Miami is headed West after their first midweek loss of the season and a strong ACC series win over Wake Forest. Coach J.D. Arteaga joined the CanesInSight Podcast ahead of the Stanford series. A transcript of the discussion is below:
Q: Coach, let’s start with the positives. Your starting pitching gave you 21 innings against Wake, and then you closed it out Sunday. What did you see from that group?
J.D. Arteaga: “I mean, they executed everything we’ve been preaching all year — being efficient, going deep into games, pitching to contact, keeping the ball down, getting ground balls. Everything we’ve been trying to get across, they did it. All three guys were excellent, so we were very happy with that.”
Q: On the other side, Wake Forest had some elite arms. How did you feel about your lineup’s approach against that level of pitching?
Arteaga: “We battled. Good pitching is going to win most of the time, but the difference between this series and the Florida series was the bullpen. Our starters did a good job in both, but against Florida the bullpen didn’t hold water. This weekend, they did.
“Bela coming in Friday night with first and second, nobody out in a 3-1 game — that was huge. He got us out of it. After that, it was just great pitching all the way around.
“And Wake’s staff is tough because everyone throws 95 to 98, but they don’t rely on the fastball. It’s maybe 40% or less. So you’ve got that velocity in your head, but you’ve got to hit the slider, the changeup — everything else. That’s not easy. But we did enough offensively to win.”
Q: You mentioned the bullpen — what about Glidewell? He seems to be coming into his own late in the year.
Arteaga: “Yeah, and that’s part of the story. When you talk about injuries, people focus on guys who miss starts, but Glidewell’s been banged up and pitching through it. He had a little lat strain, and now he’s starting to get healthy.
“You’re seeing his arm action come back, the extension come back, and when that happens, his secondary stuff gets better. His arm is moving quicker now. It’s good to see him close to 100 percent. He’s going to make a big difference in our bullpen.”
Q: Mikey Torres is back now, and you’ve got two true center fielders. How are you managing that situation?
Arteaga: “We’ve got to get one of the bats going. Both guys play great defense, but neither is swinging it great right now. And it’s not just them — we’ve got a couple guys not performing at the level they’re capable of.
“So it’s about opportunity. We’ll keep rotating and see who takes the job. It’s really a day-to-day thing until someone claims it.”
Q: In the outfield/DH mix, how do you balance someone like Dubovic with the return of Max Galvin and the presence of Alvarez?
Arteaga: “That’s probably the toughest one. Being right-handed limits Dubovic a little bit in terms of when he plays. And Alvarez is a switch hitter who’s actually been better from the right side.
“If Alvarez was swinging it better from the left side, it would be an easy platoon at DH. But since he’s better right-handed, it complicates things.
“Right now, Alvarez is giving us better at-bats — he’s walking more, swinging at better pitches. So he has the upper hand. But Dubovic has to stay ready. Last night, if the game doesn’t end on that double play line drive, he’s hitting in the ninth. So he’s still very much in it.”
Q: Midweek games had been an offensive strength, but you get shut out by USF. What happened there?
Arteaga: “First of all, you’ve been trying to jinx it for weeks. [laughs]
“But yeah, our offense had shown up every midweek until now. We just didn’t swing it well enough. Their starter threw 38 pitches in the first inning, and it looked like they were going to the bullpen early. Next thing you know, he’s still in the sixth.
“He made an adjustment, and we didn’t. That’s always a problem.
“He was a lefty who kept us off balance — good changeup, breaking ball for strikes, just enough fastball. He beat us.
“Pitching-wise, we did a good job. Defensively, we didn’t. We knew going in they don’t strike out, they don’t walk, they don’t make errors — you’ve got to make plays. And we didn’t. Two errors in the first, another in the second, and really we gave them three of their four runs. That’s going to beat you.”
Q: You’re heading cross-country to face Stanford. What goes into preparing for a trip like that?
Arteaga: “We’ve always recruited well out of California. Even before joining the ACC, we made trips out there — Long Beach, UCLA, those kinds of teams.
“It’s changed a little with how early recruiting used to be, but now with the current rules, we’re getting more guys out of California again. You look at our roster — Alvarez, Greenhouse — it’s been a great area for us.
“It’s a great trip, but Stanford is going to be well coached no matter what their record is. They’re going to play good baseball. We’ve got to show up ready or we’ll get beat, just like any ACC weekend.”
Q: What stands out about Stanford’s team this year?
Arteaga: “Honestly, I’m day-to-day. Until this morning, I was focused on USF. But I’ve seen enough to know they’re talented.
“Talking to other coaches, they were one of the more talented teams in the conference last year — they just didn’t win games. Now they’re starting to figure it out. They just took two out of three at Louisville.
“This isn’t a team that’s going to roll over. You can’t expect to win three — you’ve got to go win them. Hopefully last night was a wake-up call. You can’t just show up. You’ve got to earn it.”
Q: Stanford has an international player like Sasaki — a pro-caliber talent choosing college. With NIL evolving, does that open new doors internationally?
Arteaga: “It’s complicated. International players are on student visas, not work visas, so NIL works differently for them. You need companies tied to their home country — it’s not as simple as just paying them.
“Revenue sharing could change things, but right now it’s still tricky. I don’t see us going to Japan a ton, but the opportunities are there depending on how the rules evolve.”
Q: Coach, let’s start with the positives. Your starting pitching gave you 21 innings against Wake, and then you closed it out Sunday. What did you see from that group?
J.D. Arteaga: “I mean, they executed everything we’ve been preaching all year — being efficient, going deep into games, pitching to contact, keeping the ball down, getting ground balls. Everything we’ve been trying to get across, they did it. All three guys were excellent, so we were very happy with that.”
Q: On the other side, Wake Forest had some elite arms. How did you feel about your lineup’s approach against that level of pitching?
Arteaga: “We battled. Good pitching is going to win most of the time, but the difference between this series and the Florida series was the bullpen. Our starters did a good job in both, but against Florida the bullpen didn’t hold water. This weekend, they did.
“Bela coming in Friday night with first and second, nobody out in a 3-1 game — that was huge. He got us out of it. After that, it was just great pitching all the way around.
“And Wake’s staff is tough because everyone throws 95 to 98, but they don’t rely on the fastball. It’s maybe 40% or less. So you’ve got that velocity in your head, but you’ve got to hit the slider, the changeup — everything else. That’s not easy. But we did enough offensively to win.”
Q: You mentioned the bullpen — what about Glidewell? He seems to be coming into his own late in the year.
Arteaga: “Yeah, and that’s part of the story. When you talk about injuries, people focus on guys who miss starts, but Glidewell’s been banged up and pitching through it. He had a little lat strain, and now he’s starting to get healthy.
“You’re seeing his arm action come back, the extension come back, and when that happens, his secondary stuff gets better. His arm is moving quicker now. It’s good to see him close to 100 percent. He’s going to make a big difference in our bullpen.”
Q: Mikey Torres is back now, and you’ve got two true center fielders. How are you managing that situation?
Arteaga: “We’ve got to get one of the bats going. Both guys play great defense, but neither is swinging it great right now. And it’s not just them — we’ve got a couple guys not performing at the level they’re capable of.
“So it’s about opportunity. We’ll keep rotating and see who takes the job. It’s really a day-to-day thing until someone claims it.”
Q: In the outfield/DH mix, how do you balance someone like Dubovic with the return of Max Galvin and the presence of Alvarez?
Arteaga: “That’s probably the toughest one. Being right-handed limits Dubovic a little bit in terms of when he plays. And Alvarez is a switch hitter who’s actually been better from the right side.
“If Alvarez was swinging it better from the left side, it would be an easy platoon at DH. But since he’s better right-handed, it complicates things.
“Right now, Alvarez is giving us better at-bats — he’s walking more, swinging at better pitches. So he has the upper hand. But Dubovic has to stay ready. Last night, if the game doesn’t end on that double play line drive, he’s hitting in the ninth. So he’s still very much in it.”
Q: Midweek games had been an offensive strength, but you get shut out by USF. What happened there?
Arteaga: “First of all, you’ve been trying to jinx it for weeks. [laughs]
“But yeah, our offense had shown up every midweek until now. We just didn’t swing it well enough. Their starter threw 38 pitches in the first inning, and it looked like they were going to the bullpen early. Next thing you know, he’s still in the sixth.
“He made an adjustment, and we didn’t. That’s always a problem.
“He was a lefty who kept us off balance — good changeup, breaking ball for strikes, just enough fastball. He beat us.
“Pitching-wise, we did a good job. Defensively, we didn’t. We knew going in they don’t strike out, they don’t walk, they don’t make errors — you’ve got to make plays. And we didn’t. Two errors in the first, another in the second, and really we gave them three of their four runs. That’s going to beat you.”
Q: You’re heading cross-country to face Stanford. What goes into preparing for a trip like that?
Arteaga: “We’ve always recruited well out of California. Even before joining the ACC, we made trips out there — Long Beach, UCLA, those kinds of teams.
“It’s changed a little with how early recruiting used to be, but now with the current rules, we’re getting more guys out of California again. You look at our roster — Alvarez, Greenhouse — it’s been a great area for us.
“It’s a great trip, but Stanford is going to be well coached no matter what their record is. They’re going to play good baseball. We’ve got to show up ready or we’ll get beat, just like any ACC weekend.”
Q: What stands out about Stanford’s team this year?
Arteaga: “Honestly, I’m day-to-day. Until this morning, I was focused on USF. But I’ve seen enough to know they’re talented.
“Talking to other coaches, they were one of the more talented teams in the conference last year — they just didn’t win games. Now they’re starting to figure it out. They just took two out of three at Louisville.
“This isn’t a team that’s going to roll over. You can’t expect to win three — you’ve got to go win them. Hopefully last night was a wake-up call. You can’t just show up. You’ve got to earn it.”
Q: Stanford has an international player like Sasaki — a pro-caliber talent choosing college. With NIL evolving, does that open new doors internationally?
Arteaga: “It’s complicated. International players are on student visas, not work visas, so NIL works differently for them. You need companies tied to their home country — it’s not as simple as just paying them.
“Revenue sharing could change things, but right now it’s still tricky. I don’t see us going to Japan a ton, but the opportunities are there depending on how the rules evolve.”
