Del Castillo and Toral Earn D1 Baseball Preseason Honors

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – No matter what publication you follow, the consensus remains true: Adrian Del Castillo and Alex Toral are among the top players in America entering the 2021 season.

The Miami duo picked up D1 Baseball Preseason All-America honors, marking their third preseason All-America selections ahead of the upcoming season.

Del Castillo added his third first-team distinction and first at designated hitter, as the third-year player received the first-team recognition at catcher from Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game. Toral was named to the third team at first base after being named a second-team preseason All-American by both Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game.

One of the best hitters in America, Del Castillo is considered among the top prospects in the 2021 MLB Draft class. The third-year catcher has been a hitting machine in his two years at The U, hitting .336 with 24 doubles, 14 home runs and 87 RBI over 77 games played. In a 16-game shortened season a year ago, Del Castillo led the Hurricanes with a .358 batting average and was tied for the team lead in runs scored (13) and hits (19), while his 15 RBI tied for second on the club.

A 2020 Preseason All-American by four different publications, Del Castillo was an offensive juggernaut in his debut season with the Canes. The standout finished the 2019 campaign batting .331 with 78 hits, 22 doubles and 72 RBI, all team-bests. The Miami native also scored 58 runs and clubbed 12 homers, while striking out just 24 times in 236 at-bats. A versatile player who saw time in right field, catcher, designated hitter and third base, he tied for the team lead with 22 multi-hit games and was second on the team with 18 multi-RBI performances.

Del Castillo’s 72 RBI were the second-most by a UM freshman in program history, finishing just four shy of Ryan Braun’s record 76, set in 2003. The 72 runs batted in were also the most by a Miami freshman since Yonder Alonso drove in 69 as a freshman in 2006. His 18 multi-RBI games were the most by a Hurricane freshman since Zack Collins posted 15 in 2014. A Freshman All-America selection by four publications, Del Castillo earned a host of awards after his collegiate debut season, including Second Team All-ACC, ACC All-Freshman Team, ABCA All-Region and All-Starkville Regional Team honors.

Already one of the top power hitters in the nation a year ago, Toral brings his big bat back to the heart of Miami’s lineup after leading the team with five home runs and 16 RBI in 16 games a year ago. The fourth-year junior posted a .296 batting average in 2020, while leading the team with a.593 slugging percentage and was second on the Canes with .435 on-base percentage.

Toral flexed his muscles at the plate in 2019 for the Canes, hitting an ACC-leading 24 home runs that ranked third in Division I and helped propel Miami to a conference-high 85 homers on the year. The herculean first baseman’s 24 homers moved him into a tie with Yonder Alonso for the second-most home runs by a Hurricane in a single season.

In addition to his prolific power numbers, Toral hit .293 with six doubles, 47 runs scored and 67 RBI. The Davie, Fla., native’s 19 multi-RBI games led the Canes and he also posted 15 multi-hit performances. An outstanding performance in his first NCAA tournament earned Toral a spot on the 2019 All-Starkville Regional Team.

In addition to Del Castillo and Toral, two-way players Ben Wanger and JP Gates have picked up preseason All-America recognition ahead of the 2021 season. Wanger was named to the second team by Collegiate Baseball while Gates garnered third-team honors from Perfect Game.

Miami is expected to be one of the top teams in the country in 2021. The Hurricanes came in at No. 6 in Collegiate Baseball’s Fabulous 50 NCAA Division I Pre-Season Poll and No. 7 in Perfect Game’s preseason rankings. Miami was picked No. 11 in the Baseball America preseason top 25 and No. 21 by D1 Baseball.