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Miami

Gino DiMare happy with development of Carlos Perez at catcher

PeterWarrenPhoto2by:Peter Warren•05/23/23•

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Miami head coach Gino DiMare walks to the third base coaching position in the second inning as the University of Miami Hurricanes faced the University of Mississippi Ole Miss Rebels in the Coral Gables Regional on June 5, 2022, at Mark Light Field at Alex Rodriguez Park in Coral Gables, Florida. (Photo by Samuel Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Miami catcher Carlos Perez has been a critical part of the Hurricanes success this season due to his presence in the lineup and behind the dish. Entering the postseason with a 37-18 record, Miami begins its run in the ACC Tournament on Thursday against NC State.

Perez will be a critical part of that postseason run as the primary catcher for the squad. He has played in 50 of the team’s games so far with 45 starts.

Head coach Gino DiMare said the biggest reason for Perez doing such a good job this season was that he was finally injury free.

“He’s been healthy,” DiMare said last week. “His first two years he got hurt. Last year was unfortunate. It was right before the season started, he broke his finger. So that set him back half the year. Then as a hitter, you don’t face pitching for half the year and then he comes back, he wasn’t the same. He was really good in our scrimmages. One of our better hitters for both years.

“I’d like to see him swing the bat better from an average standpoint even though he is swinging okay. He’s certainly got the home runs to show for it. I’d like to see him swing the bat better in runners in scoring position and things like that because I know he’s a better hitter because I’ve seen it in our scrimmages.”

Perez is hitting just .250 on the season but he has an OPS of .924 thanks to his pop at the plate. He is tied for second on the team in home runs with 13. Only freshman Blake Cyr has more homers with 16.

But Perez also has plenty of impact on the defensive side of the ball as the team’s starting catcher. Miami pitchers are third in the ACC in strikeouts with 602 and fifth in opponent’s batting average at .249.

“His number one priority is defense,” DiMare said. “That’s the number one thing he brings to the table for us is the handling of the pitchers and the receiving and the blocking. Always say this about catchers, if you’re not saying much about ’em, that means they’re doing a heck of a job back there. They go unnoticed because there’s nothing happening bad back there. He’s done a great job from that standpoint, and we’ve leaned on him a lot. We’ve caught him a lot. He’s been banged up a little bit back there, but he’s battled through it. He’s been he’s been great for us this year.”