Where are the Miami Hurricanes Ranked as Baseball Nears?
The Collegiate Baseball Season is a few weeks away. As the season nears, various outlets have posted their rankings for the 2017 season. Miami is ranking from eighth to 21st in the various polls that have come out.
The Hurricanes highest ranking is eighth by Collegiate Baseball. The Hurricanes ranking is the highest amongst ACC teams. This is the same spot Miami finished the 2016 season in Collegiate Baseball’s poll.
Miami finished the season with their second straight trip to the College World Series last year. They were the number three national seed and the only national seed in their half of the bracket in Omaha. The ‘Canes were eliminated in two straight games by Arizona and California-Santa Barbara. They were ranked fourth in last season’s preseason rankings by Collegiate Baseball.
UM is number 21 in the poll from D1Baseball.Com. The ‘Canes are one of seven ACC Teams ranked in D1Baseball’s poll. ACC teams ranked ahead of the U are number three Florida State, number six North Carolina State, number nine North Carolina, number 12 Louisville, number 15 Clemson, and number 17 Virginia.
USA Today’s preseason poll has Miami ranked 17th. They are also one of seven ACC teams in the USA Today poll. Five ACC teams are ranked ahead of UM in the USA Today poll. Number five Florida State is the highest.
As usual, the Hurricanes face a daunting 2017 schedule. Their schedule includes series against preseason (rankings are USA Today) No. 2 Florida, No. 5 Florida State, No. 13 North Carolina, No. 14 NC State and No. 18 Virginia.
The Hurricanes return 15 letter winners from 2016 and had seven players drafted. The 2015 team had five players drafted. Catcher Zack Collins led the Hurricanes draftees. He was the tenth overall pick by the Chicago White Sox.
| Year | Rnd | DT | OvPck | FrRnd | RdPck | Tm | Signed | Name | Pos | WAR | G | AB | HR | BA | OPS | G | W | L | ERA | WHIP | SV | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 | 10 | FrRnd | 10 | White Sox | Y | Zack Collins (minors) | C | 4Yr | |||||||||||||
| 2016 | 6 | 170 | FrRnd | 4 | Rockies | Y | Willie Abreu (minors) | RF | 4Yr | |||||||||||||
| 2016 | 6 | 175 | FrRnd | 9 | Tigers | Y | Bryan Garcia (minors) | RHP | 4Yr | |||||||||||||
| 2016 | 10 | 303 | FrRnd | 17 | Twins | Y | Brandon Lopez (minors) | SS | 4Yr | |||||||||||||
| 2016 | 15 | 447 | FrRnd | 11 | Mariners | Y | Danny Garcia (minors) | LHP | 4Yr | |||||||||||||
| 2016 | 18 | 545 | FrRnd | 19 | Giants | Y | Jacob Heyward (minors) | CF | 4Yr | |||||||||||||
| 2016 | 28 | 847 | FrRnd | 21 | Astros | N | John Ruiz (minors) |
Related Story: Miami Hurricanes Ranked Eight By Collegiate Baseball
The Hurricanes have three preseason All-Americans. Pitchers Michael Mediavilla and Jesse Lapore and shortstop Johnny Ruiz were named All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball.
Lapore and Mediavilla will lead the Pitching Staff in 2017. They were Miami’s top two starters a season ago. Lapore was 9-0 with a 2.20 ERA in 2016 in 14 games, 13 starts. Mediavilla finished 11-2 with a 3.40 ERA in 18 games, all starts last season.
Ruiz hit .342 with four homeruns and 57 Runs batted in last season. He had a .974 fielding percentage with eight errors in 298 chances.
Next: Miami Hurricanes Making Late Surge as Signing Day Nears
Miami will begin their season with a fan fest and Alumni game on February 11. They open the season February 17 against former Big East foe Rutgers. After one game against Florida International, the Hurricanes travel to Gainesville for a showdown with number three Florida the second weekend of the season.