Sorry I'm a little bit late getting to this guys. I meant to have this up last week, but it's been a little hectic. We're 55 days away from the first pitch of the college baseball season and I'm super excited. I'm beginning to think about how I'm going to cover the team this year and I'd like your input. I could go with weekly recaps and previews or I could do recaps of each individual game. I could focus just on what happened or add in my own thoughts on games. I love covering the program so I'll do as much as people want to read. Comment below or email me at ryebreadraz@aol.com with your thoughts on what you want out of the coverage. All thoughts and comments are welcome. Now let's take a look at the team.

I cannot overestimate the importance of fall practices. It's the only time outside the season that coaches get to work with the team all together and it's the coaches' look at how players improved in their summer leagues. This year the fall practices would be even more important as the program welcomed in two new coaches and looked to replace four starters in the field and their ace on the mound.

The Coaches

The two new coaches are Rick Vanderhook and Steve Pearse. Vanderhook is one of the country's best assistant coaches who spent essentially his entire career at Fullerton under George Horton. Vanderhook is a tough, no nonsense coach who is arguably the nation's top hitting coach. He brings an approach that stresses patience and a small ball approach. Players who he coaches are always very good bunters and use the entire field very well. Pearse has spent his entire career on the west coast at Fresno St., Cal and Pacific. He is one of the west's best recruiters and does an exceptional job working with fielders. The Bruin players have only spent a single fall with the new coaches, but they can already see the difference. The players I've spoken to have talked about how organized practices were and how disciplined the coaches expect the players to be. The coaches have simplified things mechanically and stressed the importance of the basics. The players have already seen the rewards of working with such coaches as they looked fantastic in fall ball.

The Players

One of the more pleasant surprises of fall practice was Gabe Cohen. Cohen was the Pac 10 Co-Freshman of the year two years ago, but batted only .204 last year and was out of the starting lineup by May. After working all summer and fall on his swing, Cohen finally looks like the player he was his freshman season. Cohen was ripping the ball all fall and was using the gap in right center. With so many key bats in the pros now, the Bruins are going to need a big year from Cohen and he looks well on his way. The outfield around Cohen still needs to be sorted out though. Blair Dunlap looked solid in the fall so he will look to take one of the outfield jobs and Justin Uribe wlll likely be out there too, but he needs to show he's fully recovered from the elbow injury that ended his season last year.

Another guy who swung the bat well was Niko Gallego, who will be called upon to fill one of the three vacant infield spots. Gallego got some time last year as a freshman, but lacked consistency. This fall he looked much smoother at the plate and much stronger as he regularly found the deep outfield gaps. With Casey Haerther continuing his fine hitting and Gallego stepping up, the Bruins have half of their infield settled. The other two spots will lilkely be filled by freshmen, although there is room to move guys around. It's possible that Haerther moves to third and opens up first base for Cody Decker, but Savage likes smaller, quicker guys at third so I don't expect that to happen.

The biggest question mark is without a doubt behind the plate where nobody stepped up in the fall. The Bruins do not have a catcher on their roster who has caught a single inning of college ball before. They tried Decker behind the plate, but it didn't go so well. Gino Aielli and Chris Giovinazzo got some time in the fall, but neither was outstanding. My best guess is Giovinazzo getting the job, but he has a long ways to go behind the plate. The Bruins were hoping that a catcher would emerge in the fall, but now they'll have two weeks of practice prior to the season to figure it out.

The Bruins entered the fall knowing their biggest strength would be on the mound, but the fall showed them how special they can really be. The Bruins will count on Charles Brewer and Gavin Brooks to lead them and both were outstanding in the fall. Both had great life in their fastball and were repeating their motions better than they have at any point since getting to Westwood. Most importantly, both made it through the fall without injury. Freshman sensation Gerrit Cole exceeded all expections in the fall and showed why he is considered the best freshman arm in the country. Cole's fastball was consistenly in the 90's and his changeup is developing very nicely. Some though he may begin the year as a midweek pitcher and move to the Sunday slot after some experience, but he now looks like the front runner for the Sunday job. Brendan Lafferty was another guy who impressed in the fall. Lafferty was one of the Bruins' best relievers last year and followed up a great summer with a great fall. He and Jason Novak should give the Bruins a great back end of the bullpen and allow Garret Claypool to return to a starting role.

Stadium Improvements

My thoughts on Jackie Robinson Stadium can be found all over BN. This offseason, the program is getting a much needed improvement as the stadium and surrounding facilities are taking a big step forward. The biggest improvement comes with the construction of the Jack Gifford Hitting Facility. The facility will give the Bruins one of the best hitting facilties on the west coast. It's similar to the facility built at Stanford and will allow the Bruins plenty of room for multiple cages as well as flexibility to move the netting around for different drills. Facilities like this are key for programs as they allow coaches better space to instruct and give the players a place to work out on their own. The facility is being constructed behind the right field fence and is making steady progress. The supports and roof are already up, as are the light fixtures. The facility should be completed in January.

The stadium itself will see some improvements this offseason as seating will be added. The grass hills above the dugouts will be replaced by seats, bringing the stadium's capacity close to 1,500. That, along with temprary seating should allow the Bruins to host a regional should they earn the right. The field itself also has had a year to settle in and has been worked on some so it should be in pristine condition. It is also draining better so rain shouldn't keep the team from practicing or playing for as long.

Preseason Poll

The first preseason poll was released and the Bruins check in at #21. Collegiate Baseball has the Bruins behind two other Pac 10 teams (Arizona St. and Stanford). The Bruins will play 51 of their 56 games this season against teams that received at least a vote in the poll. Collegiate Baseball's polls have come under scrutiny the past few years and aren't very well respected anymore though so don't put too much weight into this.

Links

Here are some stories from around the web related to our Bruins. Kendall Rogers expects UCLA to turn the corner soon and make a College World Series. He also ranks UCLA as California's sixth best program and calls Vanderhook the best hire in the Pac 10. TheCollegeBaseballBlog.com ranks Gavin Brooks the 45th best player in the country for 2008.
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That's what's been going on around the program this fall. The Alumni Game is just around the corner (February 7) and the beginning of the season is beginning to sneak up (February 20). My season preview should be posted between those dates and if you have any questions until then you can always comment or reach me by email. GO BRUINS!!!