEC, it was the usage of the long ball that allowed Florida to score a large number of their runs.
The Florida Gators hit 121 home runs in 2022, good for 7th most in the country and 2nd most in the SEC.
Wyatt Langford led the way with 26 home runs and BT Riopelle returns after hitting 15 dingers last season.
Florida Baseball: WHIP it real good
What kept Florida afloat last season was its pitching staff. At 4.22 earned runs per game, Florida ranked 24th in the country and 4th best in the SEC.
One reason why Florida had such a solid ERA was it simply didn’t allow many baserunners in the first play. Florida’s WHIP, Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched, was an impressive 1.27, the 10th best rate in the country.
Simply put, Florida didn’t give themselves too many jams they had to pitch out of.