UCLA's Gerrit Cole, who turned down the Yankees for college and the Bruins via the official site

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As many of you know, Gerrit Cole just completed his freshman season at UCLA. The right-handed pitcher spent nearly the entire season throwing as the team's ace and did well, but that wasn't unexpected considering he was a first round pick who bucked the trend by attending college. Cole turned down millions of dollars to bring his 97 mph fastball to UCLA, but why exactly did he leave such an offer on the table?

Well, what at first glance might seem to be a pleasant departure from the old "star athlete leaves school, early money grab" cliché might actually be something a bit less pure— and a bit less romantic.

Yes, education is important to the Cole family, and college is a priority. But this was not just about that. It was about taking measurements and weighing variables and unemotionally watching the scales tip one way or another. Instead of a quick reach for mounds of money and a departure to the minors to learn the ways of professional baseball—which would extend beyond honing his pitches to developing professional poise, understanding game situations and dealing with success and failure—Cole made another choice. It was about far more than pitches—it was about life.

"We did a ton of thinking—just an absurd amount of thinking about this," says Cole. "My dad has a Ph.D., and he’s a real visual kind of guy, so he made charts, and we went over financial figures, comparing people who are drafted in the first round and have somewhat of a baseball career with others who graduated college and the average gross of what they make in baseball and afterward."

And money wasn’t the only variable charted: The Coles evaluated whether three years in the minors would necessarily yield a shorter path to the majors than three years of college. And if an 18-year-old is truly ready for the real world of professional baseball.

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UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium (via the official site)

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The following is my personal analysis of the UCLA baseball program, five years into the tenure of UCLA head baseball coach John Savage. The analysis is based upon both my own observations, what I've been told by trusted sources and most heavily by the interview I did with Coach Savage. You can reread both part one and part two of that interview by clicking on the links provided. My analysis are borne solely out of that and while I did conduct the interview with Coach Savage, my analysis includes nothing that I learned that day that wasn't published. I will post my analysis in several parts, with each taking a look at a different aspect of the program in semi-short takes.

On Tuesday, I posted the first part of my multi-part series analyzing the UCLA baseball program. Part one took a look at the scheduling philosophy the Bruins and Coach Savage specifically have used in recent years. While the schedule induced slow starts have hampered the Bruins' chances at being a #1 seed in a Regional and playing host to the four-team, postseason opening round, the inadequacies of Jackie Robinson Stadium have also hampered the Bruins' efforts.

Coach Savage all but acknowledged that JRS is not a top-notch facility in its current form, but he did applaud the effort of everyone in the program and down at the Morgan Center, not to mention the generosity of Jack and Rhodine Gifford, in working towards making it one. Unfortunately, the plans for the future are woefully inadequate.

The plans for the future of JRS that Coach Savage outlined are consistent with what I've been hearing for a few years now. The inability to pin point any firm plans for exactly what will be done and when it will be done was also consistent with the lax attitude towards JRS and it gives me little to no hope that the facility will ever be one of the better ones in the region. The piece-by-piece plan is alive and well, unfortunately, and the very vague plans are just not good enough.

For starters, the idea that a stadium, like JRS, that had been ignored for 20 years and left to age ungracefully can be renovated piece-by-piece into an upper echelon facility is downright laughable. When JRS was opened, it was a fine facility that fit right in with some of the better facilities in the country. In the next 20 years though, the face of college baseball has changed to the point that some stadiums have suites, club seats and capacities over 10,000. Now, I'm not calling for JRS to have any of those things. The fact is, the support for the baseball program is as pathetic as JRS and stadiums on the West Coast  don't compare to those in the south, but there's not reason that the stadium shouldn't be among the better ones in the Pac-10.

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The UCLA team watching on as they take on East Carolina in 2007 (via BigWillieStyles)

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The following is my personal analysis of the UCLA baseball program, five years into the tenure of UCLA head baseball coach John Savage. The analysis is based upon both my own observations, what I've been told by trusted sources and most heavily by the interview I did with Coach Savage. You can reread both part one and part two of that interview by clicking on the links provided. My analysis are borne solely out of that and while I did conduct the interview with Coach Savage, my analysis includes nothing that I learned that day that wasn't published. I will post my analysis in several parts, with each taking a look at a different aspect of the program in semi-short takes.

Over the past year or two, I've covered the UCLA baseball program in excruciating detail and while I've also been accused of supporting the program at all costs to the point that I will agree with any move the program makes, I've also been accused of being overly harsh of the program and holding it to ridiculous standards. The reactions I received via e-mail to my post asking where the program goes following the 2009 season were as varied as can be. Those reactions were valuable though, as they provided other perspectives that allowed me to approach my interview with Coach Savage in a different manner, addressing both the state of the team itself and the other variables (stadium, exposure, scheduling, etc.) in a more responsible manner. Due to those reactions and the detail with which I have followed the program, I believe that my interview was able to address some of the more important topics facing the program and while I could not address each and everything I'd like to, Coach Savage was gracious enough to provide thoughtful responses to a great deal of what is more pressing within the program.

The topic that people want clarification on most often is UCLA's schedule and for good reason. The Bruins have the Pac-10's second-highest winning percentage in conference play over the past four seasons, all third-place finishes. Despite strong Pac-10 play, the Bruins have never received a #1 seed or have been comfortably in the NCAA Tournament with a couple weeks to play under Coach Savage. That is because the Bruins have struggled against an incredibly difficult non-conference schedule. In each of the past four seasons, UCLA's schedule has been ranked either first or second by Boyd's World and their strength of schedule over the past five years (all five of Coach Savage's years at UCLA), the Bruins' schedule is tops in the country. Playing such a daunting schedule has no doubt contributed to the poor starts the Bruins have gotten off to and forced such strong Pac-10 play just to get into a Regional. At the same time, just as Coach Savage said, the touch non-conference slate is what has prepared those teams for the Pac-10.

I have always supported Coach Savage's scheduling and believe in the tough road he puts before his teams every season, but I also made it clear when the 2009 schedule was released that Coach Savage had gone too far. Let's take a look at the Bruins' 2009 non-conference schedule (weekends only):

• 2/20-2/22: vs. UC Davis (3 games)- UC Davis was an awful team that went 13-42 in 2009, a year after reaching a regional, but such struggles weren't unexpected considering the players they lost. Still, an easy home series for the Bruins
  
• 2/27-3/01: @ Houston College Classic (3 games)- The Bruins played three games in Houston, one versus Rice, one versus Baylor and one versus UC Irvine. Rice was a top 10 team all year who was a #1 seed in the Regionals, but was eliminated in the Super Regionals by LSU, who went on to win the national title. Baylor was a top 25 team for some of the season, but despite their high talent level, underachievedand won only one game before being eliminated in the Baton Rouge Regional. UC Irvine finished the regular season #1 in nearly every poll, but were upset in the Regional round that they hosted by a Virginia team that went on to the COllege World Series. The Houston College Classic, played at the Astros' Minute Maid Park, was extremely tough, but is the nation's top tournament and one that's tough to say no to.
• 3/6-3/8: @ Oklahoma (3 games)- Oklahoma came into the season with high expectations and thn exceeded them in the regular season by finishing second in the Big 12, a half-game back, and earning the #7 national seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners were upset in the Regional round, but were a very, very good squad.
• 3/13-3/14: @ East Carolina (3 games)- East Carolina's Clark-LeClair Stadium is one of the nation's toughest stadiums for visiting teams and the Bruins had to play three games in two days there due to rain. The Pirates have been a very good program of late and were good enough this year to ear a #1 seed and host a Regional, which they won.
• 5/15-5/17: @/vs./vs. Cal St. Fullerton (3 games)- The Bruins have been awful versus the Titans in recent years (although the same can be said for a lot of teams), but they got to play the final two games of this three game series at home. The Titans got off to an incredible start this year and were one of the nation's top teams all year, eventually earning the #2 national seed and advancing out of the Regional and Super Regional rounds, both of which they hosted, to qualify for the College World Series.
  

Needless to say, this weekend schedule, combined with all the strong midweek games the Bruins player versus teams like UC Irvine, Pepperdine, Long Beach St., San Diego St., etc. made this year's schedule incredibly tough. While the teams were tougher than ever before, the four consecutive weekends on the road were even more ridiculous (@ Houston College Classic, @ Oklahoma, @ East Carolina, @ USC). In 2009, Coach Savage went overboard, however, he admitted as much. He acknowledged that the four consecutive road weekends too much and that it might have been better to push either Oklahoma or East Carolina back a year. Such an admission gives me comfort knowing that the Bruins are unlikely to ever face such a tough schedule, but at the same time, it was good to hear Coach Savage defend his scheduling philosophy on the whole because it is one I agree with.

In a perfect world, I'd like to see the Bruins' five non-conference series play out like this: 1) home versus weaker squad like UC Davis this year or St. Mary's the year before 2) home versus very good out of region team like the program has done versus Ole Miss or Miami in years past 3) away versus very good out of region team, similar to Miami or Ole Miss 4) weekend tournament like the Houston College Classic or another similar one 5) weekend versus good local team like Cal St. Fullerton, UC Irvine, Cal Poly, etc. that is either a home and home or is split with two games at one team's home field and one at another.

Now, of course putting together a schedule like this isn't as easy as it is to just write it. Contracts, travel, home and home agreements and other things are to be taken into account, as are invitations to tournament's like the Houston College Classic. That's the type of schedule I'd like the program to be aiming for though and to arrange it so the team is never on the road for more than two consecutive weekends.

Having seen the tentative 2010 schedule, I can assure you that while challenging, it is far more home heavy that last year and will give the Bruins an opportunity to get off to a fast start. So only one year after the unbelievably demanding 2009 schedule, Coach Savage has made an adjustment. The Bruins will once again play a tough slate of teams, but will have the benefit of home field and hopefully a good crowd as some intriguing names visit Los Angeles.

Check back for my next part, which will tackle the facility issue.

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Chase Utley: A Bruin All Star

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Congrats to Chase Utley for being voted in by the fans to the NL all star team. From our official site:

Former UCLA baseball player Chase Utley has been voted by fans around the nation to start at second base and represent the Philadelphia Phillies in the 80th Major League Baseball All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 14, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Utley makes his fifth appearance on the National League All-Star Roster and becomes the first NL second baseman to start four consecutive All-Star Games since Houston's Craig Biggio (1995-98). Former Chicago Cub second baseman Ryne Sandberg started eight consecutive games from 1986-93.

Through Saturday, July 4, Utley has batted .300 with 17 home runs, 16 doubles, 54 RBIs and a .424 on-base percentage. He is tied for third among all National League players with 55 runs, and his .424 on-base percentage ranks fourth.

Utley currently leads National League second baseman in home runs (17), RBIs (54), slugging percentage (.559), on-base percentage (.428), runs (55), total bases (152) and walks (48). He is tied for first with 34 extra-base hits.

Utley, the second overall pick in the 2000 MLB Draft by Philadelphia, was a two-time first-team All-America selection at UCLA. He gained Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball in 1998 and first-team All-America recognition from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) in 1999.

You can get more details here.

Not that I am going to follow all that carefully but for his sake I hope Holiday experiences that same level of success as Chase has experienced in the City of Brotherly Love.

GO BRUINS.

UCLA head baseball John Savage via Gallery 2 Images

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Yesterday, I posted part one of my two-part interview with UCLA head baseball coach John Savage. In part one, Savage talked about the Bruins' standing after the MLB Draft, the disappointing 2009 season and the two assistants he brought in prior to the season. His answers were rather candid and gave us some insight into how the 2009 season broke down from an insider's perspective.

While there have been some critics regarding the job Savage has done since taking over, especially lately, Savage didn't shy away from any questions. He answered them all honestly, while breaking things down, pointing out where things went wrong and even acknowledging his own mistakes. He didn't just point out what went wrong though, he highlighted some of the program's stronger points and detailed how the program can improve upon their weak spots. Whether or not those plans pan out, you cannot criticize him as a man without a plan.

With part one in the books, we turn to part two. In this second half of the interview, Savage discusses his scheduling philosophy and the 2009 schedule, which came under fire, in particular. Savage also addresses some scheduling points on a larger scale with his take on the recent change by the NCAA that allows for a longer schedule, as well as the possibility of a Pac-10 Tournament. Savage then delves into the state of Jackie Robinson Stadium and the need for improvements, as well as the search for fans, before outlining exactly what expectations are for the program. So, here you go. The final part of my interview with John Savage.

BN: Year in, year out, you schedule an incredibly difficult slate of teams. Boyd’s World has ranked your schedule as either the toughest or second toughest in the nation for four consecutive years now. What’s your philosophy behind such a difficult schedule?

Coach: I think the reason why there has been so much interest over the last three years, going to the postseason the last three years, is we’re playing anybody, any time. You can’t fault that. You can talk about, well, the schedule’s too tough and the team is too young, but that’s not facing challenges. That’s not taking opportunity. One of the reasons this program has been built, with that first recruiting class is, let’s get that class to Regionals the first year, with the monster schedule. They went to Miami, they went to Ole Miss, they went to North Carolina State. The second year, we go from Regionals to winning a regional to go to a Super Regional. Last year [2008] should have been an Omaha team, and a lot of that was based on good players. A lot of it was based on how tough the schedule was. You look at the last four years. We’ve had the second-highest winning percentage in the Pac-10, behind Arizona State so we’ve done our work in league. If we would have done our work out of league this year, we would have gone to a fourth straight regional. Players love it, recruits love it, families love it. You travel to high-end facilities. You travel to the SEC, the ACC, then when you get into the postseason, the plan is you’ve been there before. I think some of it’s worked, but we haven’t been to Omaha so we haven’t totally put a stamp on it, but I think that the playing the people has paid off. I’d like to get 40 wins, but if you look at the last several years it’s kind of been a 30 to 33 win season, but a lot of it is self-inflicted because of the toughness of the schedule. The kids love it, they love the challenges. It gets us Pac-10 ready, which I think it’s done a good job of, but it’s tough to get on a major role when you play that type of schedule and I think we need to look at that a little bit.

BN: So then would you agree that the schedule this past season was a little bit too tough? Not only did you play the nation’s second toughest schedule, but it set up so you had four consecutive weekends away from Jackie Robinson Stadium. Was that just too over the top?

Coach: Yeah and I saw it. I knew it was coming and you cannot pass up Minute Maid in Houston. It was too good to pass up and that weekend we had [originally schedule to play] at home. Unfortunately, in conference, we opened up on the road. We had a home and home return with East Carolina and with Oklahoma and I probably should have moved one of them back to this year so I had at Oklahoma, at Minute Maid and then a home-home, probably with Davis and another team. If I had to do it over again I would have had one more home weekend. I don’t think I’d sit here and tell you two, but really, all we had to do was win one at Oklahoma and one at Minute Maid and we probably are in the postseason because we beat East Carolina five out of six the last couple years so that went well for us. I think in terms of the compacted schedule, four straight weekends is a little much. The travel, the health, the academics, it’s a little much. With that young team, they weren’t quite ready for it so if I had to do it over again, I would have scripted it differently.

BN: Along the lines of the schedule, the NCAA just added a week to the front end of the season so there are 14 weeks to play 56 games instead of 13 weeks. Do you like that extra week that allows you to start the second weekend in February instead of the third weekend of the month and what are you going to do with it? Are you going to try to skip the weekend after finals or eliminate the five-game weeks?

Coach: It’s a great question. I’d like to do exactly that. I love the fact they added an extra week, in terms of our players - their academics, the travel, the compacted schedule and the lack of practice time. As soon as the season started the last two years, you feel like you barely practice. The lack of practice is alarming in terms of slowing your team down or getting your team out of a rut so I love the 14 weeks. Adding it to the front end is the way they should do it. They don’t need to add it to the back end.

The second part of your question. They added the week so late and I’ve been so advanced in our schedules, in terms of the 10th and 11th and 12th weeks…the 10 was already set for 2010. We have one game each against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State and USC that first weekend [of 2010]. So I’m trying to get Oral Roberts moved to the front end and try to play them on that new first weekend [of the 2010 season] and not play on the back end of finals. And the reason I would do that is because we have Cal Poly after Oral Roberts, and I don’t like taking a weekend off before [opening] conference. I think that’s setting yourself . Then we have Cal Poly Thursday, Friday, Saturday. The reason why I schedule that is to stay in relation to the following week, which opens up conference and is Easter week so we don’t play Sunday. I want to keep that Bauer, Cole set up Thursday, Thursday and Friday, Friday. So I’m waiting to hear back from Oral Roberts to see if they can move that series to the first weekend and that’s what I would do from here on out. Then, if you throw in the Pac-10 Tournament, that could change things again.

BN: There has been a push in the last year or so from some coaches to add a Pac-10 Tournament. Are you in favor of it and do you think you’ll have it added for this year?

Coach: We’re not going to have it for this year and I’m really not in favor of it because we don’t need it. We have so many strong midweek games. You can’t run from anybody. We play the entire Big West, throw in Pepperdine. I’m a believer that baseball is a game where you prove it over time. I don’t like the fact that a fifth place team from the Mountain West, Utah, wins that tournament and all of a sudden the Mountain West gets three bids when they’d only have one or two so that knocks out a fourth or fifth place Pac-10 or Big West team. So I’m not in favor of it, but it could be coming down. As you know, with how little attendance the West Coast gets, where are you going to have it? Are you going to draw? Are you going to have TV involved? One of the reasons the SEC and ACC have it is because of money with how much they draw and TV [revenue]. It’s kind of a round robin that strengthens their RPI more. It’s not really even a true tournament. It’s more of a, let’s keep on playing each other and get that RPI up. It would help our RPI, but I don’t think the last three games, if we played a Cal and USC and Arizona State, it’s not going to jump our RPI from 35 to 18 so I’m not in favor of it.

BN: With the 2009 season behind us, what’s the main goal you have for your players and program this offseason?

Coach: Our number one goal, and we told our players this, is that we want their teams to win this summer. Don’t worry about individual statistics, don’t worry about yourself. We want you to be on a winner. We need you to create a mentality that the reason you play is to win. I think that this has been set from Coach Vanderhook and myself as the message to the players. Of course we know the development in the summer is a big issue. The fact that some of the young guys are playing in the Cape Cod League and the New England League is a big deal for the personal development and we want them to get bigger and stronger and get more at-bats and more innings and more reps, but we want them to play on winning teams. We want them to come back and despise losing and know how to play nine innings - to know how to finish somebody off because that was our problem. You play a 56-game schedule and you go 2-14 in one-run games, there’s your season. If you win five more of those, you’re in good shape. So we have to create a mentality with the younger players. I’m talking about the younger players, who are coming back, of a winning mentality and their development on a personal level.

BN: Two of the problems the program has had for years is a facility in Jackie Robinson Stadium that doesn’t match up with a lot of other places and also, a lack of interest in the program. In your five years here what do you think has been a bigger obstacle for the program?

Coach: I think we’re making strides in both. I want to see more people in the stands. I’m looking to put seats above each dugout. I’m looking to do that. I want to get [the capacity] into that 1,600 or 1,700 range with nice chair backs. I took out the backstop and put in a nice screen. I want it to be a fan-friendly place. I want it to be exciting baseball. As you know, we draw much better during the day than the night so that Tuesday night and that Friday night - trying to get here on a Friday night is tough. It’s an unbelievably tough place to get on a Friday night so we fight that a little bit. We didn’t play too many home games this year because of our schedule, but I think the environment on Saturdays and Sundays was pretty darn good. We need more people in the seats. I think the Little League community and the youth baseball community, we’re reaching out better to. With the economy the way it is, Major League Baseball, the prices, the concessions, we have a chance. We need to create a fan=friendly atmosphere. So I’d say number one, we need to get more people in the seats and get more seats.

In terms of the facility, it’s an ongoing process. We got a million dollars to redo the field. The late Jack Gifford was kind enough, he and his wife, to build a state of the art hitting facility, but we need more concessions, we need more bathrooms. Parking is great. Parking is one of our strengths in terms of space when you compare it to West Coast facilities. I have a hit list, there’s no question about it and some of it is checked off, but we need to do better. To get to Omaha, you need to finish first or second in your league, bottom line. You need to host. The people that are hosting are the ones, if you did a percentage in terms of going to Omaha, it’s a high number of teams hosting Regionals and Super Regionals. You get your Virginias and your UC Irvines, you’ll get one or two a year, but consistently, the teams you see in Omaha are the ones with facilities, the ones that are finishing at the top of their league. We’ve been in third place. That’s good, but not good enough. To finish third in the second year, I thought was a hell of a year. The third year, to finish third, I was disappointed. I though that was a one or two. The fourth year, I thought that was a one or two, but having said that, in year three we did make it to a Super Regional.

We need to create more of a home field advantage, no doubt about it. We need to be a 28-5 team at home or a 28-6 team at home. Arizona State has been so dominant because they dominate at home. No question about it. They have a good fan base, their stadium is nice, but there needs to be some work. The surface is so fast and they have good team speed. They’ve built their team for their ballpark and I think they’ve done the best job of anybody, clearly looking at the numbers, of any team in our conference. Jackie Robinson Stadium is a hitter’s park and I think we’ve pitched pretty well in a hitter’s park. We need to become more consistent offensively.

BN: Do you have any specific plans that you know will definitely be done to the stadium this offseason?

Coach: By the beginning of this year my goal is to have seats from end of dugout to end of dugout. I want to do something with both dugouts because they need an upgrade too. Then I want to get an architect and start working on a facility over there in right field. We need a facility over there. I want to build a facility over there with a state of the art clubhouse, video room, team room that will be somewhat connected to our hitting facility. You drive right up there, park right next to the palm trees and walk right into the office and right into the clubhouse, then do away with all this stuff we have now. What we have now could be a weight room or visiting clubhouse. We want to take our facility now and give it a major upgrade.

I think you’d be surprised at the lack of the facilities on the West Coast. We’ve got the best players, just take a look at the draft. You look at the national championships, I think the Pac-10 has won 25 national championships, you look at the history of the draft, the history of Major League Baseball. I mean the Pac-10 is either one or right by the top of everything, but not for facilities. I think the whole West Coast needs to take a hard look and if you build the facilities, it answers the second part of your question, I think you’d have a bigger fan base. I know it’s hard to generate fans and winning is a big formula of that, but on the West Coast, there aren’t a whole lot of 40-16 teams. I think you can do it every couple of years and you can do tailor it a little bit by your schedule, but I’ve chosen not to do that. That’s something I consistently look at. I’m a big RPI guy and I know how to create a good RPI, but we need to look at owning our home ballpark more.

BN: In terms of building that fan base, I know a lot of people say it’s tough to follow the program. They can make it to some games, but it’s tough to follow the program otherwise without much media coverage. Do you have any immediate plans to build a real press box for the media or add online streaming video for people who can’t make it to every game?

Coach: We definitely would like to have video online and that’s a big deal. There’s no question about it because we’ll go to Ole Miss and to East Carolina and people are watching us online. They can pay $9.99 for a month or it’s free sometimes, whatever the case may be. We need to upgrade the press box, no question about it. We need more rest rooms and more concessions. I’d like to upgrade the press box certainly and make it more media friendly, so it’s a work in progress. I think I can juggle all factors. Roster, schedule, facilities, recruiting. I’m more than capable of handling those things and we’ve been very successful in many and we keep on striving to be more successful in those other areas.

BN: What do you expect for this program in 2010 and do you think this program is ready to take the next step? While you can’t go to Omaha all the time, do you think the program is one that could be a threat to go there year in and year out and if not, what are the keys to getting to that point?

Coach: I think every year we should be capable of getting to Omaha. I think we should be a team that should be a team that goes to the postseason. A team that is very capable, with the depth of their roster, of winning a regional and is capable of getting to Omaha. You saw this year’s team. If this team would have gotten to Regionals, we would have been a dangerous team, in large part due to our pitching. Anyone can say shoulda, coulda, but I think we need to think of ourselves as a contender for a national championship every single year. Until you knock the door down and get to Omaha though, everyone’s going to say, "UCLA has done okay, they’ve been to Regionals, they won that one Regional, but they haven’t been good enough to knock the door down." We have to knock the door down. That’s the bottom line. We have the players, we have the coaching staff. We need to take the next step. I know it, the players know it and the way you do that is through confidence, trust, the development of players and toughness. We have to get better in those areas. And really, the answer is yes. We should be a team capable, year in and year out, regardless of whether you lose 12 players to the draft like 2006 and then eight this year, of getting to Omaha. It’s not easy. What I’m saying isn’t easy, losing two, three, four, five guys and your ace, in this conference, but I think with the recruits were getting in, we are very capable of playing at that level, year in and year out and that’s my responsibility.

BN: Thank you again Coach. On behalf of Bruinsnation.com, this was fantastic and best of luck as you head to next season.

Coach: You bet. It was my pleasure.

Again, thanks must go out to Coach Savage for taking the time to sit down with me. SID Marc Dellins and Assistant SID Alex Timiraos were also instrumental is arranging the interview so a huge thanks to them.

I believe this interview shed some light on the state of the program, as well as things to look for in the future. Make sure to check back in next week as I provide my detailed thoughts on Savage's answers, but for now, what do you think of the interview? Do you agree with Savage's scheduling and expectations for the program? Are they doing enough to draw you and other fans to the ballpark and are their plans for the ballpark good enough for you? Share those thoughts and any others you might have on either part of this interview below. Go Bruins!

UCLA head baseball coach John Savage via media.dailybruin.com

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The UCLA baseball program entered a new era following the 2004 season. After 30 years at the helm, head baseball coach Gary Adams stepped down, opening the door for John Savage. Savage, who had previously won a national title as the pitching coach at USC, came to UCLA from UC Irvine, a dormant program that he took over and led to a Regional in just three years. With the Bruins, Savage had a rough first year as he rebuilt the program. In his second season, with a stellar group of freshmen, Savage led the Bruins to a Regional, then won a Regional and advanced to the Super Regionals the following year. Savage's fourth year with UCLA was disappointing as the program wasn't able to make it out of the Regionals despite entering the year #1 in the country. This past season, the Bruins missed the postseason for the first time since Savage's first year. The program, which I've written about extensively, now sits at a crossroads.

Last Thursday, Coach Savage was kind enough to sit down with me and talk about the program. The interview, which lasted nearly 30 minutes, was only made possible due to the hard work of the UCLA Athletic Department, specifically SID Marc Dellins and Assistant SID Alex Timiraos. Of course, the interview also required the cooperation and thoughtful answers of Coach Savage himself.

I arrived at Jackie Robinson Stadium on a sunny day in the late morning, where a couple Bruins could be found beyond right field, working out in the Jack and Rhodine Gifford Hitting Facility.  After meeting Coach Savage in his office, he discussed a number of topics related to his program. This first part of the interview touches upon the Bruins' standing following the MLB Draft, the difficulties of the 2009 season and his two new assistant coaches. So here you go, UCLA head baseball coach John Savage.

BN: Good morning, Coach. On behalf of Bruinsnation.com, I’d like to thank you for meeting with me today.

Coach: My pleasure.

BN: We’re one week past the MLB Draft, at this point, where do you think the program stands personnel wise? I know there’s been some talk as to whether or not three of your more highly touted signees, Max Stassi, Trayce Thompson and David Nick will sign with the teams that drafted them or come to UCLA, but whether or not they do, how do you feel about your recruiting class as well as the guys coming back next year?

Coach: Yeah, I think the draft went as well as we could expect. I was happy for Casey Haerther, Charles Brewer, Gavin Brooks, [Brendan] Lafferty, [Cody] Decker, [Gabe] Cohen, [Garett] Claypool and [Jason] Novak. I think it was a good representation in the Major League Draft. I always, as a coach, selfishly hope some of them could have gone a little higher. I’m happy for them. In that regard, it looks like all those guys will sign with the exception of Claypool. We’re hoping that Claypool decides to come back. It looks like that will happen. Blair Dunlap, we were expecting him to get drafted. He did not so he still has a year of eligibility left, as you know. We could be getting two really good players back with Claypool and Dunlap. Really, expectations were for those other guys to sign so nothing was really surprising there.

Of the incoming class, I think it probably went as well as we could expect there. Trayce [Thompson], second round to the White Sox, we anticipate him signing. David Nick has already signed with the Diamondbacks. Catcher Max Stassi is probably going to be an August 17th deadline guy. It’s good that he went in the fourth round. The A’s have Grant Green as a first pick, they have no sandwich pick, they have no second round pick. They have the left-hander from Louisville with the third pick. They have drafted the catcher [Ryan] Ortiz from Oregon State in the sixth round They have drafted Zunino, who is a high-profile catcher from Florida so we’re in the game. There’s no question that he’s a Gerrit Cole or Trevor Bauer type of player. I mean, he’s a game changer, he’s a program changer. He’s a guy that would solidify our catching position for the next three years and he’s a guy on the west coast who normally doesn’t go to school. For whatever reason he fell and kept on falling and didn’t go in the first day, which I think surprised everybody and we were wondering what was going on, as they did and then he pops up in the first round of the second day. I think Keefer and Gelalich and Griggs and Amaral went where we want them to go. We want very good players to show up on campus. We want guys who value the Pac-10, value UCLA, value the chance of going to Omaha and value the education part of it. A lot of those guys, as you know, get down-drafted because of their signability and there you go. We want 30-50th rounders, but realistically, if they were signable they’d go much higher. I think if we can hold onto Stassi and everybody else and have Claypool and Blair [Dunlap] come back, I think it’s the nucleus of an exciting team with some good young players. We feel good about it on June 18th, we’ll see where we stand on the 17th of August (the deadline for players to sign with the teams that drafted them).
 
BN: I don’t think anyone would argue that the 2009 season wasn’t a disappointing one. Admittedly, expectations may have been too high with two new coaches coming in, three infield positions to fill, a new catcher and replacing an ace. Do you feel a regional appearance was a reasonable expectation for that team and to what would you attribute the disappointing season?

Coach: Well, that’s a good question. I think that you make all good points. We did lose a bulk of our offense - catching, third base, shortstop, second base. You throw in [Tim] Murphy, our Friday night guy. We did lose quite a bit, but going to Regionals for three years, you kind of get into reload mode, you don’t get into start-over mode. It was disappointing. The bottom line is you cannot start off 2-10. You cannot lose 10 in a row when you only play 56 games. Even though we played a very difficult schedule, at the end of the day it’s all about wins. It’s all about putting yourself in position to get yourself a regional bid and we were close, but we fell short. I think that the uneasiness of our bullpen early hurt us. We really could not close out games. It seemed like one thing after another defensively. We didn’t make the play, we didn’t make the pitches and I think that created a little bit of an uneasiness within the program in terms of finishing games. We could play anyone for six or seven innings, you know, who do you attribute that to? I think on paper our pitching was good. I would say above average. We struck out a ton of people, right there near the most in the country. With our schedule, it shows you the ability we have on the mound. I think that offensively we were not tough enough. We did not knock in runs when we had to. It seemed we were the kind of team that would roll you or we’d hang around and get beat at the end, and that was frustrating. We did not execute enough. We left too many guys on base. In terms of a personnel issue, I wish we had been more left-handed [offensively]. We were extremely right-handed. As you know, we faced a ton of right-handers and you’re talking about Decker and Haerther and Cohen, you’re going to see a lot of breaking balls. The middle of the lineup did not produce the way we’d have thought, with the exception of Cody [Decker].

BN: The team went 2-14 in one-run games and 0-5 in extra innings. Is there anything, maybe dealing with pressure in late game situations or even inexperience that you would pinpoint as the reason for those numbers?

Coach: Well, it’s hard to say. We lost some games that we didn’t execute at the end in terms of pitches. I thought that our execution at the end of games seemed to be lacking. We need to do a better job creating pressure in practice. Creating those moments in practice where a guy comes in and gets a hitter out. A left on left situation. A closer comes in the game and we’re up a run and needs to get three outs. It snowballs, no question about it. Gavin [Brooks] did a good job in the middle of the season closing out some games, but we really were not consistent with our execution of hitting. We didn’t close out games. We didn’t put a complete game together consistently. We’re going to have to evaluate that and really, from a pitching perspective, I think I need to do a better job of really locking in roles. Roles change, as everybody knows, and roles are only as good as how well you do, but if you can stay in that role I think we’ll be better off. If we can really say, here’s Cole and Bauer and another starter and here’s our set-up and here’s our middle reliever and here’s our closer. If you can script it like that, that’s the best way. Like that one season [2006], as you know, I think [Hector] Ambriz, [David] Huff and [Tyson] Brummett never missed a start. I think that was the only program in the country that went Friday, Saturday, Sunday like that. We’re very capable of doing that, of being consistent, and we need to learn from this season and not let it happen again.

BN: You brought in two new coaches prior to last season, Rick Vanderhook and Steve Pearse. What do you think are the biggest things they brought to the program last season and what things do you think they’ll bring to the table going forward?

Coach: I think mentality. Rick has been to Omaha, I think 10 times. He’s won several national championships. His history of development is as good as any assistant out there. He took a year off. I think 2009 was kind of a transition year for him - transition of knowing the Pac-10, getting to know our players, getting to know what the hot buttons are, and knowing what he can do in terms of information. I didn’t see that coming. With the experience that both Steve and Rick have, I didn’t see that transition year being as difficult as it was. I think they’re much more comfortable now. We have a lot more speed coming in. We’re much more left-handed coming in. I think we’re up to nine left-handers next year so that’s going to change the whole complexion of the offense and Rick’s offense is a speed game. It’s a pressure game. We kind of try to push that envelope. We really didn’t have the personnel to do that. We were a little right-handed. We weren’t that fast. We were kind of a three-run homer team. It was a transition year for both those guys, but they’re outstanding assistants. Their track record says it. I think they’re an Omaha staff.

That's some fantastic stuff from Coach Savage. His candid answers, especially regarding the 2009 season, were illuminating and I think he made it clear what expectations are for the program. In part two, Savage will outline exactly what the expectations should be for the program and he will also address his scheduling philosophy, what he expects from the players this summer, the struggle for fans and the need to improve Jackie Robinson Stadium so keep an eye out for that.

For now, what do you think of part one? Do you like Savage's answers or were you hoping for a different answer to a question? Are you confident Coach Savage is the man for the job, do you have some concerns or are you not sure? Let's hear it.

Trevor Bauer, who along with Gerrit Cole was named to the 2009 USA National Team via media.dailybruin.com

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Right-handed pitchers Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole, who each just finished their freshman seasons with the Bruins, were two of 22 players named to the USA National Team following 10 days of trials at the US National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. The two of them give UCLA their first USA National Team player since SS Brandon Crawford in 2006 and makes the Bruins one of just five teams to have multiple players on this year's team, joining Cal St. Fullerton, Tulane, LSU and Florida St.

To say these two freshmen are dynamite is an understatement and they showed their talent during the season and at the trials.

Bauer allowed one hit in 6.0 scoreless innings, collecting seven strikeouts and one walk. Cole registered eight strikeouts in a 4.2-inning start, allowing two runs and three hits.

Bauer and Cole were among three freshmen to earn All-Pac-10 team honors in 2009. Additionally, Bauer secured Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors and Collegiate Baseball's National Freshman Pitcher of the Year accolades. The right-hander from Valencia, Calif., went 9-3 with a team-low 2.99 ERA, logging 92 strikeouts, 27 walks and a .225 opponent batting average in a team-leading 105.1 innings. He ranked in the top-10 among Pac-10 pitchers in innings (third), wins (tied, fourth), ERA (seventh), strikeouts (eighth), and opponent batting average (ninth).

Cole pitched in UCLA's starting rotation each weekend of his freshman campaign. The right-hander from Santa Ana, Calif., went 4-8 with a 3.49 ERA. Cole totaled a team-leading 104 strikeouts and issued 38 walks in 85.0 innings. He registered a Pac-10-best .191 opponent batting average, finishing the season ranked in the top-10 among Pac-10 pitchers in strikeouts (fourth) and innings (ninth).

Best of luck to the two this summer as they don the red, white and blue.

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Bruin alum Chase Utley watching the trajectory of his two-run home run jack during Phillies' 7-5 victory in a baseball game in Denver (AP Photo/David Zalubowski from April, 2009)

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Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

The UCLA baseball team has run into some hard times recently, not making the 2009 postseason, but they're still turning out Major League talent. Just this week, seven UCLA juniors and seniors were drafted, one year after five Bruins were drafted. Along these same lines, The Wall Street Journal took at look at the 1996-2008 MLB Drafts and ranked each school that had produced at least four MLB players in that time frame by runs above replacement.

California schools make up four of the top five -- USC, No. 2 Cal State Fullerton, No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 Pepperdine, with Miami in between. But more than anything, the analysis shows how difficult it is for even top colleges to produce top-flight major-league players. Mr. Pujols has single-handedly been more valuable statistically than the offensive alumni of every college during the past dozen years, save Miami and UCLA.

Currently, there are seven Bruins playing in the majors: Chase Utley, Troy Glaus, Casey Janssen, Garrett Atkins, Eric Byrnes, Ben Francisco and David Huff. Utley is leading NL second basemen in All-Star voting by a wide margin and looks poised to become the NL's starter at the position for the fourth consecutive season. Francisco, Byrnes, Atkins and Janssen are all healthy now and starting for their respectie clubs, while Huff, who was a Bruin as recently as 2006, earned his first two major league wins in his last two starts.

There's not shortage of talent in the Southern California region and the Bruins are getting their share of that talent. Hopefully in the coming years that talent can turn into yearly postseason appearances and wins in those postseasons. In the mean time, as we wait for the 2010 season to come around, we can keep tabs on our Bruins in the amateur summer leagues, the minor leagues and as the WSJ makes clear, the major leagues.