Buddy Reed has all the qualities a baseball coach looks for in a center fielder.
He has top-notch instincts, a crucial talent because of the vast amount of ground he’s tasked with covering.
He makes the most difficult plays look routine, diving for balls that seem out of reach to the naked eye or smashing his body against the center-field wall to rob a home run.
And most importantly he’s fast, a trait you can’t teach.
This year — Reed’s sophomore season with the Gators — Reed has taken advantage of his speed, and he has quickly become one of the top defensive center fielders in college baseball.
In the outfield, Reed has committed just three fielding errors in 152 chances, good for a .980 fielding percentage. He’s able to throw the ball to home plate from mid-center field — about 300 feet at McKethan Stadium — with ease.
He was the only UF player named to the Southeastern Conference All-Defense team (even though Josh Tobias should have also been on there, but I’ll save that argument for another column).
"I feel good about where he is defensively," UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said prior to the College World Series. "He’s good to his left, good to his right, good coming in on a ball and good going back on a ball. He’s one of the main reasons we’re playing such good defense this year."
While defense has been Reed’s biggest strength, he’s flashed potential at the plate.
And his speed has been a factor there, too.
The Finksburg, Maryland, native leads Florida with 86 hits this season, with 23 going for extra bases. He has 18 stolen bases — second only to junior and first-round draft pick Richie Martin’s 20 — and has beaten out infield hits on numerous occasions.
During the UF’s 10-0 win against Arkansas in the SEC tournament, ESPN clocked Reed at 3.9 seconds down the first-base line as he beat out a slow-rolling ball hit to the second baseman in the fourth inning.
"It’s crazy," sophomore teammate Peter Alonso said. "There’s really nothing more to say."
Now that the Gators are still alive in College World Series play following their 10-2 romping of Miami in the elimination game, UF has to keep the momentum going if it has any hope of winning its first national title in program history.
Florida needs to win two straight against Virginia — a team that took a 1-0 victory over the Gators on Monday — to advance to the championship series.
It's a quick turnaround for the Gators.
But with a player as quick as Reed — in the outfield, at the plate and on the basepaths — they have a chance to break through.
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126.
Florida's Buddy Reed runs toward first base during the Gators' 15-3 victory against Miami in the NCAA Men's College World Series on Saturday, June 13, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha.
