This post was updated Feb. 11 at 5:46 p.m.

No. 1 UCLA baseball is just days away from its first pitch of the 2026 season following a 2025 campaign where the Bruins secured a share of the Big Ten title and a Men’s College World Series appearance. With UCLA returning nearly its entire roster and bolstering its depth through the transfer portal in the offseason, it will have the opportunity to build on last year. Ahead of opening day, Daily Bruin contributor Matthew Knauer breaks down the incoming and outgoing players.

2025 Record: 48-18, 22-8 Big Ten, MCWS appearance

Coach: John Savage

Outgoing players

UCLA hardly lost any talent from a 2025 squad that fell three games short of a national championship, returning eight of its nine starters heading into the 2026 campaign.

Most impactful will be the absence of outfielder AJ Salgado. The redshirt senior graduated and signed with the New York Mets as an undrafted free agent, playing 23 games with their Class-A affiliate in St. Lucie, Florida. Splitting time between center and right field with the Bruins, Salgado’s 1.000 OPS and 12 home runs both ranked second on last year’s team. The Glendora, California, local was awarded Second Team All-Big Ten honors.

Pitcher Cody Delvecchio was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 12th round of the 2025 MLB Draft and was the only Bruin drafted. The right-hander was academically ineligible for the majority of his junior season but still managed to make eight starts – the last of which came in a season-ending 7-3 loss to Arkansas. In 37 innings, he posted a 6.81 ERA, surrendering 12 walks and 39 strikeouts.

Rounding out the outgoing class were two graduate student relievers, August Souza and Ryan Rissas. Souza made 30 appearances out of the bullpen with a 6.04 ERA while Rissas pitched 20 times to a 3.50 ERA.

Only three undrafted Bruins with remaining eligibility left Westwood. Cameron Kim, who filled in at all four infield spots as a sophomore for the Bruins, transferred to Cal State Fullerton. Outfielder Toussaint Bythewood, who started the final game of the super regional against UTSA, transferred to Morehouse College. Right-hander Luke Rodriguez, who made 11 starts and had a 2.11 ERA before becoming academically ineligible in March of last season, transferred to Master’s University.

The transfers

John Savage has embraced the transfer portal for a second consecutive season, helping bolster an already-loaded roster.

Junior Will Gasparino left the University of Texas – ranked No. 3 in the preseason poll by D1Baseball – to come to Westwood and will most likely fill Salgado’s shoes in the outfield. Standing at 6-foot-6 and possessing blistering speed, the Harvard-Westlake graduate is renowned for his defensive ability in center field and received SEC All-Defensive Team honors in 2025.

Gasparino boasts impressive power at the plate, slugging .512 with 13 home runs as a sophomore, although a 26% strikeout rate kept his batting average at just .242.

Junior Logan Reddemann was ranked as the Big Ten’s No. 1 preseason starting pitcher by D1Baseball after spending last year with University of San Diego in the West Coast Conference. Across 11 starts, the right-hander posted a 2.29 ERA in 55 innings, walking just 5% of hitters while striking out 23%. He was awarded First-Team WCC honors twice with the Toreros.

Three of Reddemann’s 2025 starts came against College World Series teams: UCLA, Oregon State and Arizona. He totaled 14 innings, allowing just three earned runs, two walks and 14 strikeouts.

Savage found his last two transfers outside of Division l teams, with now-graduate student Michael Cunningham coming from Division II San Francisco State. As a junior, the centerfielder hit 18 home runs with a 1.074 OPS while stealing 20 bases and walking 30 times. The Los Angeles local earned Division II All-West Region First Team Honors.

Junior Jake Swenson comes from Division III Linfield College, where he tallied 94 strikeouts with a 3.74 ERA in 76.2 innings, highlighted by a 17-strikeout complete game shutout in April. He was named the Northwest Conference Pitcher of the Year.

The freshmen

Westwood welcomes a 10-player freshmen class ranked 35th in the nation – and fourth in the Big Ten – by Perfect Game.

Headlining the class is Angel Cervantes, who made national news last July after turning down the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 50th overall pick – with a slot value of $1,934,700 – to join the Bruins. He ranked as the second-best right-handed pitcher in the country due to an impressive strike-throwing ability and a fastball touching 94 mph.

Expect to see plenty of Cervantes on the mound this year.

The other Bruin to turn down a 2025 MLB Draft selection was the Milwaukee Brewers’ 15th round pick Dominic Cadiz. Cadiz spent the summer playing for the Walla Walla Sweets in the West Coast League, where he slugged nine home runs with a 1.082 OPS while facing Division 1 competition.

Mack Edwards, the No. 1 left-hander out of Nevada, also played in the WCL last summer for the Bellingham Balls. The 6-foot-5 freshman struck out 21 hitters in 22 innings with a 2.45 ERA.

California’s No. 1 first baseman Maverek Russell posted a .761 OPS in the WCL, showing impressive plate discipline by walking in 21% of his at-bats.

Elai Iwanaga ranked as the No. 1 right-handed pitcher in Hawaii and participated in the Area Code games, flashing an advanced slider and curveball.

Rounding out the freshmen class are infielders Aiden Aguayo and Tyler Dunning, right-handed pitchers Hayden George and Zach Strickland, and outfielder Trey Gudoy.

The Bruins look awfully similar to the team that made the MCWS but are reinforced by the additions of Gasparino, Reddemann, Cervantes and a wealth of other talent.