FIU baseball coach Melendez steps down after program’s worst season in over a decade

Highs and lows for a noted Miami baseball family …

On May 17, former Westminster Christian catcher MJ Melendez hit his first career major-league homer, a 425-foot blast to right-center.

The next day, his father, Mervyl Melendez, stepped down as FIU’s coach. According to a source, Melendez was asked to resign after a 126-152 overall record and a 61-87 Conference USA mark in six years leading the Panthers.

This season, FIU slumped to a 16-34 season, the program’s fewest wins since at least 2008.

Melendez acknowledged that running a clean program was not enough.

“It’s not about the lives you change,” Melendez said. “It’s about the wins and losses, and we had a bad year.”

Melendez said he couldn’t pick a “specific” reason for FIU’s failures, especially this year at 8-22 in Conference USA.

“Sometimes it might have been philosophy. Sometimes we didn’t have some of the pieces we needed,” Melendez said. “We had a lot of different injuries.”

FIU athletic director Scott Carr said associate head coach Jeff Conine and pitching coach Willie Collazo are still on staff.

“Mervyl is a phenomenal human being, and I hate to see him go,” Carr said. “He said he just wishes he could’ve won more games.”

Carr said he has received lots of interests from coaches all over the nation. Carr would not comment on any names of interested coaches, but, according to a source, Conine has not applied.

“I’m not exactly sure why we haven’t had more success in baseball at FIU,” Carr said. “There’s a lot of talent within a short drive of campus.”

Carr said the next FIU field boss doesn’t necessarily have to have head-coaching experience.

“I’m looking for a proven winner who can recruit and develop talent,” Carr said. “We want a coach who is a great leader who cares about our guys as students and as athletes.”

Meanwhile, Melendez said he is open to serving as an assistant coach for some team next year.

His youngest son, Jayden Melendez, just completed his true-freshman season as FIU’s catcher, hitting .232 with three homers and a .597 OPS.

Mervyl said no decision has yet been made on whether Jayden will remain to FIU for 2023.

As for MJ Melendez, just three years ago, he slumped badly, batting .163 with 165 strikeouts in Class-A minor-league baseball.

But during the COVID spring of 2020, he altered his game.

As Baseball America wrote: “Armed with a shorter swing, a toned-down leg kick, a better stance and an improved approach, Melendez completed one of the most dramatic transformations in years. He went from being one of the worst hitters in the minors to one of the best.”

Indeed, he led the minors last year with 41 homers, ranking second with a .628 slugging percentage and fifth with a 1.011 OPS. He also posted 103 RBIs, 22 doubles and three triples in 124 games.

That led to Melendez, 23, making his major-league debut this year on May 3 with the Kansas City Royals.

“His improvements make it more likely he will get to the 25-30-homers potential that once seemed out of reach,” Baseball America wrote recently about Melendez, Kansas City’s second-round pick in 2017. “He still has work to do defensively.

“But he has a plus-plus arm and the athleticism to develop into a solid receiver.”

Mervyl Melendez said he is planning a road trip likely next weekend to watch MJ play in the majors in person, something he wouldn’t be able to do had his collegiate season gone as he had dreamed.

“I don’t think anything is a coincidence in life,” Mervyl said.

Melendez said he sees a strong connection to how his son turned his pro career around and how the coach is looking for a similar transformation.

“During (COVID shutdown of 2020), MJ didn’t have to put up numbers, and he worked – trial and error – and he rebounded.

“In my case, we failed here at FIU, but I can always rebound, adjust my approach or my philosophy, whatever.

“We have that in our blood (in the Melendez family). We’re not going to give up.”