Miami is in uncharted waters, having fallen to 16-19 after a demoralizing sweep against FSU. While there are still games to play, fans are already looking at potential offseason solutions to avoid a repeat. Javi Salas, who threw the 23rd perfect game in D1 history for the Canes, joined the CanesInSight Podcast with his thoughts on some ways Miami can get the program back on track:
On the state of the program: I don't really know where to start, man. First of all, it had to be Florida State. To get swept in the fashion that we did, to our most bitter rival, is tough. There's some difficult conversations that need to be had. This team had such high expectations at the start of the year, winning the first two ACC series against top 15 ball clubs. It's definitely taken a turn for the worse here the last couple of weekends.
On the FSU sweep: D*ck Howser Stadium plays into that home-run atmosphere with a really short porch. We saw Florida State take advantage of that by hitting some long balls out. Every time it seemed like Miami was trying to claw back into the game, Florida State found a way to pull ahead. That's a sign of a good baseball team.
I hate to say this, but we have to give the Seminoles their flowers for the turnaround they've had from last year to this year. That was a team that came to Coral Gables and got the brakes beat off of them by the Canes. A sweep, gave up 40-something runs over the weekend, and now they're top five in the country a year later.
We just haven't made winning plays at a consistent level. When you get into this conference, it's so tough. Every single weekend is a test and it's usually a battle of who makes the least unforced errors. Unfortunately, in our case for the second weekend in a row, we had more than Florida State.
On the lessons of Florida State’s turnaround: Link Jarrett took Notre Dame to Omaha, which is not supposed to happen. A Midwestern team, a cold-weather team going to Omaha was a huge accomplishment. He was a Florida State guy returning to his alma mater. He's done a great job.
What he did was take advantage of the transfer portal. He went in there and got the best freshman at University of North Florida, got a guy from USF, a guy from UCF. He parted ways with a lot of the dead weight on the roster from the Mike Martin Jr. era. He said to himself, “I need to win now and win big.” And he went into the transfer portal and found those guys that fit the bill.
FSU’s turnaround definitely keeps me up at night, but it’s something that Miami should emulate going forward. There's this pool of players in the transfer portal that are going to become available here in the next couple of weeks and months. If you want to turn it around quickly, you've got to rely on some of those guys to infuse some talent into your program quickly.
On landing players from smaller schools in-state: That’s what Link Jarrett did last year. I'm sure they played against South Florida, North Florida, all teams right in their backyard. Midweek games. You keep your eyes on guys. We've gone from college athletics being scouting in high school to now you’re scouting college. Because you have access to this talent pool in the transfer portal.
You have a lot of these Florida schools coming into Mark Light Stadium to play against your ball club. You have a lot of film on them. It's so easy to access information now. With this wonderful computer in front of you, you can get whatever you want with a couple clicks.
I think there's going to be some changes in Coral Gables in terms of who's moving out and who's coming in next year. I expect there to be some transfer names coming in.
On scouting summer leagues like Cape Cod: You get sent [to these leagues] after your freshman, sophomore seasons to go play summer ball, get some extra ABs, pitch some more innings. There's a lot of guys from small schools there. These D2s and D3s want to go play D1 and they have something to prove. There's talent everywhere in the country. Now with the transfer portal and no rules in terms of sitting out a year, it's so much easier for guys to make that jump.
I think there'll be mutual interest. People are going to see that Miami's down. This is the time where guys say, “Maybe I can pounce. I can go and make an impact right away. I can be part of the turnaround.” That's something that could definitely be a rallying cry going into the offseason: “Be a part of the turnaround at Miami.” We've seen it in football. We've seen Mario Cristobal rebuild the roster in pretty short order. I think that's something that baseball is probably going to try and do this offseason.
On the focus of the rebuild: There's building blocks. It's not bare bones right now. You have three big-time hitters offensively: Daniel Cuvet, Blake Cyr, Jason Torres. Those are your focal points. You have Nick Robert, a freshman closer who's definitely flashed this year. I probably anticipate him looking to pitch more in the rotation next year. Other freshmen starters and pitchers that we haven't necessarily seen a whole lot of, but I know have the talent and are projected to be impact guys next year.
Miami just needs some experience. We keep talking about how young the ballclub is and a lot of these losses are late game, fundamental stuff. It's not necessarily a lapse in judgment, but just guys who don't have that experience playing in those situations. I'd be looking for third and fourth year players, maybe some grad students, guys who can infuse some talent and some experience at the same time. You’ve got to rebuild that culture.
It's tough when you're so young. I played on some young teams and it's difficult. They've never played in Tallahassee. This weekend was probably eye-opening for a lot of players where it's a big time environment. You're back on your heels. You've lost a couple of series and all of a sudden you go into this buzzsaw that is D*ck Howser Stadium.
So you want to look for guys who have been in the battles, have faced some live bullets and understand what it's like to win ballgames. You want to bring guys that are hungry, want to be part of the solution, want to catapult themselves and put themselves on a stage they may have never been at, a smaller program. Miami's in a desirable position to go out and find these players and bring them in quickly.
On Jacoby Long: Jacoby's had a really nice stretch the last couple weeks, especially in conference play. He was a guy who the coaching staff had some high expectations for. He hadn't gotten the consistent at-bats that he probably wanted. The lineup was stacked the past couple years. Credit to the kid because he stayed ready. He stayed on top of his game. He plays a really good centerfield. And the bat has really come around. He's hitting over 300 now in the season. You’ve got to give guys credit for always being prepared, always being ready and having a professional approach. He's a very mature kid. He's been in the program four years now. Jacoby's definitely been one of the bright spots.
On Rafe Schlesinger: Rafe's an enigma because he's got so many moving parts. He's so deceptive, but I think at the same time he's just learning how to pitch. It's not like he's a finished product. In a perfect world, he wouldn't be thrust into such an important role for this ball club.
He's a number two guy. So Rafe, who had 30 innings last year, he's blown past that this year and is probably throwing way more than he ever has in his career. The development side is tough with starting pitching because once it clicks, it clicks. He has those moments. The swing and miss is really good. He has the fastball, the slider. He's got deception. He just hasn't put it all together yet. When he does, he'll have a really long and bountiful career.
There’s not linear development in baseball. You never really know when guys are going to hit their stride. He’s had moments. He’s flashed. Going forward. I don't know what his draft status is. The next couple of weeks will be telling in terms of what that looks like.
I like what I see. I think he's got really good stuff. He's a good kid from all I've heard. He's a worker. So I think he's got a bright future.
On Herick Hernandez: He just doesn't have a lot of miles on the tires. He's a first-year starting pitcher. As of two years ago, when he was in high school, he was playing outfield. He’s another guy learning how to pitch before our eyes. Miami has two guys in their weekend rotation who are learning to be starters. It's tough to say that either of them are finished products.
Herick, in terms of upside, everything looks kind of easy and fluid with him. He's got really easy mechanics, really easy arm motion. The ball jumps out of his hand. He has a really good curveball. I just think he's sort of run into issues when there's traffic on the base paths. We've seen some big innings from Herrick. He's been susceptible to the long ball as well.
This is all part of learning how to pitch, learning how to pick your spots, when to go after guys, when to nibble, when to attack. It's all part of the learning game and the development game. I think he's got a really high ceiling. We've just seen the floor. Rafe and Herrick are two guys that Miami really needs to step up these last couple of weeks in the season. The bullpen has been taxed big-time the last couple of weeks. We know what we’ve got in Gage [Ziehl]. We need Rafe and Herick to step up.
On Bethune-Cookman and Louisville: Bethune comes in on a Wednesday and it's never a pleasant matchup for the Canes. They always have talent. They're a really tough team. They gave me fits in my career at Miami. The Canes are losers of six of their last seven. So to right the ship against Bethune is not going to be an easy task.
Bethune is going to come in and they're probably going to throw their ace on a Wednesday. It’s crazy to think of, but they always do it against Miami. It's one of their bigger games of the season. They want to make the tournament. This is a huge feather in their cap for them.
Then you transition into the weekend, you’ve got Louisville coming in. They are playing much better, 7-8 in the conference. They're still in the mix for a regional bid.
The Canes still have a puncher's chance. Four ACC series left to play, 12 games in conference. It's probably going to take a Herculean effort to propel themselves into a regional position. But that's not to say they can't do it. I don't want to be all roses and rainbows here, because it's definitely been a tough stretch. Coach Arteaga will be the first one to tell you that. But there's still games to be played. There's a reason why the schedule is 56 games long. They're 35 in. The next 20 games will be really telling on (A) what the rest of the season looks like for this group and; (B) what the future looks like going forward.
