Barberi Transforming into Reliable Relief Option for Gators

It hasn't taken much time of the latest arm in the Florida Gators bullpen to carve out a role for himself

The Gators reliever is quickly establishing himself in the bullpen | Cyndi Chambers/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Outside of a select few games, runs have been hard to come by against the Florida Gators' bullpen. A key reason it has performed well early is that players are more experienced on the mound than a season ago. 

One arm with that added experience that looks more comfortable in 2026 is righty Jackson Barberi, who transformed himself this offseason into a pitcher that his head coach can rely on under any circumstances. 

In his most recent call from the pen in the series victory over Kennesaw State, Barberi steadied the ship and kept the Owls' offense at bay. He trailed starter Cooper Walls and relievers Ernesto Lugo-Canchola and Ricky Reeth, throwing a scoreless 2 1/3 innings and striking out three hitters. 

What is more impressive from the outing is that he controlled the batter's box despite being largely under the weather leading up to the game, battling a triple-digit fever. 

“I was under the weather, fever going up and down all weekend,” Barberi said.

Nonetheless, that was not keeping him stuck on the shelf. If Gators head coach Kevin O’Sullivan needed him, then he was ready. 

“I was ready to go,” he said. “It’s baseball, things happen. Whatever the situation calls for, I was ready to go.”

Barberi displayed no signs of it, though. His fastball zipped out of his hand – touching 98-99 mph – and the deceptive slider he paired with it made things hard for the opposing hitters. 

There was a moment in the game where he looked to run out of gas, though, O’Sullivan said. 

Nearing the end of his day in the seventh, the Owls' offense worked itself into a situation with runners on second and third base. However, a trip to the mound from his head coach gave him the necessary final push to ease the tension and post another scoreless frame. 

“I took that visit on the one-one count,” O’Sullivan shared, “and I just told him, ‘hey, listen, I just want to give you a breather. This is your last hitter. He struggles with spin. Just locate your slider and get us in the dugout to score some runs for you.’”

He did exactly that. Barberi followed the talk with a strikeout to end the inning, and the offense supplied two more runs in the bottom half of the seventh to help open the game up. 

That trust from O’Sullivan can go a long way for a young pitcher, too. 

“It means a lot,” Barberi said about O’Sullivan turning to him in this type of situation. “Gives me confidence. Having that added level of confidence, I think it improves my game as well.”

His improvements on the mound largely stem from his offseason transformation to his body and work on his pitching arsenal. He added 15 pounds to his lighter freshman frame and honed in on developing his second pitch. 

“This summer, just focused on developing my slider into a better pitch and putting on a bunch of weight,” he said. “Lifting like four days a week. Eating whatever I could.”

O’Sullivan noticed the differences, as well. The Gators' head coach is seeing higher velocity on his fastballs and more dangerous breaking balls. 

“Yeah, he’s throwing strikes,” O’Sullivan said. "His body is starting to grow into like an adult.”

The sophomore has featured in three games for the Gators, posting a 1.50 ERA and 1-1 record in six innings pitched. Moreover, he has tallied nine strikeouts and a .136 batting average against in 25 batters faced. 

While a long journey is still ahead for Florida, O’Sullivan has already made it clear that Barberi is becoming a go-to guy out in relief.