UCLA Product Continuing to Soar with Rockies

Naturally, it's hard to find any positives throughout a season when a team like the Colorado Rockies (10-50) are having the season they are having. And yet, former UCLA Bruin Jake Bird is continuing to be the faintest of lights in an otherwise dark, dark abyss.

Bird, a relief pitcher for Colorado, is building up a stellar season despite the troubles the Rockies are enduring.

In 25 appearances this season, the Westwood product has tossed 34.2 innings and has an impressive 1.56 ERA, which is the second-lowest mark on the Rockies' roster just behind Zach Agnos' 1.50 in 18.0 innings.

Bird's 42 strikeouts, 15 walks and 25 hits gives him a 1.15 WHIP on the season thus far, which is the lowest of his four-year major league career.

The right-hander hasn't allowed a run since May 17, where he pitched 2.0 innings and a season-high 39 pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks that earned him his first win of the season; one of Colorado's 10 overall.

Bird's last appearance was on Monday, June 2, against the Miami Marlins, where he pitched 1.0 innings and allowed just one hit to en route to Colorado's 10th win. The appearance brought his ERA down to the 1.56 mark he currently holds, which is his lowest since April 30 when a 1.1 scoreless appearance dropped his number down to 0.95 before allowing three runs just a few days after and shooting his average up to a 2.21.

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.

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.