Six Bruins Set to Compete in MLB Postseason
October 02, 2018 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The 2018 MLB Playoffs begin on Tuesday evening, and UCLA baseball will be represented by nearly half of the qualifying teams as six Bruin alums across four clubs will complete for the World Series Championship.
Though not all playoff rosters have been set, the following four players all earned significant playing time for postseason-qualifying teams this season: Gerrit Cole (Houston Astros), Trevor Bauer (Cleveland Indians), Chase Utley (Los Angeles Dodgers), Adam Plutko (Cleveland Indians), and Pat Valaika (Colorado Rockies). In addition, Bruin alum Dave Roberts is the manager of the Dodgers.
UCLA's group of postseason-bound players is led by ace starters Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer, former rotation-mates in Westwood and now fellow contenders for the Cy Young Award in 2018.
In his first season with the Astros, Cole turned in arguably the most effective campaign of his career, going 15-5 with a 2.88 ERA. He shattered his previous career-high for strikeouts by punching out 276 batters in 2018, second-most in the American League and third-most in the majors. As a key cog in the rotation, Cole helped Houston to 103 wins โ second-best in the MLB โ and the AL West division crown.
With six standout MLB seasons under his belt, Cole is quickly crafting one of the finest pro pitching careers by a Bruin alum. His 3.37 career ERA is the best by a former Bruin (among those with 30+ IP) and earlier this season he became the first Bruin to reach the 1,000 career strikeout mark. Sitting on 74 career wins, he needs just five more victories next season to become winningest Bruin in MLB history.
Congrats Gerrit! Keep it up! #GoBruins https://t.co/YjDGxwttKS
โ UCLA Baseball (@UCLABaseball) September 22, 2018
Similarly, Bauer reached another gear this season for the Indians, posting a 12-6 record while his 2.21 ERA was second-best in the AL and nearly two runs lower than his previous career-best. He was part of one of the best rotations statistically in major league history, as the Indians were the first team ever to have four starters reach the 200-strikeout mark.
Corey Kluber. Trevor Bauer. Carlos Carrasco. Mike Clevinger.
โ Cleveland Indians (@Indians) September 22, 2018
We are the 1st team in Major League history to have 4 starting pitchers record 200 or more strikeouts in a single season.#RallyTogether pic.twitter.com/1yLh8j1les
Sabermetrics were even fonder of Bauer's campaign than traditional stats, as he led the league in Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) at 2.44 and was second in adjusted ERA+ at 198.
Roberts led the Dodgers the ย NL West title after outlasting Valaika and the Rockies 5-2 in a dramatic one-game playoff on Monday, the club's sixth consecutive division crown.
Utley appeared in 87 in his final season for the Dodgers, batting .213 and collecting 12 extra-base hits in 164 at-bats. He has been lauded throughout the campaign for his leadership abilities and clubhouse presence, and received a standing ovation in his final regular season at-bat at Dodger Stadium.
ICYMI .... the @Dodgers paid tribute to Chase Utley yesterday in his final regular season game at Chavez Ravine. #GoBruins https://t.co/QQPuoR0XKP
โ UCLA Baseball (@UCLABaseball) September 24, 2018
He ends his career with a .275 batting average, 259 home runs, 1,025 RBIs, six all-star game selections, and four silver slugger awards.
After making his MLB debut in 2016, Plutko had an expanded role for the Indians this year, making a dozen starts on top of five appearances out of the bullpen. For the year, he accrued a 4-5 record, a 5.28 ERA, and struck out 60 batters in 76 2/3 innings. His best outing of the year came at Wrigley Field on May 23, as he held the Cubs to just two hits over six shutout innings as part of a 1-0 Indians win. Plutko went 3-0 with a 3.93 ERA over his first three starts of the year.ย
Valaika entered 68 games for the Rockies in 2018, his third consecutive season in the bigs. He played all four infield positions at various times for Colorado, which claimed the second wild card spot in the National League. The Rockies will be the first team featuring a Bruin to play a postseason game, as they will play at Chicago on Tuesday in the NL Wild Card game.
Right-handed reliever Erik Goeddelย is on the 60-day disabled list and thus ineligible for the postseason roster, but he turned in a fine season out of the bullpen for the Dodgers. He tossed 29 1/3 innings of 3.38 ball after coming over to the Dodgers from the Seattle Mariners in May, striking out over a batter per inning (10.7 K/9). He had a solid 2.95 ERA combined for the season.ย