Miami Hurricanes Baseball: Early 2016 Outlook

allCanesBlog guest columnist Scott Alan Salomon chimes in regarding Miami Baseball’s recently-ended season and gives his outlook on how things should shape up in 2016.

The Miami Hurricanes baseball team won 50 games this season and will end up being ranked in the top eight nationally after bowing out in the College World Series. When you look right at it, it was not a bad season for the men in Orange and Green and they leave a strong nucleus for next year.

“We ended up one of the top teams in the country, and I’m proud of what they’ve accomplished,” Miami coach Jim Morris said. “I’d like to win a ring, no question about that. But I’m proud of what they’ve done and where we got to.”

Despite losing several key veterans, the team will have a lot of talent returning from this season’s ACC Coastal title winning team.

“College baseball has improved so much nationally. It’s much harder for us as a school. The Atlantic Coast Conference is a great conference, and we have to battle every game we play to get where we are at,” Morris said. “We won the Coastal Division and won the championship last year in our conference. So we’ve done some good things. No question about it. But getting back to Omaha is what it’s all about.”

Gone are starting pitcher Andrew Suarez, third baseman David Thompson, second baseman, George Iskenderian, (more than likely) center fielder Ricky Eusebio and catcher Garrett Kennedy. Everyone else should be back, with the exception of the seniors that graduated, such like walk-ons Sam Abrams and Daniel Briggi who provided much-needed bullpen depth during the season.

Despite what they are losing, Morris likes what they have coming back and also what they have coming in recruiting wise.

We’ve got an outstanding recruiting class coming in, and I’m sure we’ll lose some of our juniors and of course our seniors, but we’ll have a good club next year,” Morris said after the Florida loss that ended the season. “We’ve gotta just build on what we’ve done this year.”

Morris is giddy about outfielder Kep Brown who is expected to challenge for a starting role as a freshman. He also has plenty to be excited about in the four new local arms in Frank Barlow, from nearby TERRA in Miami and Andrew Cabezas from Coral Gables Senior, Isaiah Musa from Westminster Christian and Alex Valaverde from Florida Christian.

Freshman sensation Michael Mediavilla will take over Suarez’s role in the rotation. Woodrey and Enrique Sosa will each move up a spot in the rotation and Mediavilla will become the Sunday starter. Danny Garcia will remain the mid-week starter and long relief arm out of the bullpen. I also look for Danny Epstein to get some mid-week starts and some looks in long relief.

Bryan Garcia will keep his spot as the closer out of the pen and will look to regain his form from when he was an All-American his freshman year. Cooper Hammond will challenge, but look for him to remain as the main set up guy.

Zack Collins will assume the full-time catching duties behind the plate with Kennedy graduating and moving on to Hollywood as he was drafted by the Dodgers. Collins was a much better defensive catcher and called a better game and also handled the staff better. Kennedy was better off in the designated hitter role, which will now be up for grabs in the fall.

Look for Edgar Michelangeli to take over the third baseman’s job from Thompson. The senior-to-be has waited his turn patiently and was a good pinch hitter off the bench and spelled Thompson defensively in late game situations. The Florida Christian graduate has waited his turn and will finally get his opportunity to shine.

The rest of the infield should remain intact, with the exception of the ACC batting champion Iskenderian who will move on to bigger and better. He will more than likely be replaced by Johnny Ruiz. The Westminster Christian grad was a starter until Isk took over this season and he will take his familiar position back at second base. He is known for his defense and speed and not quite so much for the pop in his bat, which he lacks.

The outfield could provide some competition. Willie Abreu is fixed in right field. Jacob Heyward, with his late season accolades and post-season heroics figures into battle for either left field with Carl Chester, or center field with Brown. Brown has a pop in his bat and will be hard to keep out of the lineup from day one. Look for Brown to start in center and Heyward and Chester to platoon in left.

Whichever one loses that battle could end up being the designated hitter in this still powerful lineup. Chester can hit for power as he showed in the regionals, but can also score on the base paths with his speed as he is the fastest returning Hurricane. He proved that against Arkansas in the College World Series.

There is always the possibilities that Morris and Co. finds a junior college transfer this summer that could put a wrench in the above-plans and that could find a home like Iskenderian did. Let’s hope that is true. If not, this is probably the game plan going into fall practice.

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