Florida Baseball: Three stats the Gators could improve upon

Florida baseball is on fire right now. Sitting at 27-6 with a 9-3 record in SEC play, the Gators enter tonight’s game against FSU as one of the legit contenders to win it all in Omaha in June.

But no team is perfect, and if Florida does want to win the national title, here are three stats that could be better for the Gators going forward.

Florida Baseball: Take your base

We know the Gators are hitting the ball at will. They have hit 73 home runs, good for third in the country, and are also third in the country for runs scored with 315 runs in 33 games, an average of 9.5 runs per game.

One weak spot though within the Florida offense is their reluctance to take walks. With 151 walks this season, Florida is only 91st in the country in walks drawn. It may not seem like a big deal, but as the quality of pitchers will only get stronger as SEC and NCAA play progresses, Florida is going to find itself it spots where it needs to work the count and take its free base.

Florida Baseball: Catch the ball

Florida has committed 29 errors this season. Colby Halter has five while Jac Caglianone and Cade Kurland both have four. As a whole the Gators have a team fielding percentage of .974, good for 82nd in the country.

This is right at the line of not being bad enough to cause panic, but also happening frequently enough that in a one game do-or-die scenario an untimely error isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

Florida Baseball: Keep runs off the board

The bullpen for Florida was a massive issue early in the season, but Kevin O’Sullivan seems to have found a handful of guys that can get the job done. Still, what has emerged during SEC play is the Florida’s main rotation is solid but not necessarily elite as a unit.

All three of the weekend starters for the Gators have an ERA over 4.50 and Florida as a team has an ERA of 4.78. That’s 64th in the country.

Caglianone hasn’t gone past four innings in four of his last five starts, Brandon Sproat was lit up against Auburn after giving up five runs against Ole Miss, and Hurston Waldrep has been consistent but has given up at least three runs in his last four starts.

Opposing teams aren’t getting a ton of hits off Florida pitching as the Gators are 19th in hits allowed per game. Florida is also 7th in the country in strikeouts-per-nine-innings  with 11.6.

However, Florida is surrendering 4.78 walks per game. That’s 165th in the country and is a big reason why the team ERA is as high as it is.