Miami Hurricanes' new pitching coach, Laz Gutierrez, has work cut out after lackluster 2022 and with Ligon headed to portal
A Miami Hurricanes pitching staff that struggled last year with a 5.07 team ERA and which used eight different pitchers as starters at one point or another now has a new guy in charge.
J.D. Arteaga, of course, was the pitching coach last year who was promoted to head coach after Gino DiMare stepped down. Today Arteaga announced former Hurricane Laz Gutierrez, who played three years under Jim Morris, as the team’s new pitching coach.
Gutierrez has his work cut out with the expectatikon that All-American closer Andrew Walters will turn pro plus the news today that Karson Ligon, who started 10 games and was 3-2 with a 4.80 ERA, entered the transfer portal.
Ligon was hampered by injury during the season but began the year as the team’s Saturday night starter; Friday night starter Gage Ziehl is expected to return (he was 8-4 with a 4.30 ERA).
As for Guitierrez?
He returns to his alma mater after spending the past four years as the head coach at Nova Southeastern, where he helped the Sharks return to national prominence. Under Gutierrez, Nova posted an 86-63 record, highlighted by a 36-win campaign and trip to the NCAA Regional Tournament in 2022.
“Laz is a widely-respected member of the South Florida and professional baseball community, having served as a head coach at Nova Southeastern and working with the Boston Red Sox during their three most recent World Series Championships,” Arteaga said in a University of Miami release. “As a hometown guy, he understands our storied tradition and knows what it takes to help our program get back to Omaha. We are thrilled to welcome Laz and his family back to the University of Miami baseball program and I’m looking forward to working alongside him as our new pitching and mental skills coach.”
Despite his first two seasons as skipper of the Sharks being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Gutierrez mentored nine All-Sunshine State Conference honorees and five All-Region designees.
Gutierrez, who graduated from Miami in 2000, returned to South Florida in 2019 after 13 years with the Boston Red Sox. Over his final five seasons with the organization, Gutierrez served as the mental skills coordinator in Boston, designing and applying leadership and mental skills routines that helped the Red Sox win three World Series Championships (2007, 2013, 2018).
Prior to his time with the big-league club, Gutierrez worked as the coordinator of player development programs and amateur scout.
Before joining the Red Sox, Gutierrez was the manager for the North Adams Steeplecats, where he led the New England Collegiate Baseball League team to a franchise-high 25 wins in 2006, following his two-year tenure as pitching coach at Barry University.
“I am very excited and honored to be back at my alma mater, “Gutierrez said. “I would like to thank J.D. and Dan Radakovich for this incredible opportunity to build on the rich tradition established by Ron Fraser and Jim Morris. I am looking forward to working with our incredible student-athletes and coaching staff.”
A Miami native, Gutierrez began his coaching career by spending three seasons as the head coach at Coral Gables High School, mentoring future Hurricanes and MLB standouts Yonder Alonso and Eddy Rodriguez.
He got his start playing at Brito Miami Private School before becoming a three-year letterman for the Hurricanes under Morris.
A left-handed pitcher, Gutierrez was drafted three times, including as a 13th-round selection in the 1998 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers.
After a three-year playing career in the within the Tigers and San Diego Padres organizations, Gutierrez earned his master’s in performance psychology and a doctorate degree from Grand Canyon.
