Bruin baseball outfielder sees summer league as learning experience

Brett Stephens struggled in his first summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League, the nation’s premier collegiate summer baseball league.

In 78 at-bats for the Orleans Firebirds last year, the UCLA outfielder hit just .192 with 19 strikeouts.

Back on the Cape this year with the Cotuit Kettleers, Stephens has put last summer’s struggles behind him, ranking 11th in the league with a .298 average.

“I think it’s been solid so far,” Stephens said. “Obviously, there’s things you want to go back and do again in this game, but failure’s part of it. I think I’ve improved and I think I’ve learned a lot while I’ve been out there so that’s the main goal.”

The Cape League, with only 10 teams, is one of college baseball’s most prestigious leagues. Players from across the country come to train with the best athletes and to showcase their skills in front of major league scouts. While 23 Bruins made appearances in summer leagues across the country this year, only four went to the Cape, Stephens included.

Kettleers coach Mike Roberts, the father of former Major League Baseball All-Star Brian Roberts, said the junior has impressed with his consistency and all-around play.

“(Stephens) is the type of player that you really need to watch day after day after day,” Roberts said. “What he does is he just plays the complete game really well. He has what I call baseball outfield speed, where he just kind of catches up with everything. Offensively, he hits left- and right-handed pitching well, he bunts efficiently, his baserunning is above-average at the college level.”

Stephens said his Cape League experience has helped him improve as he prepares for the NCAA season.

“Every place in the Cape is an incredible opportunity to play against the best competition in the country and get better,” Stephens said. “Working with coach Roberts every day on fine hitting details, just trying to become a polished hitter, using our hands, having stable legs and then defensively, still just working on becoming a better thrower every day. That’s kind of my main weakness that I want to address as I move forward in my career.”

Roberts, who has coached plenty of future big leaguers in his time on the Cape, said Stephens is one of those “sneaky guys” who has a chance at ending up in the majors.

“I think most people would say it’s probably a low-percentage chance (he plays in the major leagues),” Roberts said. “But he’s also the type of guy who sneaks into the big leagues because he bypasses a lot of guys who have a great ability but are not very polished.”

Roberts said Stephens’ motivation to improve will help him in his professional career.

“The thing I like about him is that every day he’s trying to polish his skills a little bit more from self-motivation, not coach-motivation,” Roberts said. “Those are the type of guys that usually move up, if they can stay injury-free in minor league baseball, and they knock on the door. … So would it surprise me if he played in the big leagues? Absolutely not.”

Roberts said that ability to learn and adapt is characteristic of players from UCLA, which Roberts found out this summer from having both Stephens and fellow Bruin outfielder Kort Peterson on his team.

“Most guys that come to the Cape from John Savage’s program at UCLA are really good guys, they love the game, they’re teachable and they get better,” Roberts said. “We haven’t had a lot of UCLA players in Cotuit in my 12 years but (Stephens and Peterson) have shown me that I really want a lot more of coach Savage’s players because they’re the right kind of young men.”

Peterson was hitting .186 in 43 at-bats before a July 7 hit by pitch sidelined him for three months with a broken thumb, but Roberts said the left-handed outfielder possesses plenty of potential.

“To me, Kort was not as polished as Brett but had more raw talent than Brett: He runs really well, strong arm, got some power in that swing,” Roberts said. “But he needed to loosen up his body a little bit, some scouts considered him stiff in some ways.”

Roberts added that Peterson also needs to improve his hitting against lefties, which he began to do before the thumb injury.

With the Kettleers in fourth place in the West Division, Stephens’ summer ball season may end early, with the regular season wrapping up on August 2. But an early end won’t dim the enjoyment of the summer for Stephens, who said he’s loved meeting teammates from across the country.

“That’s kind of the most fun part of summer ball for me is all the people you get to meet and the relationships you make,” Stephens said. “It’s not really about the baseball as you move forward but about making friends and having lifelong friends within the game.”

Compiled by Matt Cummings, Bruin Sports senior staff.