Progrums

Hurricanes’ Starter Sinks, Heads for New Shores

The transfer portal swings open for college baseball and the Miami Hurricanes, who’ve plucked talent like Jake Ogden and Alex Sosa in the past, are now watching one of their own walk out the door. Right-hander Tate DeRias, once a freshman revelation, endured a sophomore slump so epic he was benched after giving up homer after homer. In 20 innings this spring his ERA ballooned to a staggering 12.15, down from 5.77 in nearly 44 innings last year. Now DeRias is planting his flag in the portal and scouting new opportunities, leaving Miami’s rotation thinner than ever. The Canes will lean on AJ Ciscar, Sebastian Santos-Olson, Lazaro Collera and hope the bullpen’s Jack Dorso, Nick Robert, Jake Dorn and TJ Coats can pick up the slack. With DeRias gone, Miami’s quest for pitching depth just got a whole lot more urgent.

Never mind that Miami’s baseball team looks like a garage sale of cast-offs and hopefuls—apparently the plan is to “hit the portal hard” as if it’s a piñata stuffed with All-Star arms. Meanwhile, Tate DeRias is off on his own soul-searching journey, probably updating his Tinder profile to “ERA 12 but dreams big.” One can almost picture the coaching staff scanning airport terminals for unsuspecting pitchers with a sign that reads, “Will trade sunscreen and palm trees for strikeouts.” Here’s hoping someone somewhere has a spare ace they don’t mind sending down to South Beach—preferably one who knows which way to spin the ball and doesn’t confuse the mound with a launchpad for dingers.