Kevin O'Sullivan Provides Injury Updates on Gators' Cash Strayer, Jackson Barberi

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- As the Florida Gators baseball team enters its final home series of the regular season, while hoping to clinch a hosting bid in the NCAA Tournament, the program is expecting two of its main contributors to be available against Kentucky.

Freshman outfielder Cash Strayer (hand) and reliever Jackson Barberi (oblique) are expected to return from their injuries for this weekend's three-game series against the Wildcats, head coach Kevin O'Sullivan confirmed to Florida Gators on SI after Tuesday's 11-1 win over North Florida.

Strayer, batting .267 with three home runs and 22 RBIs, has not played since the win over Arkansas on March 28 after suffering a fractured metacarpal in his right hand from getting hit by a pitch. He was available last weekend as a pinch runner but did not appear in any of the games in the series win at Oklahoma.

“Cash took BP today and looked really good,” O’Sullivan said. “Throwing looks great. So I would anticipate him being ready to go this weekend.”

Cash Strayer is third on the Gators with a .424 batting average. — Cash Strayer is expected to return from his hand injury this weekend. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

In Strayer's place, Florida has largely relied on Hayden Yost in recent games after initially playing freshman Jacob Kendall in left with Blake Cyr in right. Yost is batting .181 with five home runs and nine RBIs since Strayer's injury.

Barberi, meanwhile, has not pitched since the win over Ole Miss on April 3, when he suffered his oblique injury. He currently has a 2.00 ERA in 27 innings across 14 appearances in relief. O'Sullivan said Barberi threw 20 pitches across two batters faced in the pregame on Tuesday and "looked good" throwing 95-97 miles per hour.

"He's so good. He's definitely a big piece for is," fellow reliever and midweek starter Cooper Walls told Florida Gators on SI after the win. "... Having him back is going to be great. It's going to help us win more ball games. Can't complain about that."

In Barberi's place, Florida has largely relied on established relievers in Ernesto Lugo-Canchola, Luke McNeillie, Joshua Whritenour and Ricky Reeth, who returned from his own injury around the same time Barberi exited the rotation. Additionally, two-way player Caden McDonald has emerged as an option after a three-inning outing against Oklahoma on Saturday.

McDonald also has hits in six of his last seven games, where he is batting .413 with four home runs and 10 RBIs. He had four hits, six RBIs and two home runs in the same game as his three-inning outing against the Sooners and added two more RBIs in Tuesday's win over North Florida.

"Gave him an opportunity and like I say all the time, he's a hard worker, he's a great teammate and he's making the most of his opportunity, it's really that simple," O'Sullivan said of McDonald's recent performances. "That's normally what happens when you continue to work hard and be a good teammate and all of a sudden, you get your opportunity and he certainly has ran with it the last few weeks, for sure."

Florida (32-17, 13-11 SEC) hosts Kentucky (29-16, 11-13 SEC) for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 6:30 p.m. A series win, its second straight, could be enough for Florida to clinch a hosting bid for an NCAA Regional, making Strayer's and Barberi's returns that much more important.

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