Bruins in Pro Ball – All-Star Break Update
July 14, 2017 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – The Major League Baseball All-Star Break has just wrapped up on Thursday and seven UCLA alums have made impacts on MLB clubs this season.
Gerrit Cole (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Trevor Bauer (Cleveland Indians) have each been in the starting rotations for their teams. Cole currently has a 7-7 record with a 4.43 ERA in 107.2 innings pitched and 18 starts. He has 94 strikeouts to just 27 walks with a .267 opposing batting average. Bauer has compiled a 5.24 ERA in 17 starts and 92.2 innings with a 7-7 record. He has totaled 103 strikeouts, including a 14-strikeout performance in 7.0 innings of work on May 30 against Oakland.
Brandon Crawford (San Francisco Giants) has played in 72 games and has hit .222 with 42 RBIs and 26 runs scored. He has a .357 slugging percentage with seven home runs and 13 doubles. Chase Utley (Los Angeles Dodgers) has appeared in 73 games this season and has hit .226 with 23 RBIs and 27 runs scored. He has slugged .390 with five home runs and 11 doubles and a .326 on-base percentage with 25 walks.
Pat Valaika (Colorado Rockies), Matt Grace (Washington Nationals) and Erik Goeddel (New York Mets) were each called up in the middle of the season and have made big contributions to their clubs. Valaika has hit .233 in 57 games 16 runs scored and 17 RBIs. He has tallied a .485 slugging percentage with six home runs and eight doubles in 103 at-bats. Grace has compiled a 1-0 record in 2017 with a 3.93 ERA in 18 appearances. In 18.1 innings pitched he has totaled 10 strikeouts. Goeddel has made seven appearances on the mound and in 5.2 innings has compiled a 4.76 ERA with five strikeouts.
Minor League Update
A number of Bruins have made an impact across Minor League Baseball as well. Three Bruins drafted in June's MLB draft are already impressing as Sean Bouchard (single-A short season, Colorado) is hitting .385 with two home runs, Scott Burke (single-A short season, Baltimore) has not allowed an earned run in 5.2 innings with eight strikeouts and Moises Ceja (single-A short season, Colorado) has recorded two saves with a 1.13 ERA in 8.0 innings.
Jermaine Curtis (2006-08) has spent time in triple-A and double-A for the Oakland Athletics and has combined to hit .306 with 14 RBIs and 10 runs scored, while slugging .388 with one home run and seven doubles. Cody Decker (2006-09) is the current active home run leader in all of minor league baseball and has been moved from double-A to triple-A with the New York Mets and is hitting .262 with eight home runs and 10 doubles.
Eric Filia (2012-16) is hitting .307 with 35 RBIs and 41 runs scored, while tallying 39 walks to just 24 strikeouts for the single-A Modesto Nuts of the Seattle Mariners organization. Kevin Kramer (2012-15) is batting .297 with 27 RBIs and 31 runs scored with six home runs and 17 doubles at double-A Pittsburgh for the Altoona Curve. Kort Peterson (2014-16) is also hitting .297 for single-A Wilmington Blue Rocks with the Kansas City Royals with 20 RBIs and is slugging .422 with 21 extra-base hits including two home runs. Cody Poteet has compiled a 2-4 record with a 2.70 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 56.2 innings in both single-A and on assignment in rookie season for the Miami Marlins.
