Miami AD assesses Gino DiMare and Hurricanes baseball as coach looks ahead to 2022
The 2021 University of Miami baseball season ended with a whimper — as opposed to a hearty crack of the bat.
“Very tough, obviously,’’ UM coach Gino DiMare, who has two years remaining on his five-year contract, told the Miami Herald by phone on Monday. “Never fun when it ends. That wasn’t the plan. Yeah, very tough.’’
The Hurricanes, 33-21 overall, 20-15 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 1-4 in the postseason that includes two consecutive losses in the league tournament, bused home Sunday night from Gainesville after being eliminated by South Alabama in a 7-2 NCAA regional loss. Miami athletic director Blake James told the Herald on Monday that he has “full faith’’ in DiMare, but that he was nonetheless disappointed in the ending.
“The biggest thing to me is I thought we were inconsistent all year and we saw that play out this weekend, James said. “Our mindsight is we want to be in Omaha every season and that didn’t happen this year. As Gino said Sunday, I would agree with his assessment that the team underachieved.”
What now?
Omaha or bust
The coach is determined to get the Canes back to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, where they’ve been 25 times and won four national championships. But that’s the end game, not the start. On Tuesday and Wednesday he’ll meet with players individually to see if and where they fit into the future.
Last year’s COVID-19-shortened season was canceled after only 16 games, and the Hurricanes ended 12-4 and ranked as high as fifth in the nation. But the MLB Draft, usually 40 rounds, was cut to five rounds because of the pandemic, and many veteran players, such as then-reigning ACC home-run king Alex Toral, had little choice but to return to school because they went undrafted. Toral is not expected to return in 2022.
This year’s draft is July 11-13th, much later than normal, and will be limited to 20 rounds. Because of the NCAA’s decision last year to allow players an extra year of eligibility, “several guys returned who you wouldn’t have planned on coming back,’’ DiMare said. “But most of the fourth-year guys have all graduated or will graduate this summer. That plays a major role in this.”
Though the NCAA allowed an unlimited roster size in 2021, DiMare stuck with the normal 35-player limit. Next season the limit will be 40. “Most teams we played against had 45, even 50,’’ he said. “None of those coaches were excited. It causes a lot of headaches.’’
Some players, such as outfielder Christian Del Castillo, who had a team-high batting average of .369, relief pitcher Daniel Federman, infielder Ray Gil and second baseman Anthony Vilar could see if they’re drafted before a final decision is made.
Catcher Adrian Del Castillo (.275, 37 RBI), once a top-five draft prospect, has dipped to lower first-round projections but will definitely be gone next year. In his place will be 2021 true freshman Carlos Perez, a Miami Herald first-team All-Dade in 2019.
The bottom line is that the NCAA only allots the equivalent of 11.7 full scholarships in baseball that can be divided among several more players, and UM is a private school that costs too much for many to attend regardless of the scholarship help.
Future hope
So, who does DiMare have that gives him hope for 2022?
This year’s freshmen.
UM had the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class this past season, and “those guys are all coming back, bascially,’’ DiMare said. “The strength is that class. A lot of young players played.”
Among the freshmen who started were Yohandy Morales (.284, team-leader in runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage) at third, Dominic Pitelli at shortstop and pitchers Alejandro Rosario and Victor Mederos.
CJ Kayfus (.298), who “probably should have played more and will be in our lineup next year,’’ DiMare said, started only 10 games and played in right field, but could possibly end up at first base.
Most of the young pitchers are returning, including second-year freshmen Andrew Walters and Jake Garland. All-American Closer Carson Palmquist also was a second-year freshman.
DiMare said he’s also optimistic about the incoming recruiting class, which is full of accomplished pitchers with “some good hitters.’’
Hitting woes
Hitting and scoring, of course, are what DiMare needs to solve before next season’s first pitch. UM finished with a sickly .263 team batting average, 171st of 286 Division I teams listed in the NCAA statistics. The Canes scored 313 runs (5.8 average), tied for 103rd nationally.
“We didn’t swing the bat,’’ DiMare said. “It’s something that needs to be adjusted. You have to score runs in this game. You can’t put all that pressure on your pitching and defense.”
James, the athletic director, said his overall assessment of DiMare’s performance in three seasons is “good overall.’’
“His first year we went to the NCAA tournament and we lost to a good Mississippi State team,’’ James said. “Last year we had a very good team and the year was cut short. And this year, like I said, there were a lot of positives but just the inconsistency. I have full faith in Gino. He’s committed to getting it back to the level where we all want to see it at.”
