Florida State awaits its seeding in the 2026 NCAA Tournament after losing its lone appearance in the ACC Tournament to Pittsburgh. The Noles already know they will host the Tallahassee Regional, but have to see who they matchup with from a national seed standpoint. Unfortunately, one player has already called it quits on the season and announced plans to enter the transfer portal.
Freshman pitcher Manny Lantigua used his Instagram social media profile to break the news.
Lantigua said it was one of the hardest decision of his life, but wanted to pursue new opportunities. He appeared in six games this season, pitching 5.2 innings, with a 1.59 ERA. He allowed six hits, four walks, and struck out six batters. Lantigua came to Florida State as a pitcher/infielder, but only appeared as a pitcher for Link Jarrett this season.
It was likely going to be a while before he would have become a consistent contributor.
Lantigua has some tools as a pitcher, but it was clear he needed a ton of development. He has a decent mix of pitcher, but needs to learn how to pitch. The nearly one walk allowed per inning tells you all you need to know. He also needs to get in the weight room and develop physically.
The odd thing is looking at how Jamie Arnold, Wes Mendes, Chris Knier, and several other pitchers have developed under Florida State pitching coach, Micah Posey. Maybe he wanted to play as a position player too, and that wasn't going to be the case at Florida State? It seemed odd that he didn't mention Link Jarrett, Micah Posey, or any of the coaches or teammates at FSU in his statement.
Nevertheless, here's to hoping he can find a place that suitable for his development and provides playing time. We've seen some players leave and excel at other places, and then others like BJ Gibson leave and go the JUCO route, only to not have the season he needed to likely find another opportunity somewhere else after entering the transfer portal for the second time.
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