GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators picked up a commitment from Santa Fe College right-handed pitcher Matt Jenkins. The 6-6, right-handed pitcher from Live Oak, Florida just finished his freshman season with the Santa Fe Saints and will have three years of eligibility remaining.
Jenkins is a 6-6 righty with an electric fastball that has been clocked as high as 96 MPH and is ranked as the No. 22 junior college prospect in the country.
Jenkins made 16 appearances for the Saints last season, including two starts. He posted a 4.74 ERA and 1.70 WHIP with 60 strikeouts over 57 innings. Jenkins’ size and fastball could have him drafted this year on his potential alone (junior college prospects can be drafted after their first or second years in school).
Jenkins projects as a starter long-term but would most likely serve out of the bullpen for Florida.
Matt Jenkins joins six other transfers
Jenkins is the seventh transfer the Gators have landed this offseason and the first junior college transfer.
Florida has added two outfielders in the transfer portal in Miami’s Blake Cyr (who can play in the infield as well) and Stetson’s Kyle Jones.
Cyr was only able to play in 25 games for the Canes last season due to injury. Despite breaking his thump in April, he still slashed .284/.397/.537 with seven home runs, the infielder played just 25 games. As a freshman at Miami, Cyr, played in 59 games. He slashed a stellar .306/.420/.628 season. Cye hit 17 home runs and drove in 63 RBI’s as one of the best hitters in the ACC. Cyr posted 18 multi-hit performances and 19 multi-RBI efforts, while registering a .427 on-base percentage and .620 slugging percentage. He was named to the ACC All-Freshman team.
Jones is coming off of a tremendous freshman season for the Hatters.
He finished the season leading the Hatters with a .355 batting average. Jones also posted a .459 on-base percentage. He drove in 32 runs, swiped 23 bases, and hit five home runs as a freshman, which led him to being named ASUN Freshman of the Year.
The Gators have also added infielders Justin Nadeau (Jacksonville) and Landon Stripling (Texas Tech). Jenkins joins two other pitchers in Michael Ross (Samford) and Billy Barlow (Clemson).
Nadeau just finished his sophomore season and will have two years of eligibility to play. As a freshman at JU, he started all 49 games he appeared in (47 at second base, 2 at first base). He finished third on the team in batting average, tied for third in hits, and fourth in on-base percentage. Nadeau was the first JU freshman to reach the 30 RBI mark since 2010. He was second on the team with 17 multi-hit games and had seven multi-RBI games. He was named to the ASun All-Freshman team.
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Publish date : 2024-07-17 13:47:41
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