Florida baseball loses another key player for season to injury
Florida baseball loses another key player for season to injury
Florida can't seem to shake the injury bug this season.
First, the Gators lost starting pitcher Pierce Coppola, who still hasn't returned to action after leaving during the second week of the season. Jacksonville transfer and draft prospect no longer roams center field at Condron Family Ballpark due to a season-ending shoulder injury. Lefty specialist Frankie Menendez is also done for the year and needs Tommy John surgery. Other arms, such as redshirt sophomore Jake Clemente, Sante Fe transfer Matthew Jenkins and team ace Liam Peterson, have also battled injuries this year.
The latest name to join the list is junior second baseman Cade Kurland, a critical piece of Florida's offense and infield. After multiple attempts to return from a shoulder dislocation suffered during the Miami series, Kurland is officially done for the year, according to Kevin O'Sullivan.
"Yeah, (Kurland's) going to have surgery in another week or two, so he'll be out," O'Sullivan said. "It's obviously unfortunate, but I don't think he was left with any other decision to make. We'll get him back, hopefully, next year and help him with his recovery. I know he was really disappointed. He tried to do everything he could to play, even when he played against Florida State in Jacksonville. He tried everything, but it wouldn't have been fair to him to continue to play."
D1Baseball recently named Kurland a top-10 second baseman at the college level, and he's draft-eligible this summer. It's possible that he's played his last game in a Florida uniform, but the program will do what it can to retain him during the offseason. Naturally, the injury will hurt his draft stock and there's potential to become a Day 1 pick with a strong senior year, so there should be plenty of optimism that Kurland will return.
Kurland finishes his junior year slashing .316/.490/.605 with three home runs and 15 runs batted in. He'd upped his walk rate significantly from single digits over the past year to 19.6% through 51 plate appearances. His 10 walks equal the number of strikeouts on the season, too.
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