Headed into weekend #2 of SEC play and we still have a lot of questions to be answered.
How will A&M respond to their first two losses of the year? How will Tennessee bounce back from their first series loss? Does LSU have what it takes to run it back this year?
The biggest question I have, even though they are coming off a huge series win, are the Florida Gators a bit overrated? I think so, and I'll explain why.
As this piece is being submitted, the Gators just lost a midweek game at HOME to a Jacksonville team that hadn't yet won on the road yet this season. 6 of their 8 losses have come at home this season, including losses to UCF, St. Johns, and St. Mary's.
Though they have these terrible home losses, they did just defend their home turf against what I said was the #1 team in the country, Texas A&M, and won the series. All of this said, I believe the Gators are still just a bit overrated and that all stems around their pitching so far.
Not counting the game against Jacksonville, the Gators rank bottom 3 in the SEC in starter, rotation, and total staff ERA. This includes the near 6.00 ERA that the Gators starters have put up so far this season.
Two-way star Jac Caglianone is doing all he can for this staff, boasting a 1.77 ERA, but he is getting no help from guys like Brandon Neely (5.14 ERA) and Friday starter Cade Fisher (7.94 ERA).
It is still extremely early in the season, but the Gators are going to need this experienced pitching staff to step it up if they want to get back to Omaha and make a deep run. They travel to Baton Rouge this weekend in what will be a huge series and a huge task to get this pitching staff back on track.