Less than two weeks ago, all seemed fine with Florida Baseball. The Gators were coming off a midweek win over FSU, were 16-2 on the season, and were ranked No. 7 in the country. Sure, there were some warning signs that maybe everything wasn't as rosy as it seemed, but every year, Florida seems to find a way to rise to the level of their competition, and in the end, everything works out.
Fast forward two weeks and the Gators are in deep trouble. It also doesn't mean that all of a sudden, Kevin O'Sullivan has lost his ability to lead this program.
Florida Baseball: Swept Again
There has been some online discourse over the weekend that O'Sullivan is "washed up," and if Florida continues to hang on to him without changes, then the Gators are going to head down the same path of mediocrity that football has with Billy Napier or basketball did with Mike White.
This seems silly, considering O'Sullivan has an actual track record of success to point to. Since winning the national title in 2017, Florida has still maintained its spot among the top programs in the country:
- 2018 - Went to CWS and were among the final four
- 2019 - 34-26, eliminated by DBU in Regionals
- 2020 - Was ranked 1st before the season was shut down
- 2021 - 38-22, seeded 15th in Regionals, eliminated after going 0-2
- 2022 - 42-24, seeded 13th, knocked out by Oklahoma after an ill-fated rain delay
- 2023 - National runner-ups, and would have won it all if Wyatt Langford's line drive in game one didn't go straight into the glove of LSU
- 2024 - CWS, made the final four
Now, it is also true that several other programs in the SEC can point to similar success over that timespan, and baseball benefits from the Big Ten being irrelevant along with the bottom half of the ACC.
But outside of 2019, Florida, at worst, has been a top 15 program and, at its best, has shown it can still win it all if everything goes right.
It also isn't unfair to state that outside of their tournament run last year, Florida hasn't looked like a top-tier program these past two seasons.
This year was supposed to be different. The Gators lost Jac Caglianone but appeared to have a far deeper lineup on paper, combined with a pitching staff that had the potential to be the best in the country.
Injuries have derailed the staff, but injuries alone don't explain why Florida gave up 40 runs over three games against Georgia. Florida sent out 13 different pitchers against Georiga, and all 13 gave up at least one run during their outing. In games two and three, the Bulldogs scored in 13 of the 16 innings played.
The lineup for Florida didn't do much to help, either. They, too, have had some injuries, and even with that, they still have six qualified hitters with a batting average of over .295, along with four guys with an OPS over 1.000. But what has become evident with the lineup is that they feast off subpar pitching only to look lost against anyone capable of throwing a 93 MPH fastball.
If you want an idea of how noncompetitive some of the at-bats for Florida were this weekend, Georgia hitters walked five times on Sunday. Florida, meanwhile, forced a three-ball count just three times in total. This was after Georgia walked eight times on Saturday while Florida forced a three-ball count just seven times.
If Kevin O'Sullivan didn't have the track record he has, then yes, it would be completely fair to question if he can right the ship. And if the ship sinks this year and keeps sinking next year, then we can revisit this conversation.
But for now, Florida is just a bad baseball team that needs a spark to jumpstart things back in the right direction.
And if there is one thing we have learned from O'Sullivan over the years, he's not going to come up with excuses, and he's not going to stop tinkering until he finds someone who can deliver that spark.