FIU Panthers gearing up for start of baseball season next month. Here’s who to watch

FIU’s 2020 baseball schedule was announced recently, and it includes 13 of the Panthers’ first 14 games at home.

The season starts Feb. 14, with the opener of a three-game series against visiting Fordham. FIU takes a bus trip to Bethune-Cookman on Feb. 18, but, otherwise, the Panthers are at home until they open their Conference USA schedule March 13 at 2019 league-tournament champ Southern Miss.

FIU also has a big game at the Miami Hurricanes on March 18. The Hurricanes visit FIU on April 1.

As for what kind of team the Panthers will field, FIU will be led by ace pitcher Logan Allen, power-hitting catcher Jose Garcia and two speedy table-setters in Derek Cartaya and Jarrett Ford.

The Panthers, who have not made an NCAA regional since 2015, have to be most excited about Allen, who has been named a second-team All-American by Perfect Game. He is the only Conference USA player to earn that honor this year.

Last season, Allen went 4-6 with a 3.11 ERA and started league play with 32.2 consecutive scoreless innings. He led the league in strikeouts and finished 15th nationally with 12.86 Ks per nine innings.

Over this past summer, Baseball America named him as one the top seven stars from the prestigious Cape Cod League. In three starts, Allen struck out 24 batters in 15 innings, walked just three and allowed two runs (both unearned).

FIU, which hasn’t had a winning season since 2017, is managed by fourth-year coach Mervyl Melendez, whose Panthers went 23-32 last season.

Melendez shook up his coaching assignments for this season, putting Dax Norris in charge of the hitters, a post he formerly held for the Alabama Crimson Tide. A former catcher, Norris had spent the past three years as FIU’s pitching coach.

“Whatever I can do to help the kids get better,” Norris said. “But I think the energy of our hitters suits me.”

With Norris moving over to mentor the hitters, Melendez hired Willie Collazo as his new pitching coach.

Melendez said Collazo — a former FIU and pro pitcher — has already made an impact on the Panthers.

“I think our starting pitching, in particular, will be strong and get us deep into games,” Melendez said. “I like the attacking mindset Willie has instilled in them.”

Allen, who also hits and plays first base, should lead a solid lineup. Second baseman Cartaya (20 steals) and center fielder Ford (17 swipes) form FIU’s 1-2 punch atop the lineup card.

Third baseman Alec Sanchez, a power-hitting transfer from Florida State, can be penciled in at the three-hole.

Garcia — who has 24 homers the past two years — is a cleanup-hitter candidate along with junior-college transfer Justin Farmer.

Norris said he preaches hitting to the opposite field as well as cutting down on strikeouts.

“I want our guys to be tougher with two strikes — put the ball in play more,” Norris said. “We also want to walk more, and our hitters this fall did an outstanding job of not chasing pitches outside the zone.

“Cartaya and Ford are also our best bunters, and we feel we can manufacture some offense with them. It’s a traditional approach, and it works. I’m encouraged.”

So is Melendez, who said Conference USA favorites in 2020 should probably include Southern Miss and Florida Atlantic, with Rice and Louisiana Tech also in the conversation.

But don’t forget FIU.

“I’m optimistic,” Melendez said. “I think we have a lot of the pieces in place. We just have to win those bullpen battles and get timely hitting.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ Kansas City Royals catching prospect M.J. Melendez — Mervyl’s son — was named MVP of the 2019 Carolina League finals, hitting .333 with one homer.