Power Surge Pushes Canes Baseball Back to Prominence
By Alex Schwartz
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Few sports provide flukier results than baseball. Sample sizes matter in this sport more than maybe any other.
So, if you were hesitant to buy into Miami’s offensive resurgence after the first game of the season, no one could blame you.
Here’s the thing, though—if you didn’t believe it, well, you were wrong. It turns out, what Miami displayed to open first-year head coach Gino DiMare’s tenure was no lucky break.
These Canes, folks, they can flat-out rake.
Miami hit two homers and set a program record for runs in a season opener against a Division I opponent in a 19-3 shellacking of Rutgers, en route to tallying 35 runs in a sweep of the Scarlet Knights. The offense has continued to dominate ever since and, behind a group of sweet-swinging freshmen and sophomores, Miami has three more wins, 31, in 45 games this season as it did in all of 2018.
“If there was a certain turning point, I would just say right out of the gate, you could just tell,” DiMare said of when he felt the offense clicked. “I can’t deny the opening weekend against Rutgers. We swung the bat really well.”
Both DiMare and assistant coach Norberto Lopez, in his fourth year on staff and first as the primary hitting coach, pointed to Miami’s success at then-fourth-ranked Florida the second weekend of the season as a strong indicator this offense was for real.
DiMare, a 19-year assistant coach at Miami before taking over the reins this season, and Lopez were both encouraged by the way the Hurricanes hit the Gators’ Friday night starter, Tyler Dyson.
“We got him out quickly. Every at-bat seemed like it was taxing on the pitcher,” DiMare said. “I can recall in years past, some of our at-bats were quick, they weren’t taxing and they weren’t tough on the pitcher. Now, you can just see [pitchers thinking], ‘Boy, I’ve got to be careful. If I make a mistake, I can pay for it.'”
While Miami has improved offensively in near every imaginable area, the biggest difference in this club from the past two years is its ability to put the ball over the fence.
The Hurricanes have 56 home runs to tie for No. 17 in the country and need just eight more long balls to set a new program high in the BBCOR bat era, which started in 2011. The team already has six more homers than it did in 2016 when it last reached the College World Series.
In addition, Miami is just two home runs shy this year of its combined total from the past two seasons, as it posted 23 in 2018, tied for No. 235 nationally, and 35 in 2017, tied for No. 166 overall.
The lone current Miami position player who was also a part of the team in both 2017 and 2018 is co-captain Michael Amditis, who has witnessed the offense’s incredible transformation in full.
“One thing we haven’t had since I’ve been here [until this year is] a consistent lineup where you can honestly depend on anyone to put a ball out of the park at any time,” the redshirt sophomore catcher said. “It’s good to see that.”
No player better exemplifies Miami’s major strides offensively than sophomore Alex Toral, who has orchestrated a masterful turnaround.
Perfect Game’s top-ranked first baseman in the class of 2017 and its highest-ranked freshman position player in the country in 2018, Toral finished with one home run and a .237 slugging percentage in his opening campaign.
This year, the 6-foot-1, 220-pounder has turned into one of the nation’s most feared power hitters. His 17 home runs are tied for sixth in the country and he needs just three more to become the first Hurricane with 20 long balls in a season with a BBCOR bat.
Toral and Lopez both credit changes the Davie, Fla., native made to his stance as part of his turnaround, but it goes well beyond that.
“All of a sudden, he comes to this environment and he’s failing. This summer, we spent a lot of time on the phone,” Lopez said. “I wanted to hear what he thought and that allowed him to kind of express his thoughts on hitting. All of a sudden, he started asking me questions and asking coach DiMare questions and asking [assistant coach Bo Durkac] questions. ‘Guys, what do you think about this? What do you think about that?’ So, what has he done? He’s really learned how to deal with failure.”
In a sport where making an out 70 percent of the time is considered successful, handling struggles is a key for any player, not just Toral. When Lopez speaks on what has led to the Hurricanes’ offensive surge, it is something he harps on for the team as a whole, while also noting the 180 begins at the very top.
“There are a lot of people that have created this offense for us, starting with our head coach,” Lopez said. “It started in the fall with the mentality that he brought to the table of the mental toughness that we needed to have. Hitting, you can have all the ability in the world, but if you’re not mentally tough and you can’t handle failure, you’re going to fail. I think we had young guys last year that never failed before in their lives. I think Coach grabbing them in the fall and instilling that in them was very important.”
Ask around in the Hurricanes’ dugout and just about anyone will point to the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute as a huge part of Miami’s success this year.
During extended offseason meetings in which DiMare, Lopez and Durkac discussed offensive approach and tweaks, Lopez came up with the idea to have the world-renewed eye care organization work with the Hurricanes.
“They’re coming over here on a weekly basis because they’re using us to do studies, so it’s been beneficial for them, as well as for us,” DiMare said. “They’re doing different things with them and a lot of it is, in just simple terms, visual training. Almost like when you’re strengthening your muscles and working out, doing the same thing with your eyes. A lot of focus on and concentration.”
Working with Bascom Palmer was one of many new concepts Lopez brought to the table, DiMare said. The lifelong Hurricane noted that Lopez also pushed for more usage of pitching machines, rather than live pitching, including setting up machines at angles to work on going the opposite way.
However, as much as coaches can tweak, adjust and tinker, if the players do not buy in and work hard, none of it will matter.
The Hurricanes clearly have bought in and the results are evident, with Miami back in the top 25 and pushing for a potential regional host spot.
“Just the consistency off the field,” Amditis said of what he thinks the biggest change offensively has been. “Guys are working. You’re going to see them after hours. After practice, you’re going to see them there for an hour or two after practice hitting. I think that’s really helped, [as has] the vision training we’re doing. Just guys wanting to play, win, be here and be a part of this program.”
After logging 10-plus runs nine times in the past two seasons, the Hurricanes have scored double-digit runs 12 times in 2019 and notched 16-plus on four occasions.
An influx of new talent has certainly been an important piece of Miami’s increased productivity. The Hurricanes start four freshmen offensively on a nightly basis.
Two of them, outfielder Jordan Lala and second baseman Anthony Vilar, consistently hit first and second. Meanwhile, Adrian Del Castillo, who has played a variety of positions, and designated hitter JP Gates have provided pop in the middle of the lineup.
All of them have multiple home runs. They are four of the nine Hurricanes with at least a pair of round-trippers on the season.
“It’s a game changer. Nowadays in the game, the long ball has a huge presence and to have multiple guys in the lineup that can change the game with one swing, it’s honestly a benefit [for us] and it’s dangerous,” Toral said. “Anybody who steps in the box could take one out, even Lala, who’s our leadoff guy. You don’t really expect too many home runs out of him and he’s got three out of the park this year. It’s just dangerous. It’s scary for other pitchers to think that anybody could hit it out.”
Third baseman Raymond Gil has also made massive strides from his freshman campaign. After hitting .234 with three home runs in 2018, the Magic City native is hitting a team-best .342 and ranks second on the club with nine home runs.
DiMare mentioned that players like Toral and Gil were home run hitters before they came to Miami, but it was simply a matter of the team tapping into its abilities and making consistent contact.
Those struggles turning into success have made the offensive prowess—and winning—this season even sweeter for the Hurricanes, who are hitting .288 as a team, good for a 41-point upgrade from last year.
“I can’t say anything positively about that season, personally and [in terms of the] team environment,” Toral said of the 2018 campaign. “Everything was going in the wrong direction—I never would’ve imagined it that way—in all aspects of the game. To come out here this year and do what we’re doing as a team feels special.”
As much as the coaches worked to make changes and the players worked to implement them, no one foresaw Miami making such significant power strides this quickly.
“If I tell you yes, I would be lying to you,” Lopez said with a laugh. “I would go play the lottery right now if I knew that one.”
Expected or not, the Hurricanes have used their bevy of high-powered bats to surge back into national prominence, right where they have been for half a century.
Oh, and by the way, only one Miami position player is draft eligible. Beware, college baseball world, this Hurricane offense is here to stay.
