Florida outfielder Michael Robertson day-to-day with knee injury
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Kevin O’Sullivan is exercising caution when it comes to redshirt freshman outfielder Michael Robertson. The Florida Gators starting center fielder had been dealing with some knee pain which was exacerbated when Robertson collided with the center field wall last Friday chasing a fly ball.
“We’re certainly not going to push him,” O’Sullivan said on Sunday. “The goal would be maybe to get some at-bats at home on Wednesday. He might want to play Tuesday but we’re going to be more cautious. Maybe get him a couple of at-bats before the weekend.”
Robertson missed the 2022 season with a hamstring injury. The speedy center fielder has served as the Gators’ leadoff man in six games, playing and starting in every game prior to the injury. He is hitting .316 (6-19) with seven runs scored, two doubles, and three RBI. Although Robertson has been on base 12 times, the fastest player on the team has just one steal attempt, which was successful. The knee injury that had been nagging him likely has kept him from being the kind of threat he’s capable of being on the base paths.
Robertson likely won’t be in the lineup today when Florida travels to Jacksonville to take on the JU Dolphins. Florida and O’Sullivan are valuing the weekend homestand against Miami over the home-and-home with the Dolphins.
Replacing Robertson
Losing Robertson was made easier by the emergence of Cade Kurland. The true freshman who reclassified and enrolled at Florida a full year early looks like a veteran on the field. Kurland leads the team in batting at .542 (13-24). He has three home runs, three doubles, and 10 RBI in seven games played.
“He comes out first scrimmage of the fall and takes Waldrep down the line for a bomb,” Jac Caglianone said of Kurland on Sunday. “We’re all like, ‘Wait a minute.’ When you see a fastball get put down and you’re facing him, you just pray he doesn’t barrel it. That kid’s just a barrel-finder.”
Kurland moved from the bottom half of the order into the leadoff spot on Saturday. He was 4-9 (.444) in his two games as the leadoff man. That included a double, a home run, and three RBI.
“He’s a really talented player,” O’Sullivan said of Kurland. “I don’t think anybody predicted he’d get off to a start like this but there’s a reason we asked him to come early. He’s confident. His heart rate never gets sped up. He puts really quality at-bats together.”
Additionally, Robertson was replaced in center field by Wyatt Langford with Rutgers transfer Richie Schiekofer filling the last spot in left field.
Up next
The Gators will play at Jacksonville at 6:00 pm on Tuesday. The game will not be televised or streamed but Gators Online will be in attendance. The Gators return home Wednesday to host JU at 6:00 pm. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.
The highly anticipated series with the No. 22 Miami Hurricanes will begin Friday at 6:30 p.m. The series continues on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Both of those games will be streamed on SEC Network+. The Sunday finale will begin at noon and will be on linear television with SEC Network broadcasting the game live.
