Miranda Hoping to Make His Mark as the Next Great `Canes Closer
Feb. 17, 2011
By: Rob Dunning
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – While there will be several new faces on the diamond for the University of Miami this year – specifically in the rotation and behind the plate – the guy at the back end of the bullpen is player every `Canes baseball fan is familiar with. And if history is any indication, he’s on the brink of becoming a household name on a much bigger stage.
Junior left-hander Daniel Miranda is entering his first full season as the Hurricanes’ closer after taking on the role mid-way through the year in 2010. It’s a role that has been good to pitchers in their junior season under pitching coach J.D. Arteaga, who has in recent years overseen guys like Chris Perez, Carlos Gutierrez and Kyle Bellamy thrive in that role their third year on the collegiate mound.
Being the late inning guy isn’t new to Miranda, but for the first time in his career he enters a season as the Hurricanes’ last guy out of the bullpen. The guy everyone in the dugout, on the field and in the stands gets behind in the most crucial moments in a baseball game.
There is a certain make-up that comes with a closer. First and foremost, they have to be fearless. They have to go after hitters with their best stuff….a me-versus-you mentality that doesn’t allow much room for error.
“My philosophy has been to go out there and walk the least amount of guys I can,” Miranda said. I’m always worried about my strikeout-to-walk ratio. My dad always tells me, `Don’t walk guys … if they’re going to get on base, let them earn their way.’ That’s kind of stuck to me since I was a kid. I don’t like giving out free passes. If someone is going to get on base they’re going to have to earn it. I just go after guys and try not to walk people.”
Miranda began his career out of the bullpen but did make four starts his freshman season. He again opened his sophomore year in middle relief, but in early April took over the closer’s role and thrived. When it was all said and done, he earned All-ACC second team honors after going 5-3 with five saves and a 3.23 ERA in 47 1/3 innings of work.
His strikeout-to-walk ratio greatly improved his second year in the program, going from 3.27-to-1 as a freshman to 4.25 last year. His ERA also saw a big change, dropping from 4.86 to 3.23 despite pitching in bigger moments with a ton more pressure last season.
He is one of just four closers returning in the ACC who recorded at least five saves a season ago. He was good and his late inning work was certainly crucial to the team’s success last season, but there is always room for improvement. A strict offseason work-out program has him in the best shape he’s been in years. He lost close to 20 pounds since the end of last season and is now down to about 217 going into Friday’s opener against Rutgers.
“I worked out a lot this past offseason,” Miranda said. “I wanted to drop some weight and get my legs stronger and I was able to do that. Now it’s just about I’m pitching.”
Part of Miranda’s success late last season and what is expected again this year is how well his close friend and high school teammate Sam Robinson pitches as his set-up man late in games. Robinson, who came to UM with Miranda in the fall of 2008 after the two shared the same mound at Killian High School in Miami, was one of the hottest relievers in the country late last season. The side-winding left-hander finished the year 1-0 with a 1.27 ERA in 28 1/3 innings of work.
“The entire fall we were both talking about being the one-two punch, kind of like [Taylor] Wulf and Bellamy were,” Miranda said. “We have to pick each other up, that is the bottom line.
“We’ve both been working hard all off-season,” Miranda added. “We’ve been throwing our bullpens together back at Killian, we worked out together and we ran together. So, we’ve both been trying to get each other better and pushing each other. Hopefully all of our hard work will pay off this year.”
It’s not uncommon for Robinson and Miranda to both appear earlier in games than the typical set-up men and closers. Both have shown they can go multiple innings if needed, as evidenced by Miranda’s work as a starter and Robinson’s 4 1/3 innings of work in Miami’s regional-clinching win over Texas A&M last spring.
“Since I used to be a starter, I don’t mind going three innings as a closer,” Miranda said. “And I have confidence in Sam… I’ve seen him go three, four innings scoreless. He could come in the seventh and take it to the eighth, or he could just go the seventh and I could go eight and nine. It could go both ways. I think it’s an advantage for the team because that means two guys at the end of the bullpen can go two-plus innings each.”
There is no doubt any success Robinson enjoys will make Miranda’s job that much easier, but ultimately it will come down to the closer to win the tight games Miami is going to need to have if it wants to get back to Omaha.
“I’m confident,” Miranda said. “I’m developing my slider and it’s actually breaking now. I’m throwing it to righties now, not just lefties. So now I have three pitches to throw to righties and lefties.”
Although Miranda has been a mainstay in the pitching staff the last two seasons, this year will ultimately go a long way in how his mark is made in Coral Gables. His freshman year, the `Canes lost in the regionals. His sophomore year? Super regionals. In his eyes, there is a natural next step as a junior. There is certainly a precedent there.
“You might not be able to tell because I’m not a very emotional person, but I’m awfully excited about our potential,” Miranda said. “It’s been a long time coming. The last loss against Florida in the Super Regionals… I took it personal. It hurt. We had a chance to win it and we didn’t. That drive back that night from Gainesville to Miami was probably the longest road trip I’ve of my life. It’s been lingering over my shoulder all offseason.”
His wait is over. This year’s quest for Omaha begins tomorrow night at Alex Rodriguez Park.
“This whole summer – really the whole off-season – I’ve been working hard to get back to that same place we were last year and this time, help lead this team to Omaha. That’s all that has been on my mind.”
