Bruins Alum Stakes Claim as Best Arm on Rockies

The Colorado Rockies are 12-53 this season and are struggling to find any positives. UCLA alumni Jake Bird, however, is continuing to star out of Colorado's bullpen.

Bird is leading the Rockies this season with a 1.49 ERA in 27 appearances. The only other Colorado arm that has appeared in more games is relief pitcher Tyker Kinley with 28 appearances, he has a 6.91 ERA.

The stud reliever last took the mound Friday against the New York Mets. He threw 18 pitches in 1.0 innings and fanned all three batters he faced. Bird now has 45 strikeouts on the season to go along with a 1.13 WHIP in 36.1 innings pitched.

Bird's 1.49 ERA is at the lowest mark its been since late April, when he was boasting a 0.95 inning before taking the mound against the San Francisco Giants on May 3 and giving up three runs, a blown save and notching his only loss of the season.

Since that game in San Francisco, Bird has allowed just one run in 13 appearances (16.0 innings pitched). That is a 0.56 ERA in that span.

The former Bruins' stellar play has garnered tremendous reported attention from other ball clubs desperate for a bullpen arm like his ahead of the MLB trade deadline. The Rockies could get some solid prospects in a deal for Bird. Suggested suitors include the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies among other contenders looking to bolster their bullpens for the rest of the season.

Bird was a standout ace for the Bruins in his three seasons at UCLA, none better than his senior year in 2018 where he boasted a Pac-12-leading 2.17 ERA, finishing the year with a 7-4 record. His performance on and off the mound earned him an Academic All-American Third Team selection, the first Bruin since 1988 to earn those honors, and an All-Pac-12 selection.

Bird was drafted by the Rockies with the 156th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB Draft. This is Bird's fourth season in Colorado and is easily his best. He never had below a 4.33 ERA season in his first three years and is currently on pace to have one of the best reliever seasons in the National League.