How Miami star Derek Williams’ offseason work turned him into UM’s top hitter

Derek Williams has always hit.

From the time he was in high school to stints at two junior colleges and Wichita State to his time in Coral Gables, the veteran outfielder has produced at the plate.

As the Hurricanes (32-12) enter the final stretch of the regular season, the offense will rely heavily on Williams. Star third baseman Daniel Cuvet is out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his back, meaning Williams will have to keep up his hot play.

“It sucks having Daniel out of lineup because he’s a great kid and he works really hard. He’s a leader for us,” Williams said. “But I would say (there is no extra pressure). (Gabriel Milano) filled his spot really good. Gabo works hard. And honestly, no, we try to take it one game at a time. Next-man-up mentality and stuff, and we kind of had to deal with that all year. We had Max (Galvin) get hurt, and then we had a couple other guys go down, as well. So it’s kind of been like the team situation is like next guy up and got to keep going forward, not trying to do too much and keep passing the torch along the guys in the lineup.”

Williams was a key part of Miami’s lineup last season, his first at UM. He hit .317 with a .986 OPS and nine home runs despite missing time with a broken hamate bone in his hand. He recovered from the injury and spent the offseason improving his approach at the plate, hoping to decrease his strikeouts. Williams said he used the team’s Spinball machine, a pitching machine that can be programmed with different pitches and different locations, to help him recognize pitches better.

“I kind of put a little game situation in the practice situation so I can get better at swinging at better pitches in the zone and not swinging at pitches outside the zone,” Williams said. “Because a lot of time, you can get in the cage and you can just start swinging and not really have a certain approach or help your discipline out.”

The offseason work has paid off. Williams has been the Hurricanes’ most productive hitter this season. He is the team leader in batting average (.386), home runs (14), RBIs (59) and OPS (1.226). Williams has decreased his strikeout rate from 19.4 percent in 2025 to 17.6 percent in 2026. His walk rate has increased from 8.8 percent last year to 11.9 percent this year.

Williams ranks fifth in the ACC in batting average, third in OPS and eighth in home runs.

“He’s just a player that works really hard and does everything right,” Miami coach J.D. Arteaga said. “No surprise to me that he’s maintained the level that he’s performed at and gotten better at some other things.”

The Hurricanes are in a crucial part of the season now as they fight for their spot in the NCAA regionals. They have a road series against N.C. State (28-16) this weekend. The following week, Miami hosts Louisville (26-19). Then UM concludes the regular season with road trip to face rival FSU (30-14).