Philip Abner celebrates a strikeout during the Gators' victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday, May 13, 2023 at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Fla.
Abner Makes Big League Debut with Arizona
Friday, September 19, 2025 | Baseball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Arizona Diamondbacks selected the contract of former Florida left-handed pitcher Philip Abner from Triple-A Reno and added him to the Major League roster for their weekend series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Abner officially became the 88th Gator all-time to play in the MLB on Friday night, as he entered with one on and one out in the seventh inning with Arizona trailing, 3-2. He fanned All-Star slugger Kyle Schwarber swinging before punching out Brandon Marsh to strand the bases loaded. That would be all for Abner, who provided a scoreless outing and a pair of strikeouts in his MLB debut.
Abner is the third Gator to be promoted to The Show this season alone, following one-time teammates Jac Caglianone (June 3 – Kansas City Royals) and Brandon Sproat (Sept. 7 – New York Mets). Abner signifies the 36th player of the Kevin O'Sullivan era to reach the MLB. In all, a nation-leading 40 Gators have made MLB debuts since 2008.
Despite being just two years removed, the 2023 Florida Gators baseball team has already seen five players reach the MLB: Abner, Sproat, Caglianone, Hurston Waldrep and Wyatt Langford.
Opening the 2025 campaign at High-A Hillsboro, Abner has made quite the ascension over the past six months. Pitching across three levels of the Minors, the southpaw produced a 3.07 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 70-to-16 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 58 2/3 innings. All 53 of Abner's appearances came in the relief, resulting in seven saves and a 3-2 record.
After being promoted to Triple-A on Aug. 29, Abner dominated with eight scoreless appearances to earn the call of a lifetime. During his short stint at Triple-A Reno, the Charlotte, N.C. native surrendered just two hits and three walks against 11 strikeouts in 8 1/3 frames.
Abner spent parts of three seasons in Arizona's Minor League system after being selected in the sixth round of the 2023 MLB Draft. He owns a 7-2 career record and 2.81 ERA across 99 1/3 innings pitched in the Minors, featuring a 10.3 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9.
Helping the Orange & Blue to an SEC Championship and College World Series Runner-Up finish in 2023, Abner pitched to a 3-0 record, 3.16 ERA and .220 batting average against across 25 relief appearances. The southpaw totaled 31 1/3 innings and struck out 51 batters against 19 strikeouts as the top lefty out of the Gators bullpen.
From 2022-23, Abner made 51 appearances for Florida. He concluded his UF tenure with a 4-1 career record, 5.20 ERA, .234 batting average against and 75-to-40 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Below is a complete list of Gators to debut in the MLB since 2008.
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Abner officially became the 88th Gator all-time to play in the MLB on Friday night, as he entered with one on and one out in the seventh inning with Arizona trailing, 3-2. He fanned All-Star slugger Kyle Schwarber swinging before punching out Brandon Marsh to strand the bases loaded. That would be all for Abner, who provided a scoreless outing and a pair of strikeouts in his MLB debut.
Abner is the third Gator to be promoted to The Show this season alone, following one-time teammates Jac Caglianone (June 3 – Kansas City Royals) and Brandon Sproat (Sept. 7 – New York Mets). Abner signifies the 36th player of the Kevin O'Sullivan era to reach the MLB. In all, a nation-leading 40 Gators have made MLB debuts since 2008.
Debut done right ⚔️🥶 #GatorMade // #GoGators pic.twitter.com/dO2i2yF813
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) September 20, 2025
Despite being just two years removed, the 2023 Florida Gators baseball team has already seen five players reach the MLB: Abner, Sproat, Caglianone, Hurston Waldrep and Wyatt Langford.
Opening the 2025 campaign at High-A Hillsboro, Abner has made quite the ascension over the past six months. Pitching across three levels of the Minors, the southpaw produced a 3.07 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 70-to-16 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 58 2/3 innings. All 53 of Abner's appearances came in the relief, resulting in seven saves and a 3-2 record.
After being promoted to Triple-A on Aug. 29, Abner dominated with eight scoreless appearances to earn the call of a lifetime. During his short stint at Triple-A Reno, the Charlotte, N.C. native surrendered just two hits and three walks against 11 strikeouts in 8 1/3 frames.
Abner spent parts of three seasons in Arizona's Minor League system after being selected in the sixth round of the 2023 MLB Draft. He owns a 7-2 career record and 2.81 ERA across 99 1/3 innings pitched in the Minors, featuring a 10.3 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9.
Helping the Orange & Blue to an SEC Championship and College World Series Runner-Up finish in 2023, Abner pitched to a 3-0 record, 3.16 ERA and .220 batting average against across 25 relief appearances. The southpaw totaled 31 1/3 innings and struck out 51 batters against 19 strikeouts as the top lefty out of the Gators bullpen.
From 2022-23, Abner made 51 appearances for Florida. He concluded his UF tenure with a 4-1 career record, 5.20 ERA, .234 batting average against and 75-to-40 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Below is a complete list of Gators to debut in the MLB since 2008.
| Florida's Nation-Leading 40 MLB Debuts Since 2008 | ||||
| Player | Drafted (Round) | MLB Debut | Team | |
| 1 | Darren O'Day | Undrafted | March 31, 2008 | Los Angeles Angels |
| 2 | Matt LaPorta | 2007 (1st - 7th overall) | May 3, 2009 | Cleveland Indians |
| 3 | Bryan Augenstein | 2007 (7th) | May 13, 2009 | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 4 | Ryan Sadowski | 2003 (12th) | June 28, 2009 | San Francisco Giants |
| 5 | Nick Maronde | 2011 (3rd) | September 2, 2012 | Los Angeles Angels |
| 6 | Paco Rodriguez | 2012 (2nd) | September 9, 2012 | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| 7 | Mike Zunino | 2012 (1st - 3rd overall) | June 12, 2013 | Seattle Mariners |
| 8 | Kevin Chapman | 2010 (4th) | August 9, 2013 | Houston Astros |
| 9 | Matt den Dekker | 2010 (5th) | August 29, 2013 | New York Mets |
| 10 | Anthony DeSclafani | 2011 (6th) | May 14, 2014 | Miami Marlins |
| 11 | Cole Figueroa | 2008 (6th) | May 16, 2014 | Tampa Bay Rays |
| 12 | Preston Tucker | 2012 (7th) | May 7, 2015 | Houston Astros |
| 13 | Brian Johnson | 2012 (1st - 31st overall) | July 21, 2015 | Boston Red Sox |
| 14 | Nolan Fontana | 2012 (2nd) | May 22, 2017 | Los Angeles Angels |
| 15 | Austin Maddox | 2012 (3rd) | June 17, 2017 | Boston Red Sox |
| 16 | Harrison Bader | 2015 (3rd) | July 25, 2017 | St. Louis Cardinals |
| 17 | Bobby Poyner | 2015 (14th) | March 31, 2018 | Boston Red Sox |
| 18 | Justin Shafer | 2014 (8th) | August 19, 2018 | Toronto Blue Jays |
| 19 | Eric Hanhold | 2015 (6th) | September 4, 2018 | New York Mets |
| 20 | Richie Martin | 2015 (1st - 20th overall) | March 28, 2019 | Baltimore Orioles |
| 21 | Pete Alonso | 2016 (2nd) | March 28, 2019 | New York Mets |
| 22 | Shaun Anderson | 2016 (3rd) | May 15, 2019 | San Francisco Giants |
| 23 | A.J. Puk | 2016 (1st - 6th overall) | August 21, 2019 | Oakland Athletics |
| 24 | Brady Singer | 2018 (1st - 18th overall) | July 25, 2020 | Kansas City Royals |
| 25 | Dane Dunning | 2016 (1st - 29th overall) | August 19, 2020 | Chicago White Sox |
| 26 | Jonathan India | 2018 (1st - 5th overall) | Thursday, April 1, 2021 | Cincinnati Reds |
| 27 | Jackson Kowar | 2018 (1st - 33rd overall) | Monday, June 7, 2021 | Kansas City Royals |
| 28 | Taylor Gushue | 2014 (4th) | Wednesday, June 30, 2021 | Chicago Cubs |
| 29 | Kirby Snead | 2016 (10th) | Wednesday, July 28, 2021 | Toronto Blue Jays |
| 30 | Mark Kolozsvary | 2017 (7th) | Wednesday, April 20, 2022 | Cincinnati Reds |
| 31 | Alex Faedo | 2017 (1st - 18th overall) | Wednesday, May 4, 2022 | Detroit Tigers |
| 32 | Danny Young | 2015 (8th) | Monday, May 9, 2022 | Seattle Mariners |
| 33 | Dalton Guthrie | 2017 (6th) | Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 | Philadelphia Phillies |
| 34 | Jacob Young | 2021 (7th) | Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023 | Washington Nationals |
| 35 | Wyatt Langford | 2023 (1st - 4th overall) | Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024 | Texas Rangers |
| 36 | Christian Scott | 2021 (5th) | Saturday, May. 4, 2024 | New York Mets |
| 37 | Hurston Waldrep | 2023 (1st - 24th overall) | Sunday, June 9, 2024 | Atlanta Braves |
| 38 | Jac Caglianone | 2024 (1st - 6th overall) | Tuesday, June 3, 2025 | Kansas City Royals |
| 39 | Brandon Sproat | 2023 (2nd) | Sunday, September 7, 2025 | New York Mets |
| 40 | Philip Abner | 2023 (6th) | Friday, September 19, 2025 | Arizona Diamondbacks |
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