Brandon Neely earns Gators closer role to start the season
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Not all outs are created equal. Florida sophomore Brandon Neely will be tasked with getting the most important out — the 27th. Neely has earned the right to start the season as the Gators’ closer.
Neely got his first work of the weekend in the eighth inning on Sunday. Florida has extended its lead to 8-0 in the frame and, with a 10-run rule that had already been in effect twice, time was running out to get him work. Why was it important to get him in, well, you don’t want to go a whole weekend without getting your closer work off the mound, even if it wasn’t a save situation.
“I wanted to at least have Neely go out there and at least have Neely get the last out there in the eighth because if we scored two runs obviously the game would have been over,” O’Sullivan said after the game.
As stated, getting the last out is the most important. Florida typically starts seasons without knowing who will close games for him. That could change. If the team needs a starter, Nelly has proven he can do that. But he has the right makeup and demeanor to finish out games.
“He’s already thrown in some high-level situations as a freshman. He’s going to throw strikes. He fields his position and he holds runners. Quite frankly, mentally, he’s as tough a kid as we got,” Kevin O’Sullivan said of Neely. “He’s selfless. I’m sure if you asked him he’d rather start and I don’t blame him. For our team, right now, he’s the best option. When you kind of line up the importance of roles, the closer role — as you know from last year — when you can’t close out games it gets to be really frustrating.”
Neely’s freshman season got off to a slow start. He was relegated to the bullpen, for the most part. Then, when Hunter Barco went down with an injury following Pierce Coppola’s injury, Florida needed to find another starter. Neely was given the opportunity. He would start 10 games of his 21 appearances.
During a 33-inning stretch in league play Neely recorded a 2.18 ERA and 40 strikeouts. As a relatively unknown freshman, Neely had provided the Gators a quality and consistent presence on the mound.
Neely finished the 2022 season with a 3.76 ERA in 69.1 innings. His .205 batting average against ranked second on the team among players with at least 50 innings pitched. That trailed only Florida’s ace, Hunter Barco.
