2021 Baseball Roster
Roster
Noah Cardenas
- Position:
- C
- Height:
- 6-1
- Weight:
- 190
- Class:
- Junior
- Hometown:
- Saugus, Calif.
- High School:
- Alemany HS
Notes
Selected in the eighth round (No. 249 overall) of the 2021 MLB First-Year Player Draft by Minnesota ... Three-year starter behind the dish for UCLA (2019-21) ... Career .302/.407/.426 slash line with eight home runs and 30 extra-base hits over 126 games (107 starts).ย
Career Highlights
2021 Pac-12 All-Conference Team
2019 Pac-12 All-Defensive Team Honorable Mention
2021
Appeared in all 57 of UCLA's games during the season, starting 56 ... Slashed .268/.371/.404 for the season with 12 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 32 RBIs, and 22 walks over 213 at-bats ... Established career-bests in starts, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, walks, and HBP (14) ... Led the team in HBP, was fourth in the Pac-12 and 64th nationally ... Started all 30 of UCLA's conference games, slashing a solid .281/.394/.430 ... All but one of his five home runs came in league games ... Had 19 multi-hit and 10 multi-RBI games, both third on the squad ... Reached base in 20 consecutive games from Mar. 9 to Apr. 17, the third-longest streak by a Bruin in 2021 ... Had a season-long seven-game hit streak from Mar. 9-21 (10-27, .370) ... Went 2-5 with a career-high five RBIs at Cal Poly on Mar. 13, hitting a three-run home run before adding a two-run double in a 13-12 UCLA win ... Had a season-high three hits in as many at-bats to help the Bruins to a 13-6 win over Army on Jun. 5 in the Lubbock Regional ... Went 6-15 overall in the Lubbock Regional (.400) ... Launched a pair of solo home runs, his first career multi-HR game, to lead UCLA toย a 3-0 win at Arizona State on May 29 in the regular season finale for both teams ... Had multiple hits in four straight games from Apr. 11-17, batting .563 in that span (9-16) ... Threw out 14 of 37 would-be basestealers (38%) ... Made five errors on the year, good for a .991 fielding percentage.ย
2020 (Summer)
Over the summer, played for the Santa Barbara Foresters ... Batted .322 with 27 walks and 18 RBIs over 29 games ...ย Played alongside UCLA teammates Matt McLain, Pat Caulfield, Sean Mullen, and Nick Nastrini ... Helped the Foresters win the 2020 National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kan.
2020
Made a team-high 11 starts behind the dish ...ย Slashed .237/.367/.289 with two doubles over 38 at-bats ... Ranked No. 24 in D1Baseball's positional power rankings of catchers ...ย Drove in 10 runs, second-most on the team ... Threw out three of nine attempted base-stealers (33%) ... Had three HBPs, tied for most on the team ... Drew six walks, tied for third-most on the team ... Had hits in three straight games on two separate occasions ... Went 1-2, reached base four times, and drove in a season-high two runs on Feb. 15 against UC Riverside ...ย Named to the Director's Honor Roll for fall (quarter GPA of 3.0 or higher and pass at least 12 units).ย
2019 (Summer)
Spent the summer with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, hitting .297 over 25 games ... Had six hits in 12 postseason at-bats (.500) ... Had more walks (8) than strikeouts (7) ... Went 4-5 with a pair of runs scored in YD's playoff opener against Orleans ... Over the first three games of the summer, went 5-11 (.455) ... Went 2-4, reached base three times, and had a summer-best three RBIs against Harwich on Jul. 27.ย
2019
Played in 58 games, including 40 starts, as a true freshman ... Slashed .375/.476/.500 with 27 runs, 51 hits, six doubles, one triple, three home runs, and 18 RBIs in 136 at-bats ... Drew 17 walks and had 10 HBPs ... Struck out just 14 times, the lone Bruin with more walks than strikeouts in 2019 ... Led the team in batting, on-base percentage, and hits by pitch ... His batting average ranked fourth in the Pac-12 ... Was a Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honorable mention ...ย ย Had the most total fielding chances without an error of any player in the league ... Threw out six of 18 attempted basestealersย for the season (caught stealing rate of 33%) ... In the month of May, went .513 (20-39) and had a hit in all but one start ... Had a nine-game hit streak from Apr. 9-26 in which he raised his season batting average 166 points ... During the streak, went 17-28 (.607) with two extra-base hits ... Had a career day at Arizona State on May 4, going 5-5, finishing a double short of the cycle, and scoring four runs in an 18-3 UCLA win ... First Bruin with a five-hit game since Scott Jarvis in 2016 ... Went 9-13 overall in the ASU series, and had hits in eight straight at-bats over the Saturday and Sunday games ... Batted .250 in the postseason, including a 6-16 (.375) line in regionals ... Had 13 multi-hit games ... Team was 35-5 in his starts for an .875 winning percentage ... Mostly batted in the nine-holeย but moved up in the lineup late in the year, making two starts in the six-hole, six starts in the seven-hole, and seven starts in the eight-hole ... Batted a team-high .462 in Pac-12 play with a .557 on-base percentage and .585 slugging percentage ... His batting average and OBP would have led all Pac-12 players had he met the qualifying minimums for plate appearances ... Hit his first collegiate home run against East Carolina on Apr. 13 ... Posted multiple hits in three straight games to start postseason play.ย
2018 (Summer)
Thrived in his first trip to the WCL, slashing .287/.336/.394 en route to All-WCL Second Team honors โฆ Had 18 RBIs in 30 games โฆ Best game of the year came on Aug. 5 against Port Angeles, as he went 3-5 with a home run and reached base four times.
High School
Four-year varsity baseball letterwinner at Bishop Alemany High School (Mission Hills, Calif.) under head coach Randy Thompson โฆ ranked No. 30 in the 2018 Perfect Game USA Top High School Prospects in the state of California โฆ ranked No. 213 in the 2018 Perfect Game USA Top 500 High School Prospects โฆ 2017 Perfect Game Rawlings Underclass Honorable Mention All-American โฆ played for the Milwaukee Brewers at the 2017 Area Code Games in Long Beach, Calif ... Had a breakout senior campaign, slashing .444/.577/.694 with 15 extra-base hits and 16 RBIs in 28 games.ย
Personal
Noah Jacob Cardenas was born in Burbank, Calif. ... Aspires to be a pro baseball player ... Majoring in political science.ย
Career Highs
At-Bats: 6 at Arizona State (5/27/21)
Runs: 4 at Arizona State (5/4/19)
Hits: 5ย at Arizona State (5/4/19)
RBI: 5 at Cal Poly (3/13/21)
Doubles: 1 (20 times)
Triples: 1 (twice)
Home Runs: 2 at Arizona State (5/29/21)
Stolen Bases: 1 (twice)
