Cade Halemanu’s drive does not come with a reverse gear.
“My competition is the guy I was yesterday,” said Halemanu, who will be the University of Hawaii baseball team’s starting pitcher for Friday’s season opener against Washington State at Les Murakami Stadium. “I want to be better than him. That’s the one thing about baseball. You can’t chase the results. If you chase the results, the results will cripple you. You have to love what you do every day and go from there.”
Halemanu, a 2018 Pearl City High graduate, is back at UH as a fourth-year junior after turning down free-agent offers last summer. Despite a strong 2021 season in which he was named to the Big West’s second team, Halemanu was not selected in Major League Baseball’s abbreviated 20-round draft. He was put on scholarship this year after being a preferred walk-on for his first three UH seasons.
On returning to Manoa instead of accepting a pro offer, Halemanu said, “I believe in myself. I also believe I want to be a highly regarded prospect in a (Major League Baseball) system and not just another name. The only way to do that is to be drafted high, that (teams) expect you to get to the big leagues and not just hoping.”
Halemanu has earned a reputation as a tireless worker. During the offseason, he added a curveball and slider to his pitching menu. He also improved his fastball’s velocity. Last year, Halemanu impressed scouts when his fastball was clocked at 96 mph. During preseason training, he has been consistently topping 97 mph. The added velocity complements a changeup he honed as a freshman. His fastball and changeup share the same tunnel.
“That’s the main thing you look for in a changeup,” Halemanu said of mirror releases and trajectories. “And speed difference. And make sure they’re spinning the same way.”
Halemanu and UH’s strength/conditioning staff have focused on workouts that consider his build and mechanical efficiency. “Seeing what things I can clean up,” he said of the approach. “Not even to create more power, but what stuff I do so I don’t lose power.”
In Halemanu’s first three UH seasons, Mike Trapasso served as his pitching coach. Trapasso was not retained as head coach after the 2021 season. While appreciative of Trapasso’s guidance, Halemanu also has bonded with Mathew Troupe, the ’Bows’ new pitching coach.
Other voices will “have their good things to say, and then you pick and choose what you want,” Halemanu said. “Every pitching coach has his own philosophy. And being able to grab information from everyone has been really nice. And to have a guy like Mat Troupe, who’s a young guy you can go in and talk to, has been really nice. We’re good buddies, but he’s my coach.”
In head coach Rich Hill’s pitching strategy, Halemanu and Andy Archer, a grad transfer from Georgia Tech, will be the first two starters for every series. For the ensuing games, UH will use the opener strategy of starting a traditional reliever and then following with situational pitchers.
“Everybody who goes out there will have his part,” Halemanu said. “No one guy is bigger than the other.”
Halemanu said he and Archer will “go out there first in the series and set the tone for the other guys, and they’re going to push through and do the same thing.”
Because of COVID restrictions, Friday’s start will be Halemanu’s first to open a series in front of a large crowd at Murakami Stadium.
“Now to be pitching in it, after all these years, I’m so excited,” Halemanu said. “It’s going to be electric.”
Hawaii Baseball
At Les Murakami Stadium
Washington State vs. Hawaii
>> When: 6:35 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Monday; 1:05 p.m. Sunday
>> TV: Spectrum Sports Friday and Monday
>> Radio: 1420-AM Friday and Sunday, 1500-AM Saturday and Monday
