Florida All-SEC catcher JJ Schwarz has a small break in his right hand and will miss the SEC Tournament, UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan confirmed Wednesday.
Schwarz took a foul ball off the hand Friday night during the Florida game at Mississippi State.
O’Sullivan said Schwarz will be re-evaluated after the tournament and No. 1 Florida (41-15) will go day-by-day with him.
The senior captain is hitting .325 this year with 12 homers and 46 RBI. The Saturday game in Starkville was the first one he has not started this year.
Freshman Cal Greenfield played catcher with Schwarz out against MSU. His is hitting .214 in 28 at-bats and hit his first home run in the loss Saturday to the Bulldogs. Freshman Brady Smith (.280, 2 homers, 13 RBI) can also play catcher.
The top-seeded Gators face No. 8 seed LSU (33-24) today at 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network) in the SEC tourney in Hoover, Ala. Weather delays have pushed back the start by an hour.
AARRRGGHHHH!!!! Senior year and about to make a run at another NC — he’s pissed.
He has a bad habit of leaving his throwing hand exposed. He needs to keep it behind his back and he want get hit so much on it. Catcher is the toughest position to play. You really get beat up back there. Oh well the freshman are just going to have to step up. Its JJ’s last year anyway. They have played some this year so at least they have a little experience. Sully was a catcher so I am sure he will get them coached up and ready to go. Next man up!
Big change from original diagnosis of “bruise, he’ll be OK.”. Tough break for JJ and Gators. Better technique could have prevented injury. Go Gators!
Another bad sign is starting the freshman Mace in the SEC. Singer must be hurt more than Sully is admitting. Could be 2 and out at the SEC and 6 losses in a row heading to the NCAAS.
Or they could win the SEC tourney. See how easy it is to post positive?
Damn – how’d you do that?! Pretty impressive.
Dammit….best of luck JJ…hopefully we can get you back for some regional play.
Mace has given us 6 strong innings! We need to finish this win off now.