GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Gators have now seen two former stars earn promotions to Major League Baseball in the last calendar week, as the Colorado Rockies recalled outfielder Sterlin Thompson from Triple-A Albuquerque on Friday afternoon.
When Thompson debuts with Colorado, he will mark Florida’s nation-leading 43rd MLB debut since 2008. In total, the former Florida slugger will be the 91st Gator to play in the MLB including the 39th coached by Kevin O’Sullivan. Thompson is the second former UF player to earn his MLB promotion during the 2026 season alongside right-handed pitcher Franco Aleman, who debuted with the Cleveland Guardians on May 10.
Suiting up in Orange & Blue from 2021-22, Thompson was a first-round pick by Colorado as the 31st overall selection in the 2022 MLB Draft. Across parts of five seasons in the Minor Leagues, Thompson batted .284/.373/.462 with 51 home runs, 14 triples, 83 doubles, 245 runs, 216 RBI and 52 stolen bases.
Playing each of the last two campaigns at the Triple-A level, Thompson posted a .911 OPS in 2025 before getting off to a .344/.491/.496 start with four homers, five doubles and eight steals in his first 36 games of the 2026 season. As a result, the Citra, Fla. native was the No. 15 prospect in Colorado’s organization at the time of his MLB promotion.
During his two years at Florida, Thompson played in 121 games highlighted by 117 starts. He totaled 16 home runs, five triples, 26 doubles, 98 runs, 78 RBI and 12 steals while hitting .332/.443/.563 across 437 at bats. In his sophomore 2022 campaign, he recorded a .354 batting average and 11 home runs – one of which walked off Florida State on May 17 to claim the season series.
Thompson and the Rockies opened a three-game home series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. Although Thompson did not appear in the series opener, he will look to make his big-league debut at some point during the set.
Below is a complete list of Gators to debut in the MLB since 2008.
Florida’s Nation-Leading 43 MLB Debuts Since 2008
Player
Drafted (Round)
MLB Debut
Team
1
Darren O’Day
Undrafted
March 31, 2008
Los Angeles Angels
2
Matt LaPorta
2007 (1st – 7th overall)
May 3, 2009
Cleveland Indians
3
Bryan Augenstein
2007 (7th)
May 13, 2009
Arizona Diamondbacks
4
Ryan Sadowski
2003 (12th)
June 28, 2009
San Francisco Giants
5
Nick Maronde
2011 (3rd)
September 2, 2012
Los Angeles Angels
6
Paco Rodriguez
2012 (2nd)
September 9, 2012
Los Angeles Dodgers
7
Mike Zunino
2012 (1st – 3rd overall)
June 12, 2013
Seattle Mariners
8
Kevin Chapman
2010 (4th)
August 9, 2013
Houston Astros
9
Matt den Dekker
2010 (5th)
August 29, 2013
New York Mets
10
Anthony DeSclafani
2011 (6th)
May 14, 2014
Miami Marlins
11
Cole Figueroa
2008 (6th)
May 16, 2014
Tampa Bay Rays
12
Preston Tucker
2012 (7th)
May 7, 2015
Houston Astros
13
Brian Johnson
2012 (1st – 31st overall)
July 21, 2015
Boston Red Sox
14
Nolan Fontana
2012 (2nd)
May 22, 2017
Los Angeles Angels
15
Austin Maddox
2012 (3rd)
June 17, 2017
Boston Red Sox
16
Harrison Bader
2015 (3rd)
July 25, 2017
St. Louis Cardinals
17
Bobby Poyner
2015 (14th)
March 31, 2018
Boston Red Sox
18
Justin Shafer
2014 (8th)
August 19, 2018
Toronto Blue Jays
19
Eric Hanhold
2015 (6th)
September 4, 2018
New York Mets
20
Richie Martin
2015 (1st – 20th overall)
March 28, 2019
Baltimore Orioles
21
Pete Alonso
2016 (2nd)
March 28, 2019
New York Mets
22
Shaun Anderson
2016 (3rd)
May 15, 2019
San Francisco Giants
23
A.J. Puk
2016 (1st – 6th overall)
August 21, 2019
Oakland Athletics
24
Brady Singer
2018 (1st – 18th overall)
July 25, 2020
Kansas City Royals
25
Dane Dunning
2016 (1st – 29th overall)
August 19, 2020
Chicago White Sox
26
Jonathan India
2018 (1st – 5th overall)
Thursday, April 1, 2021
Cincinnati Reds
27
Jackson Kowar
2018 (1st – 33rd overall)
Monday, June 7, 2021
Kansas City Royals
28
Taylor Gushue
2014 (4th)
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Chicago Cubs
29
Kirby Snead
2016 (10th)
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Toronto Blue Jays
30
Mark Kolozsvary
2017 (7th)
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Cincinnati Reds
31
Alex Faedo
2017 (1st – 18th overall)
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
Detroit Tigers
32
Danny Young
2015 (8th)
Monday, May 9, 2022
Seattle Mariners
33
Dalton Guthrie
2017 (6th)
Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022
Philadelphia Phillies
34
Jacob Young
2021 (7th)
Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023
Washington Nationals
35
Wyatt Langford
2023 (1st – 4th overall)
Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024
Texas Rangers
36
Christian Scott
2021 (5th)
Saturday, May. 4, 2024
New York Mets
37
Hurston Waldrep
2023 (1st – 24th overall)
Sunday, June 9, 2024
Atlanta Braves
38
Jac Caglianone
2024 (1st – 6th overall)
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Kansas City Royals
39
Brandon Sproat
2023 (2nd)
Sunday, September 7, 2025
New York Mets
40
Philip Abner
2023 (6th)
Friday, September 19, 2025
Arizona Diamondbacks
41
Hunter Barco
2022 (2nd)
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Pittsburgh Pirates
42
Franco Aleman
2021 (10th)
Sunday, May 10, 2026
Cleveland Guardians
43
Sterlin Thompson
2022 (1st – 31st overall)
TBD
Colorado Rockies