GAINESVILLE, Fla. – When Sterlin Thompson stepped on the Coors Field grass in Denver for his big-league debut with the Colorado Rockies against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 16, he became the 91st Florida Gator to play in Major League Baseball.
More importantly, Thompson (UF 2021-22) signified Florida’s nation-leading 43rd MLB debut since 2008 – six more than any other NCAA program. Ever since Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan took the reins of the UF baseball program 19 years ago, the Gators have established themselves as the sport’s No. 1 producer of MLB talent.
During the 2025 season alone, Florida paced all of college baseball with 17 MLB players as four Gators made their debuts in Jac Caglianone (UF 2022-24), Brandon Sproat (UF 2020-23), Philip Abner (UF 2022-23) and Hunter Barco (UF 2020-22). The former three players joined Wyatt Langford (UF 2021-23) and Hurston Waldrep (UF 2023) as members of the 2023 National Runner-Up squad to reach the big leagues, giving the Gators a nation-high five MLB players and three pitchers from the 2023 roster.
As a result, Florida has developed 22 MLB pitchers and 21 position players since 2008. While both those totals sit second nationally, the Gators are the lone program to send 20-plus pitchers and position players to the MLB in that span. No other college team has even produced 18 or more of each.
With Thompson and Franco Aleman (UF 2021) making their MLB debuts in 2026, at least one Gator has debuted in The Show every year dating back to 2017 for a streak of 10-consecutive seasons. But the story does not end with their debuts, as MLB Gators have been performing at an elite clip at baseball’s highest level. Florida’s nation-best 17 MLB players combined for 18.2 wins above replacement (WAR) last season, led by Langford (5.4), Harrison Bader (4.3, UF 2013-15), Pete Alonso (3.5, UF 2014-16) and Brady Singer (3.3, UF 2016-18).
Taking a look at the current 2026 MLB campaign, three Gator sluggers enter mid-August with an OPS+ above 125 – indicating they are more than 25% better than the league-average hitter: Alonso (133), Caglianone (128) and Langford (126). That UF trio has been worth a combined 8.5 WAR headlined by Alonso at 3.2 and Caglianone at 2.9.
As Florida’s top-two leaders in WAR this season, Alonso (26) and Caglianone (21) have teamed up for 47 home runs. They also have six Home Run Derby appearances between the two of them, as Caglianone participated for the first time in 2026 while Alonso, a two-time champion (2019, 2021), competed on five occasions from 2019-24.
Holding status as a five-time MLB All Star, Alonso was selected to the Midsummer Classic in 2019 and again across four-straight seasons from 2022-25. In fact, Florida generated an MLB All-Star over six-consecutive All-Star Games from 2019-25, as Mike Zunino (UF 2010-12) homered at the 2021 All-Star Game in Colorado en route to a career-high 34 home runs that season.
A complete list of Florida’s all-time MLB players and current Gators competing in affiliated professional baseball can be found here.
MLB University – By the Numbers
91 MLB Players All-Time
43 MLB Debuts Since 2008 (1st in NCAA)
6 more than any other program (Arizona & LSU: 37)
22 MLB Pitchers Since 2008 (2nd in NCAA)
21 MLB Position Players Since 2008 (2nd in NCAA)
20+ MLB Pitchers, 20+ MLB Position Players Since 2008
Unparalleled Balance: no other NCAA program has 18+ of each
17 MLB Players During 2025 Season (1st in NCAA)
5 MLB Players from 2023 UF Roster (1st in NCAA)
3 MLB Pitchers from 2023 UF Roster (1st in NCAA)
All-Time Florida Gators to Play in MLB (91)
Count
Player
UF Letterman
MLB Debut Date
1
Lance Richbourg
1919 – 1919
7/4/1921
2
Ned Porter
1924 – 1926
8/7/1926
3
Johnny Burnett
1926 – 1926
5/7/1927
4
Hank Boney
1926 – 1927
6/28/1927
5
Tiny Chaplin
1925 – 1927
4/13/1928
6
Russ Scarritt
1922 – 1928
4/18/1929
7
Bill Ferrazzi
1933 – 1935
9/7/1935
8
Lefty Guise
1930 – 1930
9/3/1940
9
Bill Ramsey
1939 – 1940
4/19/1945
10
Al Rosen
1942 – 1942
9/10/1947
11
Haywood Sullivan
1950 – 1952
9/20/1955
12
Casey Wise
1952 – 1953
4/16/1957
13
Nick Testa
1946 – 1946
4/23/1958
14
Dale Willis
1955 – 1956
4/14/1963
15
Dennis Aust
1960 – 1961
9/6/1965
16
Bill Graham
1955 – 1956
10/2/1966
17
Ross Baumgarten
1977 – 1977
8/16/1978
18
Doug Corbett
1971 – 1974
4/10/1980
19
Roger Holt
1975 – 1977
10/4/1980
20
Marc Sullivan
1977 – 1979
10/1/1982
21
Randy O’Neal
1981 – 1981
9/12/1984
22
Steve Lombardozzi
1980 – 1981
7/12/1985
23
Rob Murphy
1979 – 1980
9/13/1985
24
Robby Thompson
1983 – 1983
4/8/1986
25
Mike Stanley
1982 – 1985
6/24/1986
26
Jeff Fischer
1984 – 1985
6/19/1987
27
Scott Lusader
1984 – 1985
9/1/1987
28
Steve Rosenberg
1985 – 1986
6/4/1988
29
Dave Eiland
1985 – 1985
8/3/1988
30
Scott Ruskin
1982 – 1985
4/9/1990
31
Javier Ortiz
1982 – 1982
6/15/1990
32
Rod Brewer
1985 – 1987
9/5/1990
33
Mike Perez
1985 – 1985
9/5/1990
34
Herb Perry
1988 – 1991
5/3/1994
35
Jamie McAndrew
1987 – 1989
7/17/1995
36
Marc Valdes
1991 – 1993
8/28/1995
37
John Burke
1990 – 1992
8/13/1996
38
Kevin Polcovich
1991 – 1992
5/17/1997
39
Robert Dodd
1994 – 1994
5/28/1998
40
Paul Rigdon
1996 – 1996
5/21/2000
41
Chan Perry
1993 – 1994
8/5/2000
42
David Eckstein
1994 – 1997
4/3/2001
43
Brad Wilkerson
1996 – 1998
7/12/2001
44
Josh Fogg
1996 – 1998
9/2/2001
45
Mark Ellis
1996 – 1999
4/9/2002
46
David Ross
1998 – 1998
6/29/2002
47
Tim Olson
2000 – 2000
5/30/2004
48
Ryan Shealy
2000 – 2002
6/14/2005
49
Darren O’Day
2003 – 2006
3/31/2008
50
Matt LaPorta
2004 – 2007
5/3/2009
51
Bryan Augenstein
2005 – 2007
5/13/2009
52
Ryan Sadowski
2001 – 2003
6/28/2009
53
Nick Maronde
2009 – 2011
9/2/2012
54
Paco Rodriguez
2011 – 2012
9/9/2012
55
Mike Zunino
2010 – 2012
6/12/2013
56
Kevin Chapman
2007 – 2010
8/9/2013
57
Matt den Dekker
2007 – 2010
8/29/2013
58
Anthony DeSclafani
2009 – 2011
5/14/2014
59
Cole Figueroa
2007 – 2008
5/16/2014
60
Preston Tucker
2009 – 2012
5/7/2015
61
Brian Johnson
2010 – 2012
7/21/2015
62
Nolan Fontana
2010 – 2012
5/22/2017
63
Austin Maddox
2011 – 2012
6/17/2017
64
Harrison Bader
2013 – 2015
7/25/2017
65
Bobby Poyner
2012 – 2014
3/31/2018
66
Justin Shafer
2012 – 2014
8/19/2018
67
Eric Hanhold
2013 – 2015
9/4/2018
68
Pete Alonso
2014 – 2016
3/28/2019
69
Richie Martin
2013 – 2015
3/28/2019
70
Shaun Anderson
2014 – 2016
5/15/2019
71
A.J. Puk
2014 – 2016
8/21/2019
72
Brady Singer
2016 – 2018
7/25/2020
73
Dane Dunning
2014 – 2016
8/19/2020
74
Jonathan India
2016 – 2018
4/1/2021
75
Jackson Kowar
2016 – 2018
4/7/2021
76
Taylor Gushue
2012 – 2014
6/30/2021
77
Kirby Snead
2014 – 2016
7/28/2021
78
Mark Kolozsvary
2015 – 2017
4/20/2022
79
Alex Faedo
2015 – 2017
5/4/2022
80
Danny Young
2013 – 2015
5/9/2022
81
Dalton Guthrie
2015 – 2017
9/5/2022
82
Jacob Young
2019 – 2021
8/26/2023
83
Wyatt Langford
2021 – 2023
3/28/2024
84
Christian Scott
2019 – 2021
5/4/2024
85
Hurston Waldrep
2023
6/9/2024
86
Jac Caglianone
2022 – 2024
6/3/2025
87
Brandon Sproat
2020 – 2023
9/7/2025
88
Philip Abner
2022 – 2023
9/19/2025
89
Hunter Barco
2020 – 2022
9/23/2025
90
Franco Aleman
2021
5/10/2026
91
Sterlin Thompson
2021-22
5/16/2026