ORONO, Maine — Danny Casals dislocated his left shoulder diving for a line drive in a 10-6 loss to Hartford on April 9, 2017, and he missed the final 29 games of the season.
The University of Maine’s third baseman underwent surgery and worked through a four-month recovery and rehabilitation period in his native Miami.
It gave Casals a lot of time to think about what he needed to do to get better, and he has done just that.
“When I was injured and had time off, I had time to think about baseball and stuff and how I wanted to approach the game,” Casals said. “I had a lot more time to work on that and only that.
“I was definitely focused. I wanted to get my swing better,” Casals added.
The Black Bears’ junior goes into the six-team, double-elimination America East baseball tournament this week as the league leader in runs batted in with 42 and tied for the lead in home runs with 13. He is third in slugging percentage at .594 while hitting .303 with nine doubles.
“He has the most impressive right-handed swing I have ever seen,” UMaine senior Chris Bec, Casals’ longtime friend, said. “It is far superior than most.”
Casals batted a team-leading .310 (three homers, 21 RBIs) as a freshman en route to America East All-Rookie Team honors in 2016. He hit .247 (HR, 5 RBIs) in 25 games last year.
“His pitch selection has been better, No. 1,” UMaine head coach Nick Derba said. “He understands his swing at a much higher level. He works hard and he has obviously gotten a lot stronger. His swing is more consistent and his approach is way beyond what it was his freshman year.”
Casals said because of all the time he spent rehabilitating his left shoulder, it is now stronger than his right shoulder.
“I worked with a great group of people in Miami during my recovery,” said Casals, who explained that he worked a lot on his swing in a hitting cage and was able to develop into more of a power hitter.
“I’ve always known I had that pop in my bat, but it was a matter of being more consistent,” Casals said.
Casals said it was tough watching his teammates in the playoffs last year, knowing there was nothing he could do to help.
“The most important part of this season for me is that I have been able to finish it healthy,” Casals said. “Not being able to play in the postseason last season sucked.”
Even though the weather in Orono is a lot different than the warmth of his native Miami, he has enjoyed his time at UMaine.
“Being away from home and your family is always tough,” the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Casals said. “But we’ve got a great group of guys here and a great coaching staff. That helped a lot with the transition. You get used to the cold.”
Casals, who has been playing second base recently in place of Caleb Kerbs — who is tending to a family matter in New York and is likely to miss the tournament — said he is confident the Black Bears can win the tournament even though they will have play at least one extra game.
“We know what we need to do,” Casals said.
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