{"id":814591,"date":"2026-07-20T17:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/814591\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T17:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:28:14","slug":"gators-p-luke-mcneillie-makes-decision-on-future-after-mlb-draft-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/814591\/","title":{"rendered":"Gators P Luke McNeillie Makes Decision on Future After MLB Draft Selection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite having the option to return for one more year, former Florida Gators<\/a> right-handed pitcher Luke McNeillie has turned pro, signing with the New York Mets, Baseball America\u2019s Carlos Collazo reported on Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0McNeillie signed for $497,500 as a fifth-round pick, $25,000 more than the projected slot value.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-3 righty spent three seasons with the Gators, filled with minor injuries that cost him time on the mound. His fastball reached mid-to-upper 90s, and he paired it with a dangerous slider and curveball.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He holds a career 5.24 ERA and 12-8 record in 122 innings pitched for the Gators. He also commands a 163-to-62 strikeout-to-walk ratio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His best season came in 2026 as a junior. The 2026 Preseason First Team All-SEC and 2026 Baseball America Second Team Preseason All-American posted a 3.97 ERA and a 3-0 record in 18 appearances for Florida. Additionally, he struck out 48 batters while walking 17 in 34 innings pitched. Unfortunately for the righty, his season was disrupted by injuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of his best outings this past season came against in-state rivals Florida State on March 24. He tossed three scoreless innings and struck out a season-high six batters along the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McNeillie’s most healthy season came as a sophomore in 2025. He pitched a career-high 52.1 innings and struck out a career-high 72 batters. He also posted a 4.82 ERA and a 5-2 record.<\/p>\n

Then, in typical fashion for a freshman, McNeillie had an up-and-down debut campaign. Even though he ended with a 7.07 ERA, the right-hander had a strong stretch over the final 52 contests. During that span, he recorded a 3.95 ERA and .193 batting average against over 21 appearances and 27.1 innings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additionally, he put together five straight scoreless appearances from March 17 through March 31. In that time, he struck out 14 and gave up five hits and four walks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McNeillie marks the sixth Gator to have signed a professional contract. Right-hander Russell Sandefer<\/a> (Dodgers), outfielder Blake Cyr (Yankees), outfielder Kyle Jones<\/a> (Brewers),\u00a0 outfielder Hayden Yost<\/a> (Mariners) and catcher Karson Bowen<\/a> (Rangers) have also signed with their respective professional organizations. Florida also awaits decisions from right-handed pitcher Liam Peterson and 2026 high school commit Kevin Roberts Jr.<\/p>\n

Even with the departure of McNeillie, Florida returns several important arms for 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leading the Gators next season is ace right-hander Aidan King<\/a>. Backing him up are righties Jackson Barberi<\/a> and Joshua Whritenour<\/a>. The Gators also signed multiple impactful transfer pitchers, highlighted by former Oregon State southpaw Trey Morris.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sign up for our free Florida Gators newsletter<\/a> and follow us on Facebook<\/a> and X<\/a> for the latest news! <\/p>\n

\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite having the option to return for one more year, former Florida Gators right-handed pitcher Luke McNeillie has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":814592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-814591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}