Florida Baseball: Gators lead way for MLB Opening Day

Opening Day for MLB was yesterday, and if it seemed like many former Florida baseball members were taking the field, that’s because there were. With ten former players on Opening Day rosters, the Florida Gators had more former players than any other collegiate program in the country.

Perhaps it’s time to rename the program Baseball U.

Florida Baseball: Harrison Bader

Harrison Bader spent three seasons in Gainesville, from 2013 through 2015. In 2014 he hit .337, and while that number dipped to .297 in 2015, he also hit 17 home runs and was named a Second-Team All-American.

Bader was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round and made his major league debut in 2017.

He has since won the Gold Glove in 2021 and was traded to the Yankees last August. Bader played for team Isreal at the WBC.

Bader did not start yesterday.

Florida Baseball: Mike Zunino

Mike Zunino has been around the block several times in the big leagues. After winning the  Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy, and the Johnny Bench Award in 2012 with the Gators, Zunino was drafted by the Seattle Mariners as the third overall selection in the draft.

Zunino has hung around the Mendoza Line his whole career, with a career batting average of .200 and 146 home runs. He spent six seasons with Seattle, then was traded to Tampa after the 2018 season.

He signed a one-year deal with Cleveland in the offseason and was their starting catcher yesterday. He went 0-3 with two strikeouts.