Kevin O’Sullivan has a slight problem on his hands: Florida has too many big bats.
An abundance of power hitters seems like a luxury any team would cherish. It’s a good issue to have, but it’s an issue nonetheless.
The Gators can trot out any combination of the following: reigning Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Mike Zunino, two-way prospect Brian Johnson — both of whom are projected first-rounders in June’s MLB First-Year Player Draft — Austin Maddox, freshman Taylor Gushue and senior Preston Tucker, who is on the precipice of breaking Florida’s all-time RBI record.
That’s enough to make any opponent tremble, just ask Cal State Fullerton coach Rick Vanderhook, who compared UF’s lineup to the 1927 New York Yankees.
While it’s certainly not Murderer’s Row, the Gators’ lineup has plenty of pop, especially when you factor in the likes of bench players Vickash Ramjit and freshman Justin Shafer.
There’s just one small problem with all these sluggers: There aren’t enough at-bats to go around because they all field similar positions.
Of those seven players, Zunino, Gushue and Maddox can all play catcher, and two of them have already done so this season, with Zunino at backstop for the weekend series and Gushue earning his first start behind the plate Tuesday.
Tucker, Maddox, Johnson and Ramjit are all comfortable at first base, and O’Sullivan plans on getting Gushue some time there, as well. Meanwhile, Tucker and Shafer have both been slotted in right field so far this season, and Maddox, Zunino, Gushue and Johnson have all been in the lineup as a designated hitter.
“We have depth and we’ve got some guys we can plug in,” O’Sullivan said during the weekend.
So the challenge for O’Sullivan as the season progresses is to find the right balance of at-bats for all of these hitters — and it will be no easy task, even for a coach who has rebuilt UF’s program in four-plus seasons and enjoyed unprecedented success in Gainesville.
With seven legitimate hitters vying for four positions in the order on any given night, who become the odd men out?
It would be criminal to omit Zunino from the lineup, seeing as he is the Gators’ highest-rated draft prospect for this summer’s draft (Baseball America lists him as the No. 5 eligible player).
The same goes for Tucker, who will finish his career as the most prolific hitter in Florida history. Johnson only hit during one of Florida’s opening-series games so he could focus on pitching Sunday, but he shouldn’t be left out considering he hit an impressive .394 in games that he started on the mound last season.
Although it’s early in his career, Gushue’s hot start makes it tough to sit him. Meanwhile, Florida is better off using Maddox solely out of the bullpen with the way he has been throwing this season.
That leaves Maddox on the outside looking in with Shafer and Ramjit. That’s where things get tough for O’Sullivan, because bench-clearing nights like Wednesday aren’t going to be the norm.
He faces the unenviable task of figuring out the right distribution of at-bats while trying to keep egos in check, and he needs to do it all without overthinking — or else Florida’s apparent luxury will become a taxing issue.
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.
