Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Sun, Mar 07 8:39 pm
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In response to Baseball team has recharged! (Alta Loma Bruin)
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Note that the Bruins have been missing JT Schwartz, Kyle Cuellar, and Jake Moberg. Schwartz made his first appearance of the season today and promptly went 3-4, including that bases loaded triple in the 8th that put the game away. Having Schwartz back in the cleanup spot is going to give a lot of protection to the #3 and #5 batters. This is not a heavy hitting lineup, but they need to be opportunistic to generate offense.
I think the Bruins' practice times were also limited in the fall. I know that softball had to cancel a lot of practices in December because of quarrantines. Didn't hear anything about whether the baseball team had the same thing happen.
This team has all the pieces in place for a deep postseason run.
Under Savage, UCLA has never been an offensive juggernaut. They rely on pitching, defense, and a lot of situational hitting. The starting pitching has been rock solid. Early on, the bullpen was a disaster. And the Bruins were stranding a lot of baserunners.
But, it seems that the bullpen has settled down. Savage still needs to settle on a closer, as it looks like Kyle Mora is going to return to his long-standing role as the setup man. And the middle relief hasn't really been tested.
The last couple of seasons, Savage has had the luxury of being able to basically turn the lights out if the Bruins had the lead going into the 7th. He's trying to set up the same scenario this season, even with closer Holden Powell now in the pros. Sean Mullen is likely to see the most action as the closer, but I could also see Jake Brooks or Jake Saum end up as the closer. Mullen has been used mostly as a midweek starter. But, as Zach Pettway plays himself back into shape as the Friday starter, Jared Karros will probably be the one to slide back into the midweek starting role. This is a deep pitching staff, and it's largely a matter of finding the right roles for everyone. |
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