O’Sullivan enjoying time as pitching coach

Along with being the head coach of Florida’s baseball program, Kevin O’Sullivan recently added the title of “Pitching Coach” to his resume. After being named the pitching coach to USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team earlier this month, O’Sullivan has enjoyed his time working with some of the best college players and coaches in the country.

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O’Sullivan’s time as the pitching coach

As the pitching coach, O’Sullivan joins an impressive staff that includes Jerry Weinstein, a longtime coach in the Colorado Rockies organization, and former MLB shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who is currently a member of the Texas Longhorns staff. With the current staff as well as impressive roster, O’Sullivan’s time on the staff has been enjoyable:

Gators on the team

Joining O’Sullivan from Florida are freshmen pitchers Hunter Barco and Brandon Sproat. In a July 7 game, Barco and Sproat impressed many with their combined 12 strikeouts and only allowed three hits. In the start, Sproat struck out four batters. After entering the game as the reliever, Barco struck out eight batters in the win.

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Discussing their performance, O’Sullivan expressed his pleasure with their outing:

MLB Draft

Along with focusing on the Collegiate National Team, O’Sullivan has been focusing on the upcoming 2021 MLB Draft, where there is the possibility of players leaving the national team and the Gator baseball team. Overall, O’Sullivan knows that the possibility is there, but there is a good chance players choose to stay depending on their situation:

However, filling a roster can be difficult. With expanded rosters and the draft being held after the July 1 deadline for the transfer portal, O’Sullivan is not a fan of the way the draft is set up:

Although figuring out a roster can be difficult, O’Sullivan still loves this part of the job.

“We’re excited about it. It’s a really fun part of the year, especially for me. I love this part of the job, putting a team together and seeing who’s coming in and coming back,” Sullivan said. “Obviously it’s a wait and see. It’s out of our hands. It should be really interesting.”

In a schedule change, Major League Baseball moved its annual draft to the beginning of All-Star Week. Originally in Atlanta, MLB moved All-Star Week to Denver following the passing of a controversial voting law in Georgia. The First Round of the 2021 MLB Draft starts on June 11 at 7:07 p.m. on ESPN.