UCLA Baseball Checks In at #21 in Rivals.com Preseason Poll
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jan 14, 2009 4:08 AM PST
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Kendall Rogers from Rivals.com is probably my favorite college baseball "expert" and he's begun his top 25 countdown. Today was #21 and that's where UCLA checks in. Along with the #21 ranking comes a detailed preview that will give you a pretty great look at the squad.
There aren't many teams more motivated this season than UCLA. The Bruins entered last season as a unanimous preseason pick to compete for the national title, but that didn't happen. The Bruins lacked consistency and were unable to take care of business in crucial situations. They hope to change that trend this season with veteran hitter Casey Haerther and junior pitcher Gavin Brooks leading the way. Though the Bruins must find a way to replace position players Jermaine Curtis and Brandon Crawford this season, they actually are in good shape with the return of Haerther, Cohen, Decker and others. While the Bruins are cautiously optimistic about the offense, the pitching staff is expected to be one of the nation's best with Gavin Brooks, Gerrit Cole, Charles Brewer, Gerrit Cole and Brendan Lafferty as the leaders. With a deep pitching staff and a more than serviceable offense, the Bruins should win the Pac-10 title.
Kendall has always thought a little higher of the UCLA program than most and it continues again this season. As most expect, this will be a team carried by a fantastic pitching staff.
Starting pitching
This could be a fun unit to watch this season.
Though the Bruins have failed to live up to expectations on the mound the past couple seasons, I get the feeling the starting rotation will be solid with a healthy Gavin Brooks and Charles Brewer leading the charge.
...
UCLA's starting rotation underachieved last season, but I expect the opposite to be the case this season.
The pitching staff will definitely be the cornerstone of this year's team and it's not just the rotation, but the bullpen as well. Who starts in the infield is still very much up in the air so it's something to keep an eye on. I've heard so many different things from so many different people that I've given up trying to predict what will happen. I've heard some speak very highly of Alex Weber-Shapiro and others think he's just a nice bat off the bench. The same can be said for a few players so I'll try to get a hold of a few more people before I go to work on my season preview.
The rest of the preview is very good so check it out because we're only 34 days short of the first pitch of the season.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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Bruins Should Win Pac-10 Title?
The #21 team in the country should win the Pac-10? That doesn’t make much sense. I would like to hope that the Bruins can win the league, but if they do, they should be a top 10 team for sure.
by islandbruin on Jan 14, 2009 6:36 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
The Pac 10 is waaaaaay down
The #21 team should win the Pac 10 title because there won’t be another Pac 10 team above them. Stanford lose a lot of their hitting, Arizona St. lost all of their bats and pitching except for one and no team is extremely strong. Any of the 1-6 teams in the Pac 10 can finish 1-6. The Pac 10 has a lot of solid teams, but us at #21 will probably be the highest ranking conference team.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jan 14, 2009 1:10 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Other Polls
I was reacting based on the NCBWA poll, which shows Arizona St at 7 and Stanford at 9. I hope that they are right, not in terms of which Pac-10 team is on top (hopefully that will be the Bruins!). A perception of conference weakness leads to crappy seeds at year end. Hence the comment that #21 would not be a very good position for the conference champ.
In any event, this is all preseason jostling. Things will sort out (one way or the other) when the season starts.
We are seeing the same sort of conference weakness playing out in basketball, where sites like ESPN show only 4 Pac-10 teams, and UCLA as the best seed only getting a 4. That obviously is completely unofficial, but the problem is that perception can lead to reality when seedings are determined on a subjective basis.
by islandbruin on Jan 14, 2009 3:42 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
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