UCLA baseball heads into season with revamped squad, new strengths

The Bruins have a lot to replace: their top two starting pitchers, their top-three hitters and a closer who established himself as the best in NCAA history. They were also dealt a huge blow when starting catcher Darrell Miller Jr. was ruled out for the season after labrum surgery.

The biggest question mark for coach John Savage is about who will play catcher. The competition involves two inexperienced options: freshman Jake Hirabayashi, a converted infielder who began catching in the fall and redshirt freshman Daniel Rosica, a walk-on who was brought in last year as a bullpen catcher.

Having worked in the bullpen all of last season, Rosica has the upper hand in terms of knowing the Bruins’ system but Hirabayashi is a good athlete who’s been learning quickly, Savage said.

Around the rest of the field, the Bruins are much more prepared to deal with their other losses. Here’s a breakdown of each position group.

Infield

In shortstop Kevin Kramer and third baseman Chris Keck, UCLA loses not just two of its best hitters but also the left side of its infield. It will be tough to replace those two, but the Bruins must move forward.

They’ve shifted junior Luke Persico from first base to third base, where Savage said he’s improved his hands and become a solid fielder. The shift could help turn the talented Persico into a high-level prospect, as third base provides more positional value. Set to bat either third or fourth in the lineup, Persico showed off some power in the Cape League last summer with three home runs.

Sophomore Nick Valaika is out until March 1 after undergoing surgery on the hamate bone in his right hand, but when he returns, he’ll play shortstop.

That will move senior Trent Chatterton, who will fill in for Valaika at short to start the season, back to second base, where he played last year. Chatterton is a good fielder, but Savage said he thinks his range is better suited for second. At the plate, the 5-foot-8 infielder should be a solid piece at the back end of the lineup – he has steadily improved his slugging each year at UCLA. While Chatterton is at short early on, versatile senior Brett Urabe will handle second base. Urabe has never seen consistent starting time for the Bruins but he’s a good athlete who often serves as a late-game replacement.

Sophomore Sean Bouchard will start at first. He’s transitioning from third base because the coaching staff felt more comfortable defensively with Persico at the hot corner. The 6-foot-3 Bouchard will bring to the lineup the power that made him a prized prospect coming out of high school – No. 75 among high schoolers in 2014, according to Perfect Game.

Outfield

Although the Bruins lost talented hitter Ty Moore, Savage said he thinks they have one of the best outfield groups in the nation. That group includes toolsy players in junior Brett Stephens, redshirt senior Christoph Bono, redshirt senior Eric Filia, junior Kort Peterson and freshman Daniel Amaral.

Stephens, who will start in left, contributed heavily on last year’s team, hitting .298 with a .382 on-base percentage, and will bat at the top of the lineup this season. He’s a solid outfielder with a polished hitting profile.

In center, Bono excels as a fielder. He’ll slot in around the bottom third of the order but he has raised his average each of the past three years.

Filia represents a huge boost to the program in his return after two years away – one for injury, the other for academic suspension. He’s a tremendous hitter who led the 2013 national title team in hitting. He’ll bat either third or fourth and anchor the lineup.

Peterson is plenty capable of playing the outfield but he’ll start at designated hitter because the Bruins have such a wealth of talent.

Starting rotation

The Bruins sustained two huge losses in the rotation, with both their Friday and Saturday starters heading to professional baseball. James Kaprielian, who made the All-Pac-12 First Team each of the past two seasons, was picked 14th in the MLB draft by the New York Yankees and Grant Watson, UCLA’s all-time leader in innings pitched, headed to the San Francisco Giants in the 16th round.

That said, Savage feels confident the Bruins can replace those two. Junior righty Grant Dyer, who made the all-conference first team with a 1.83 ERA as a setup man last year, will move from the bullpen into the Friday role. Dyer throws in the mid-90s with a curveball that Savage said is already major-league average. The next step for him will be to develop his changeup.

Savage said he thinks the Bruins have two Friday night starters. The second one, sophomore Griffin Canning, will pitch on Saturdays. Canning earned second-team Freshman All-American honors last year from Baseball America, producing a 2.97 ERA primarily as a Sunday starter. He brings a four-pitch mix with excellent command – he recorded a 26-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in Pac-12 play.

On Sundays, freshman Kyle Molnar will take the ball for the Bruins. Molnar, a 6-foot-2 righty, was Baseball America’s No. 53 prospect for the 2015 draft but decided to come to UCLA, where he’ll work with a three-pitch arsenal that includes low-90s velocity, a solid changeup and an improving breaking ball.

The Bruins will turn to two lefties, freshman Justin Hooper and redshirt junior Hunter Virant, to start midweek games. Hooper boasts an incredibly high ceiling. The No. 39 prospect in Baseball America’s 2015 draft rankings – he’s 6-foot-7 and works in the mid-90s with his fastball. Virant got four Sunday starts under his belt last year after Canning went down with an injury. The lanky 6-foot-4 pitcher was highly touted coming out of high school, but hasn’t yet had the type of success expected of him at UCLA.

Bullpen

The best closer in college history, David Berg, is gone, and the Bruins’ All-Pac-12 first-team setup man Dyer has moved to the rotation.

But UCLA is in good position to reload this year and, like almost every Savage team, feature a strong pen. Savage will entrust the closing duties to freshman Brian Gadsby, who displays the same sidearm action as Berg, as well as two other arm slots.

Berg had unprecedented success in college but, from an objective standpoint, you could make the argument Gadsby is a more talented arm. He’s a prep football standout who throws harder than Berg, and Savage thinks he’s got a closer’s mindset.

The eighth inning is in good hands once again, as redshirt junior righty Tucker Forbes moves into the setup role from seventh-inning duties. At 6-foot-8, Forbes presents problems for hitters with the downhill plane on his low-90s fastball. He struck out a team-leading 10.57 batters per nine innings.

Savage will utilize sophomore right-hander Jake Bird in the seventh and redshirt freshman Nathan Hadley in the sixth, each of whom throw around 90 miles per hour with intriguing off-speed pitches.

Compiled by Matt Cummings, Bruin Sports senior staff.