Pitching Reign Short-Lived As Reign Ends And Bats Return To Form – Miami Hurricanes

The short reign of the pitching crew ruling supreme was short-lived as today the bats resurged with some awesome power. The hitting was not as spectacular as Tuesday where 21 hits were belted out over 8 1/2 innings but today was still special. Today’s scrimmage lasted just 5 1/2 innings but we were treated to 12 hits showcasing a HR, two triples, along with a trio of doubles. Stealing was front and center as the baserunners took advantage of the lack of throwing quality behind the plate. The only bright spot was Ethan Puig making his second appearance catching. Still in the learning stage allowing some WPs to get by him which he will learn to stop along with a quicker release and velocity needs to be stepped up. As for his accuracy, they were right on the money. Think we might have caught a diamond in the rough with Ethan Puig. Backup catcher to Tanner Smith only because Ethan is an inexperienced freshman as opposed to a senior catcher with a lot of collegiate experience behind the plate. Nathan Johnson, also a freshman sporting a sore elbow, and Evan Taveras, even with his hitting, might be on the outside looking in.

Four pitchers with the honors today, each pitching 3 innings with the lone exception of Jake Dorn pitching 2 innings. This was probably due to JD shutting down the scrimmage at noon for afternoon classes that needed attending. We sometimes forget these are student-athletes and not the other way around.

Carson Fisher and Jackson Cleveland got the initial call. Carson opened cruising through the first two outs before being slapped with back-to-back singles by Jake Ogden and Bobby Marsh. No runs for their efforts. Not so in the second with a lead-off single by Max Galvin, advancing to second with a beautifully laid down bunt by Michael Torres, and making it home with a signature double by Todd Hudson. Carson’s final inning opened with a double from Derek Williams but that was as far as he would progress. Carson was hit hard giving up almost half of today’s hits (5), but managed to keep the run production to just one.

Jackson Cleveland shared the first 3 inning with Carson and his numbers were a lot better. With 7 strikeouts to his claim, Jackson I am sure caught the eye of JD as a strong candidate for a starting pitching assignment. Struck out the side in the first inning going 3up/3down. He had a pair of strikeouts with the only blemish being a single by Brandon DeGoti who manage coming off with the hit but never advanced beyond first. In his final inning a pair of strikeouts opened the inning finishing with an assist on a 3-1 ground out. Judging by today’s performance, he joins the ranks of Walters, Hugus, and Robert

With the 4th inning and change of pitchers, things got a bit dicey for our two pitchers Slaide Naturman and Jake Dorn. I still hold firm as to Slaide being our closer but the more the hitter adjusts to his submarine style of pitching they will hit him. With only one bite of the apple and looking at a different type of delivery he should be able to get the job done. The biggest concern is when he has a baserunner on. The delivery is so long, that the baserunner should be able to get a good jump to second. The first batter he faced was Bobby Marsh who he hit. With a sizeable lead off of first, he had no problem stealing second, which along with the throwing arm of Evan Taveras made it easy peasy. Almost surviving the inning getting the next two outs with Marsh still on second, Brandon DeGoti times the pitch perfectly bringing home Marsh and him standing on third with his first triple but going no further. Slaide continued to show signs of being hit upon with a one-out double off the wall in the 5th by Daniel Cuvet, who finally showed signs of last year’s power. Daniel’s double was followed by a Todd Hudson single to right advancing Daniel to Third. I am predicting that this season the twosome of Cuvet/Hudson will be one the most feared, if not most-feared in the ACC. Runners on the corners, Todd easily steals second beating the throwing arm of Tanner Smith. Gaby Guiterrez hits a grounder to third, throwing out Daniel at home. Taking advantage of the delivery of Slaide, Gaby easily steals second plus the throwing arm or should say lack of throwing arm this time by Tanner Smith. Slaide survives the 5th inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd striking out Taveras.

Slaide’s final inning started by striking out Edgardo. After that things trended downward. Adrian Areizaga singles, steals second off of Ethan, steals third, Slaide hits Dorian, and an E9 (believed to be Jake Kulikowski)(run). Slaide ends his day walking his final batter(Renzo). Not a particularly good showing. Needs to pay more attention to the baserunner. they are taking too big of a lead off their respective base.

Jake Dorn closed out today’s session with a pair of innings. Like Slaide, Jake had his most issues also coming in the 4th. Jake opened with a walk to Adrian who just doesn’t like to stick around stealing second. This time off of Ethan. Never had a chance to steal third no thanks to Dorian with his second HR this week. Starting over, hits Derek Williams who steals second, WP advancing to third followed by yet another WP for the third run to cross the plate, and things are not done yet. Renzo walked and Fabio Peralta finalized the inning with a triple bringing in Renzo for the 4th run of the inning. The entire 4th inning was a batter’s frenzy with 2 triples and a HR along with 3 walks, 2 hit batters, and 4 stolen bases. Jake survived an almost HR by Ethan Puig taken on the running track in left. Not the best day for Jake, but being a LH pitcher, one of four, he will live to fight another day.

The hitting rebounded coming off a lackluster 5-hit Thursday session with a double-digit 12 hits for 5 1/2 innings. Two players with multiple hits: Todd Hudson 2-2(double,RBI); and Brandon DeGoti 2-3(triple,RBI). Doubles: Daniel Cuvet, Todd Hudson, Derek Williams. Triples: Brandon DeGoti, Fabio Peralta. HR: Dorian Gonzalez.