Florida Baseball’s King Crowned Freshman All-American

After a stellar first-year campaign, Florida pitcher Aidan King was crowned a Freshman All-American.

King is Florida’s 31st First Team Freshman All-American in program history and is the first Gator to receive the accolade since Cade Kurland and Cade Fisher in 2023.

Young King Aidan

Freshman All-American pic.twitter.com/9QtkcrNCa1

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) June 10, 2025

2025 Standout Season

King was a standout pitcher for the Gators this past season, recording the lowest ERA by a Florida player since 2018 with 2.58. The true freshman logged a .213 batting average against and allowed only three home runs. He picked up a record of 7-2 through 17 appearances.

The true freshman performed especially well towards the end of the season, logging a 0.94 ERA across his last five starts.

King received a few other accolades throughout the season, including a 2025 SEC All-Freshman Team selection. He earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors three times throughout the season and was named SEC Pitcher of the Week once, setting a program record with four overall weekly honors.

Florida recently had four players named to the Southeast All-Region Second Team, including the right-handed ace.

Looking Ahead

King’s pitching expertise was a much-needed highlight in a year full of bullpen struggles.

“He’s really good. We’ve seen it all fall, all preseason, and so far, this spring. I don’t think he was expecting to be out there that early, but he can go long if he wants to. He just competes,” said teammate Luke Heyman earlier in the season. “He looks like he’s been out here for years doing it.”

Florida has lost a handful of pitchers in the offseason, including Alex Philpott, but has added two pitchers from the transfer portal.

Notre Dame RHP Ricky Reeth and UCF RHP Russell Sandefer both committed to Florida last week. Reeth had a 4.31 ERA last season and could be a great addition to Florida’s bullpen. Sandefer could fill a closer role for the Gators with a nasty slider and changeup pitch.