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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
Baseball: final home series for #1 UCLA vs Washington
Posted Fri, May 17 12:34 pm
According to the DB, #1 UCLA has a chance of breaking the school record for home winning percentage in the Bruins' final regular season home series. A sweep would give them a 27-4 home record. UCLA's currently in a 3-way tie for 1st place in the Pac-12 with Oregon State and Stanford, but the Bruins hold the head-to-head tiebreakers over both teams.

Even though Washington is in the middle of the Pac-12 standings, they have won 11 of their last 13 games. However, aside from a series win over ASU, most of those wins have come against bad teams. The other 1st place teams in the Pac-12 swept the Huskies earlier in the season.

http://dailybruin.com/2019/05/17/baseball-could-break-records-to-continue-historic-season-in-series-vs-washington/

According to the official release, the pitching matchups will stay the same with Garcia on Friday, Ralston on Saturday, and Bergin on Sunday. If the Bruins can get out to huge leads, we can hopefully see some of the other pitchers get innings. Justin Hooper in particular will need to shake off the rust (after nearly two full seasons off), because he's the only viable left-handed option on staff right now.
Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
Ryan Garcia looking dominant early; 9Ks in 3 innings
Posted Fri, May 17 6:05 pm
In response to Baseball: final home series for #1 UCLA vs Washington (Woochifer)
Ryan Garcia is dealing tonight. He has faced 11 batters and struck out 9 of them so far. He has allowed 2 hits, 1 ER, and has 3 wild pitches. Listening to the radio call, it sounds like Washington is trying to run Garcia's pitch count up and get to the bullpen early.

Bruins got a base clearing triple from Mitchell in the 2nd inning to turn a tie game into a 3-run Bruin lead. 4-1 in the bottom of the 3rd.
Evangsmith2002
Joined: 9/19/15 Posts: 943
R Garcia (Softball) also dominant
Posted Fri, May 17 9:45 pm
In response to Ryan Garcia looking dominant early; 9Ks in 3 innings (Woochifer)
We gotta keep pitching these two Garcias on the same night!
Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
Bruins complete sweep over UW on Senior Day in 14-2 rout
Posted Sun, May 19 4:13 pm
In response to Baseball: final home series for #1 UCLA vs Washington (Woochifer)
The Bruins continue to look dominant and opportunistic going into the final series of the season at Oregon. Today they took a 14-2 rout over Washington. UCLA got 5 runs in the 1st and hit 6 homers in total. The only blemish was Jesse Bergin getting pulled in the 2nd after giving up 2 quick runs after he was spotted a 5-0 lead. Townsend came in and pitched 4 shutout innings before stepping aside for the setup guys.

Another bright spot was LHP Colwell getting to close the 9th in another blowout win. He retired all 3 batters he faced. I don't think he will be an option going into the postseason if the game is close. But, in a blowout situation like today Colwell could be useful to absorb some extra innings or situational matchups, since left handed options in the bullpen are very limited.

Last night's game was another great outing by Jack Ralston and the pitching staff. 4-0 final, and the Huskies only got 1 hit.

Unlike the softball team, the Bruin baseball team seems to be peaking and getting healthy (Jeremy Ydens got another 5 RBIs today) at the right time.
ziggy_84
Joined: 1/14/14 Posts: 1,914
Going to miss some of these guys...
Posted Sun, May 19 4:37 pm
In response to Bruins complete sweep over UW on Senior Day in 14-2 rout (Woochifer)
Hopefully Garcia comes back, but it looks like Toglia, strumpf, Ydens, kreidler will all be pretty high draft picks.

Can’t wait to see what Garrett Mitchell does next year, he has been on an absolute tear.
Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
I have a feeling that Ryan Garcia's gone
Posted Sun, May 19 5:04 pm (Edited Sun, May 19 5:08 pm)
In response to Going to miss some of these guys... (ziggy_84)
Ever since he came back, Garcia has been absolutely dialed in. I don't know what his pro prospects are, but nowadays, teams have to put a premium on Savage's coaching and how he teaches the mental side of the game.

Next year's pitching staff will hopefully include Pettway as the Friday starter, and then Bergin, Nastrini, and Hooper as the rest of the rotation. Always tricky to project a starting rotation given how this year saw at least 3 potential starters never make it into a game.

This is Savage's best hitting lineup. They're dialed in, they're on a roll ... and I'm trying to figure out if they have a weakness that has yet to be exploited. I haven't seen the advanced stats, but I'm curious about how they fare against lefties. The lack of Bruin LHPs means less batting practice from that side of the mound. Recall from a few years ago when UCLA went into the NCAA Regional as the #1 overall seed. But, they fell to Maryland because the Terapins had a pitching staff full of lefties and that happened to be the Bruins' season-long weakness.
ziggy_84
Joined: 1/14/14 Posts: 1,914
UCLA recruits very well...
Posted Sun, May 19 7:11 pm
In response to I have a feeling that Ryan Garcia's gone (Woochifer)
but the bad thing is that so many of their top commits end up getting drafted.

I think they might be in a little of a rebuild mode next year, so this better be the year where they win the title.
Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
Consequence of "too good" scouting
Posted Sun, May 19 11:17 pm (Edited Sun, May 19 11:18 pm)
In response to UCLA recruits very well... (ziggy_84)
Savage's reputation as a pitching guru just keeps growing, so he gets commitments from promising pitchers very early, like before they're even HS sophomores. Problem here is that a lot of them keep improving to a point where they land in the 1st Round. Just a case of Savage's scouting being almost "too" good.

Once a player lands in the high 1st Round, it's hard to turn that MLB contract down because the guaranteed money is locked in for each spot. Freshman Matt McLain was taken in the 1st Round, but it was in the latter part where the guaranteed money isn't quite as much of a no brainer. Once a player gets below the 2nd Round, then the value of a college scholarship starts to look better. And it's even better if a player is going to an elite program, where the facilities and coaching can be better than what the player would get toiling in the minors.

With Savage, he's known for teaching the mental side of the game, and he has an exacting approach to assigning roles to the pitchers. With his track record, it's almost a no brainer for someone like Sean Mullen, who was taken in the 35th Round to enroll at UCLA.

He hasn't lost too many incoming recruits over the last couple of years at least. That's why the pitching staff is so ridiculously deep, even with so many injuries; and why the Bruins have so much talent up and down the lineup. The real issue is with the increasing number of players now leaving after their junior year. In addition to the guys you listed, someone having a breakout year like Jack Ralston (who's a redshirt junior) could end up leaving as well. But, this is what some would call a nice problem to have.

You're right in that next year could see a step down, but I don't think it will be a huge dropoff after the exodus following the 2013 championship and heavy draft losses in a couple of the subsequent recruiting classes.
Renoabe
Joined: 8/13/15 Posts: 276
Some draft thoughts (part 1)
Posted Wed, May 22 2:02 pm
In response to Consequence of "too good" scouting (Woochifer)
Yes we have lost a lot of very good athletes to the draft before they get into UCLA. But most other top programs have the same issue. If you are recruiting the elite talent you will lose more than if you are not recruiting at that level. The key is to plan for that and Savage looks like he is doing better at that. This team is the deepest most talented team he has had. In fact we had a great freshman class and a good number of these kids are not playing at all.

As for more kids leaving after their junior year. I don't have stats but I would say there may be less than normal leaving UCLA after their junior year. Almost all kids drafted after their junior year will go. They go because if they stay they have zero leverage with the MLB teams that draft them. MLB will pay the junior kid more than they will pay the senior drafted. When kids feel like they are really enjoying the college experience (and winning helps that) they are more likely to stay over the extra money. But still if you are a junior playing at this level expect them to turn pro.

As for High School kids. They typically have a price that they set to either turn pro or not if they are draft eligible (which all High School graduates are). If a kid is picked in rounds 1-10 expect them to sign. We got lucky with McLain but MLB teams do not make many mistakes like that (although last year had 3 I think that did that). Rounds 1-10 are the key. The way the MLB teams are allocated draft resources forces them to sign these kids and they are very careful who they pick. Actually the first round the MLB teams can select someone and not sign them as they get a replacement pick the following year. So maybe rounds 2-10 are worse.

Also round 11 is critical. This is where teams draft kids that they are not sure they can sign but paying them above draft slot and not hurting the rest of the plan can happen here. High School kids drafted before round 20 should also be worried about as they also fall in that round 11 logic but often are not the really top group of these kids. Teams like to sign 25-30 draftees and get 40 or so selections. The top 20 is critical.

Renoabe
Joined: 8/13/15 Posts: 276
Some draft thoughts (part 2)
Posted Wed, May 22 2:04 pm
In response to Some draft thoughts (part 1) (Renoabe)
High School kids taken later are typically back up selections. If a team tries to save cap room with their top ten picks for a guy they select in the 11th round but cannot sign that kid or they don't sign another pick they were planning to go over on then they may spend their money on these high risk High School kids picked late. So typically a kid drafted in the 30s and signed by UCLA will be coming to UCLA. If they are drafted rounds 1-11 expect them not to come. 12-29 is a crap shoot but don't expect many of our recruits to be picked there.

As for our current athletes. If they are picked they will most likely go pro. Some later round kids may decide they want to return but don't count on that. So expect Garcia and Ralston to be gone. Kreidler, Toglia, Ydens, Strumpf are others I expect to leave. Stronach, Scheidler and McInerny I would watch as they could come back. I expect Mora to go but he may return but expect him to go. If he came back it would be for the promise of being a starter. I would expect Hooper to be gone if he is selected. Rubi I could see coming back. Just my guesses.

Of our recruits - Carroll will not be coming. Fitterer is someone to watch but hopefully the rest come in. It is currently a small class but there are some holes to fill.

We do have a bunch of kids on the bench who will be interesting to watch going forward. We know we have McLain, Kendall, Mitchell and Cardenas to build around but we have Perez, Moberg, Filby and Schwartz as freshman who look like big time kids waiting their chance.
Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
Nastrini coming back next week?
Posted Sun, May 19 11:26 pm
In response to Baseball: final home series for #1 UCLA vs Washington (Woochifer)
Man, talk about getting healthy at the right time. Normally, this is the time of year that their players start dropping like flies. But, the Bruins have players missing in action much of the year now making their way back just in time for the postseason.

JPG96 one of the regulars on the 24/7 board noted that in an interview with Savage, he indicated that Nick Nastrini would be back next week against Oregon. I have no idea if it means he'll be available, or that he'll make a start, or what not. But, Nastrini was the highest rated of all the freshman pitchers, and was ready to take over as the #4 starter before his injury.

If he's available, and both Sean Mullen and Felix Rubi remain starting options, then that really gives the Bruins great options to do situational substitutions and add depth to an already great pitching staff.