2018 University of Miami Baseball Preview
Greetings all U crazy Hurricane Baseball Caniacs!
Well, here we are again for another UM baseball season but this year has a different ring to it: a beginning of the end. No. 3 hangs up the cleats after what will be 25 years at the U.
We know what happened last year; one thing led to another:
1.) We couldn’t hit the ball until the latter part of the season and by then it was too late.
2.) Our 44 years in a row to the post-season went poof. We were the last team left out and had 3-4 conference winners had won their tournaments as expected, we might have sneaked in.
We finished 31-27 (actually 30-27 because the NCAA didn’t count our W over local St. Thomas, a lower division program) and 16-13 in the ACC.
LAST YEAR’S SCHEDULE
Looking back, here’s what a different year we might have had if a couple more game has gone our way:
Losses by 1 run: 6 games
Losses by 2 runs: 3 games
Losses by 3 runs: 6 games
Total games lost by 3 runs or less: 15
CHECK THIS OUT
Late in the 2002 season, we were 25-26 and things were looking bleak. But then, like last year, we started winning and we won our last six games to finish 31-26 (vs 31-27 this year). That year, not only did we get into the post-season, we beat FSU in the regionals, and in the Super Regionals were up 3 runs in the 9th inning at USCe in Columbia, and lost. We were thisclose to going to Omaha that year.
Back to this year, it was reported we were the 65th team out of the 64 selected, but we might as well have been 165. If there hadn’t been so many upsets in 4-5 conference tournament finals, the record would still be intact.
We still own the longest streak for consecutive seasons with 30 wins or more per season: 47. No. 2 is at 43
2017 TEAM SEASON STATS - UM/ACC Stats out of 14 Teams
Wins: 8th @ 31 (Louisville No. 1 @ 53)
Losses: 7th @ 27 (VT No. 1 @ 32)
Team Batting Avg: LAST PLACE @ .231, UVA led .321
Fielding: %: 11th @ .969 (UNC No. 1 at .979)
Okay, enough about last year.
THAT WAS 2017, THIS IS 2018
If there’s one word to describe the 2018 version, it’s this:
Change.
Of the 32 man roster, 15 are freshmen + there are a pair of new transfers too. Do the math, we have 15 returning players. Cross-checking last year’s roster with this year?
Gone are 5 seniors:
Randy Batista
Christopher Barr
Barry Buchowski
Edgar Michelangeli
Johnny Ruiz
We also lost junior Carl Chester to the MLB Draft. Seems like there was someone else but I don’t remember.
PRE-SEASON RANKINGS
No. 9 Perfect Game
No. 20 Collegiate Baseball
No. 24 US Today
RECRUITING RANKINGS (found in early June so there could be changes)
2018: We are currently No. 9 with 15 recruits, 3 in Top 100.. .Vandy is No. 1, UF 2, FIU 6.
No. 8 by Baseball America. The newcomers add to a roster that returns 15 players.
BIG kudos to dacatchpole/CS member on the following 2 sections:
MLB DRAFTCOURTESY: dacatchpole/CS.com member: (I think this is up to date)
Here's the list. our top 4 recruits, all drafted in the first four rounds, signed pro contracts.
Jeter Downs - Monsignor Pace (Opa Locka, FL) SS (1st Rd/Reds) Signed $1.825M/Slot value $2.084M
Joe Perez - Achbishop Edward McCarthy (Fort Laud., FL) 3B(2nd Rd/Astros) Signed $1.6M/Slot value $1.3M
Mark Vientos - American Heritage (Fort Lauderdale, FL) SS (2nd Rd/Mets) Signed $1.5M/Slot value $1.09M
James Marinan - Park Vista Community (Lake Worth, FL) 1B (4th Rd/Dodgers) Signed $825K/Slot value $401K
Here’s our signing class courtesy: dacatchpole/CS.com member:
*Chris McMahon - West Chester Bayard Rustin (West Chester, PA) SP (33rd Rd)
Robert Touron - Guulliver Prep (Miami, FL) P (37th Rd)
Raymond Gil - Gulliver Prep (Miami, FL) 3B(37th Round)
*Alex Toral - Archbishop Edward Mccarthy (Fort Lauderdale, FL) 1B (Undrafted)
Daniel Federman - Archbishop Edward Mccarthy (FtLauderdale, FL) P (Undrafted)
Brandon Kaminer - Stoneman Douglas (Pompano Beach, FL) P (Undrafted)
Freddy Zamora - Killian (Miami, FL) SS (Undrafted)
Gabriel Rivera - Killian (Miami, FL) LF (Undrafted)
Dylan Cloonan - Westminster Christian School (Miami, FL) P (Undrafted)
Tyler Paige - Westminster Christian School (Miami, FL) SS (Undrafted)
Alex Ruiz - Westminster Christian School (Miami, FL) 3B (Undrafted)
Tony Jenkins - Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy (Melbourne, FL) CF (Undrafted)
Connor Allen - Merritt Island (Merritt Island, FL) 1B (Undrafted)
Isaac Quinones - West Broward (Pembroke Pines, FL) C (Undrafted)
Willy Escala - South Dade (Homestead, FL) SS (Undrafted)
Emanuel Fernandez - Park Vista Community (Lake Worth, FL) P (Undrafted)
Jeremy Cook - Charles W Flanagan (Hollywood, FL) P (Undrafted)
Joe Sparber - Christian Brothers Academy (Lincroft, NJ) C (Undrafted)
Danny Reyes - Broward College (FTL) LF *Transfer from UF (Undrafted)
*Chris McMahon is a guy who could be a big boost to our pitching staff.
* Alex Tora is one guy who may bring a big bat, something that was sorely missing. He’s 6-2, 200 and was projected a top 5 player but his HR numbers were down his Sr. year. We hope he brings some pop to The Light.
Bonus: We have another new recruit who is not on the above list and get this: He comes to Coral Gables from….Idaho. His name is Kam Lane. Check out his story.
www.idahostatesman.com/sports/article157227264.html
NEWCOMERS/Transfers:
OF Danny Reyes 6-2, 215 Broward College (HS Mater Academy/from Miami Springs)
OF Kam Lane 6-2, 215 Salt Lake Community College (HS in Idaho)
OUR STARTING INFIELD – ALL FRESHMEN
1B Alex Toral 6-1, 225 (Archbishop McCarthy/Davie)
2B Willy Escala 5-10, 180 (South Dade/Miami)
SS Freddy Zamora 6-1, 180 (Killian/Miami)
3B Ray Gil 6-0, 215 (Gulliver Prep/Miami)
Drafted But Opted to Join UM:
RHP Chris McMahon 6-2, 190 (West Chester Rustin HS/West Chester, PA) 33rd Rd Milwaukee*
3B Ray Gil 3th Rd Oakland
* Will join the team in late March or early April coming off injury
KEY RETURNEES
In the Field:
OF Romy Gonzalez (11 home runs, 38 RBI)
OF Michael Burns (four home runs, 32 RBI)
2 key returnees at the plate and in the field. What does that tell U about the roster change?
Remember Michael Amditis? The FR catcher started this season in five games but he was lost for the season when he broke his leg running to 1B on March 1st against FAU. He hit .357 with one double and three RBIs with an OPS of .866 in just six games. Think we could have used his bat?
On the Mound:
All-ACC Starter Jeb Bargfeldt (7-3, 2.28 ERA, Friday Starter)
Soph Greg Veliz (3.38 ERA, 66 strikeouts, Saturday starter),
Evan McKendry (4-2, 4.10 ERA Sunday Starter)
Michael Mediavilla (4-5, 4.45 ERA, Mid-Week Starter)
Reliever Andrew Cabezas (2.15 ERA, 80 strikeouts)
Middle Relief Frankie Bartow (12 saves)
Middle Relief: Cooper Hammond*
*Coop was lost to injury almost all of last year. Having him back healthy is HUGE for this team.
ROSTER
Check out all the newcomers by taking a look at the 2018 roster.
http://hurricanesports.com/roster.aspx?path=baseball
COACHING STAFF
The coaching staff remains intact for this year which makes sense. Bu maybe Gino will make changes next year.
SCHEDULE
The highlight of this year’s schedule will be a visit by the defending CWS champs. Florida Gators. Meh. All kidding aside, they have a heck of a program and they finally won it all last year. It also seems like they have been winning all their games against the Canes and there ain’t no getting around it: they have owned us the past several years.
The good news is? We get them at home.
The bad news? We get them at home.
Why? Because once again we get them early, like next weekend. With so many new faces on our team, especially rookies, it will be a tall task to in the series because our team will need time to develop and get their sea legs.
Also at home, Miami will host: Notre Dame, Virginia, North Carolina, Pitt and Boston College.
The road slate has some potholes: Duke, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State and Virginia Tech. Here’s the complete schedule. Keep this link handy. UM will update each game with info on how to follow the game.
Speaking of which…
MEDIA
Guess what? No more Joe Z doing play-by-play of UM Baseball. UM announced it has a new media partner: Entercom. If U live in SOFLA this is all U need to know: 790 The Ticket will now carry Miami games, about 15 or so. I don’t know who will do the play-by-play but with Joe Z at QAM, I doubt they will loan him out.
FINALLY
Let’s rally around our HC and this young team and hope the sendoff ends in Omaha. After last year, that would be so sweet and fitting.
Let's hope it's a fun ride.
Go Canes!
Greetings all U crazy Hurricane Baseball Caniacs!
Well, here we are again for another UM baseball season but this year has a different ring to it: a beginning of the end. No. 3 hangs up the cleats after what will be 25 years at the U.
We know what happened last year; one thing led to another:
1.) We couldn’t hit the ball until the latter part of the season and by then it was too late.
2.) Our 44 years in a row to the post-season went poof. We were the last team left out and had 3-4 conference winners had won their tournaments as expected, we might have sneaked in.
We finished 31-27 (actually 30-27 because the NCAA didn’t count our W over local St. Thomas, a lower division program) and 16-13 in the ACC.
LAST YEAR’S SCHEDULE
Looking back, here’s what a different year we might have had if a couple more game has gone our way:
Losses by 1 run: 6 games
Losses by 2 runs: 3 games
Losses by 3 runs: 6 games
Total games lost by 3 runs or less: 15
CHECK THIS OUT
Late in the 2002 season, we were 25-26 and things were looking bleak. But then, like last year, we started winning and we won our last six games to finish 31-26 (vs 31-27 this year). That year, not only did we get into the post-season, we beat FSU in the regionals, and in the Super Regionals were up 3 runs in the 9th inning at USCe in Columbia, and lost. We were thisclose to going to Omaha that year.
Back to this year, it was reported we were the 65th team out of the 64 selected, but we might as well have been 165. If there hadn’t been so many upsets in 4-5 conference tournament finals, the record would still be intact.
We still own the longest streak for consecutive seasons with 30 wins or more per season: 47. No. 2 is at 43
2017 TEAM SEASON STATS - UM/ACC Stats out of 14 Teams
Wins: 8th @ 31 (Louisville No. 1 @ 53)
Losses: 7th @ 27 (VT No. 1 @ 32)
Team Batting Avg: LAST PLACE @ .231, UVA led .321
Fielding: %: 11th @ .969 (UNC No. 1 at .979)
Okay, enough about last year.
THAT WAS 2017, THIS IS 2018
If there’s one word to describe the 2018 version, it’s this:
Change.
Of the 32 man roster, 15 are freshmen + there are a pair of new transfers too. Do the math, we have 15 returning players. Cross-checking last year’s roster with this year?
Gone are 5 seniors:
Randy Batista
Christopher Barr
Barry Buchowski
Edgar Michelangeli
Johnny Ruiz
We also lost junior Carl Chester to the MLB Draft. Seems like there was someone else but I don’t remember.
PRE-SEASON RANKINGS
No. 9 Perfect Game
No. 20 Collegiate Baseball
No. 24 US Today
RECRUITING RANKINGS (found in early June so there could be changes)
2018: We are currently No. 9 with 15 recruits, 3 in Top 100.. .Vandy is No. 1, UF 2, FIU 6.
No. 8 by Baseball America. The newcomers add to a roster that returns 15 players.
BIG kudos to dacatchpole/CS member on the following 2 sections:
MLB DRAFTCOURTESY: dacatchpole/CS.com member: (I think this is up to date)
Here's the list. our top 4 recruits, all drafted in the first four rounds, signed pro contracts.
Jeter Downs - Monsignor Pace (Opa Locka, FL) SS (1st Rd/Reds) Signed $1.825M/Slot value $2.084M
Joe Perez - Achbishop Edward McCarthy (Fort Laud., FL) 3B(2nd Rd/Astros) Signed $1.6M/Slot value $1.3M
Mark Vientos - American Heritage (Fort Lauderdale, FL) SS (2nd Rd/Mets) Signed $1.5M/Slot value $1.09M
James Marinan - Park Vista Community (Lake Worth, FL) 1B (4th Rd/Dodgers) Signed $825K/Slot value $401K
Here’s our signing class courtesy: dacatchpole/CS.com member:
*Chris McMahon - West Chester Bayard Rustin (West Chester, PA) SP (33rd Rd)
Robert Touron - Guulliver Prep (Miami, FL) P (37th Rd)
Raymond Gil - Gulliver Prep (Miami, FL) 3B(37th Round)
*Alex Toral - Archbishop Edward Mccarthy (Fort Lauderdale, FL) 1B (Undrafted)
Daniel Federman - Archbishop Edward Mccarthy (FtLauderdale, FL) P (Undrafted)
Brandon Kaminer - Stoneman Douglas (Pompano Beach, FL) P (Undrafted)
Freddy Zamora - Killian (Miami, FL) SS (Undrafted)
Gabriel Rivera - Killian (Miami, FL) LF (Undrafted)
Dylan Cloonan - Westminster Christian School (Miami, FL) P (Undrafted)
Tyler Paige - Westminster Christian School (Miami, FL) SS (Undrafted)
Alex Ruiz - Westminster Christian School (Miami, FL) 3B (Undrafted)
Tony Jenkins - Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy (Melbourne, FL) CF (Undrafted)
Connor Allen - Merritt Island (Merritt Island, FL) 1B (Undrafted)
Isaac Quinones - West Broward (Pembroke Pines, FL) C (Undrafted)
Willy Escala - South Dade (Homestead, FL) SS (Undrafted)
Emanuel Fernandez - Park Vista Community (Lake Worth, FL) P (Undrafted)
Jeremy Cook - Charles W Flanagan (Hollywood, FL) P (Undrafted)
Joe Sparber - Christian Brothers Academy (Lincroft, NJ) C (Undrafted)
Danny Reyes - Broward College (FTL) LF *Transfer from UF (Undrafted)
*Chris McMahon is a guy who could be a big boost to our pitching staff.
* Alex Tora is one guy who may bring a big bat, something that was sorely missing. He’s 6-2, 200 and was projected a top 5 player but his HR numbers were down his Sr. year. We hope he brings some pop to The Light.
Bonus: We have another new recruit who is not on the above list and get this: He comes to Coral Gables from….Idaho. His name is Kam Lane. Check out his story.
www.idahostatesman.com/sports/article157227264.html
NEWCOMERS/Transfers:
OF Danny Reyes 6-2, 215 Broward College (HS Mater Academy/from Miami Springs)
OF Kam Lane 6-2, 215 Salt Lake Community College (HS in Idaho)
OUR STARTING INFIELD – ALL FRESHMEN
1B Alex Toral 6-1, 225 (Archbishop McCarthy/Davie)
2B Willy Escala 5-10, 180 (South Dade/Miami)
SS Freddy Zamora 6-1, 180 (Killian/Miami)
3B Ray Gil 6-0, 215 (Gulliver Prep/Miami)
Drafted But Opted to Join UM:
RHP Chris McMahon 6-2, 190 (West Chester Rustin HS/West Chester, PA) 33rd Rd Milwaukee*
3B Ray Gil 3th Rd Oakland
* Will join the team in late March or early April coming off injury
KEY RETURNEES
In the Field:
OF Romy Gonzalez (11 home runs, 38 RBI)
OF Michael Burns (four home runs, 32 RBI)
2 key returnees at the plate and in the field. What does that tell U about the roster change?
Remember Michael Amditis? The FR catcher started this season in five games but he was lost for the season when he broke his leg running to 1B on March 1st against FAU. He hit .357 with one double and three RBIs with an OPS of .866 in just six games. Think we could have used his bat?
On the Mound:
All-ACC Starter Jeb Bargfeldt (7-3, 2.28 ERA, Friday Starter)
Soph Greg Veliz (3.38 ERA, 66 strikeouts, Saturday starter),
Evan McKendry (4-2, 4.10 ERA Sunday Starter)
Michael Mediavilla (4-5, 4.45 ERA, Mid-Week Starter)
Reliever Andrew Cabezas (2.15 ERA, 80 strikeouts)
Middle Relief Frankie Bartow (12 saves)
Middle Relief: Cooper Hammond*
*Coop was lost to injury almost all of last year. Having him back healthy is HUGE for this team.
ROSTER
Check out all the newcomers by taking a look at the 2018 roster.
http://hurricanesports.com/roster.aspx?path=baseball
COACHING STAFF
The coaching staff remains intact for this year which makes sense. Bu maybe Gino will make changes next year.
SCHEDULE
The highlight of this year’s schedule will be a visit by the defending CWS champs. Florida Gators. Meh. All kidding aside, they have a heck of a program and they finally won it all last year. It also seems like they have been winning all their games against the Canes and there ain’t no getting around it: they have owned us the past several years.
The good news is? We get them at home.
The bad news? We get them at home.
Why? Because once again we get them early, like next weekend. With so many new faces on our team, especially rookies, it will be a tall task to in the series because our team will need time to develop and get their sea legs.
Also at home, Miami will host: Notre Dame, Virginia, North Carolina, Pitt and Boston College.
The road slate has some potholes: Duke, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State and Virginia Tech. Here’s the complete schedule. Keep this link handy. UM will update each game with info on how to follow the game.
Speaking of which…
MEDIA
Guess what? No more Joe Z doing play-by-play of UM Baseball. UM announced it has a new media partner: Entercom. If U live in SOFLA this is all U need to know: 790 The Ticket will now carry Miami games, about 15 or so. I don’t know who will do the play-by-play but with Joe Z at QAM, I doubt they will loan him out.
FINALLY
Let’s rally around our HC and this young team and hope the sendoff ends in Omaha. After last year, that would be so sweet and fitting.
Let's hope it's a fun ride.
Go Canes!
