UM update: Starting rotation, a new Cane who played in College World Series and other news
Pitching is the strength of the 2022 Miami Hurricanes baseball program, and 6-1, 184-pound right-handed sophomore Alejandro Rosario has earned the honor to be named starter for UM’s 7 p.m. home opener Friday against Towson — the first game of a four-game series.
Coach Gino DiMare on Tuesday, media day, unveiled the starting UM rotation. Behind Rosario (6-4, 5.21 ERA in 2021, with 11 starts in 15 appearances) for Saturday’s 2 p.m. first game of a doubleheader is last year’s closer Carson Palmquist (1-1, 2.22), a left-handed 2021 first-team All-American whose 14 saves led the Atlantic Coast Conference and were third nationally.
The No. 3 starter for the 7 p.m. second game of the Saturday double-header will be 6-5, 236-pound right-handed, third-year sophomore Jake Garland (6-4, 5.69 in 2021, with 13 starts in 16 appearances).
And Sunday’s starter for the 1 p.m. series finale will be 6-4, 215-pound right-handed, third-year sophomore Alex McFarlane (2-1, 4.50, with four starts in 16 appearances).
Hurricanes pitching coach J.D. Arteaga gave the Miami Herald a quick-hit synopsis of Rosario: “He’s got great arm strength, No. 1, and he’s got good feel for the strike zone. He throws three-plus pitches for strikes — a 97, up-to-98-mile-an-hour fastball, slider and changeup — and he pitches in very well and commands both sides of the plate. He’s tough to hit.’’
The 2022 closer: 6-4, 220-pound right-handed third-year sophomore Andrew Walters, who had a team-low 1.46 ERA last season in 19 appearances (one start).
UM finished 33-21 overall and 20-15 in the ACC last season. Towson, in the Colonial Athletic Association, finished 21-36 in 2021 and 11-12 in the CAA.
Starting lineup
DiMare said he hadn’t announced a starting position lineup yet, but here are the players you’ll likely see: first base: CJ Kayfus; second base: Dorian Gonzalez Jr. or Henry Wallen; shortstop: Dominic Pitelli; third base: Yolandy “Yoyo” Morales; catcher: Maxwell Romero Jr. or Carlos Perez; right field: Lorenzo Carrier or Mike Rosario; center field: Jacoby Long or Jacob Burke; left field: Jacob Burke or Gaby Gutierrez — and others, including Edgardo Villegas, Zach Levenson.
JP Gates update
Left-handed fourth-year junior pitcher JP Gates, also used as a designated hitter, had reconstructive elbow surgery last March and has been cleared to throw in the opening series. He has been hitting all fall.
“Very minimal,’’ DiMare said of Gates, who has had limited pitching from the bullpen this spring and threw last Sunday. “One inning and that will be it for opening weekend. He’s got to work his way back into it.’’
Vandy transfer
The Hurricanes, winners of national championships in 1982, 85, 99 and 2001, haven’t been to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska since 2016. But one member of their team, 6-1, 218-pound junior catcher Maxwell Romero, played in the College World Series last season.
Romero, a Miramar resident who graduated from Pembroke Pines Charter, transferred this school year from Vanderbilt, which won the national title in 2019 and was eliminated by Mississippi State in the CWS final series.
“These guys have made me better and made each other better,’’ said Romero, who played in 21 games with 15 starts last season, hitting .300, including four home runs. “Honestly, I gotta say everybody I think is going to be surprised at what we got.’’
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 5:47 PM.
