John Savage is looking to take a page right out of the Ben
Howland playbook.
Just like Howland, the second-year UCLA baseball coach took over
a program and looks to drastically change the direction of the
program with a fresh coaching philosophy.
Just like Howland, Savage’s first season was defined by
long stretches of futility with a talent-depleted roster.
Just like Howland, he goes into his second year on the job with
an elite recruiting class that ranks among the top in the
country.
When the UCLA baseball team faces powerhouse Miami this weekend,
the Bruins will be putting behind them a year that, with the help
of a 19-game losing streak, left them with their worst record in 60
years. For the second-year coach, a new season and a fresh start
could not be more welcome.
“Once we step between those lines on Friday, it’s a
whole new season,” said Savage, who coached the team to a
15-41 record last season. “We felt it was going to be a
challenge last season and it was. This is a new year, and clearly,
we feel we’re a lot better.”
Considering last season’s record and their 2005 recruiting
class, which was ranked No. 5 in the country by Baseball America,
the Bruins would be hard pressed to be worse than last year. In
fact, Savage feels that the Bruins not only have the potential to
be leaps and bounds better than last year, but that they should
expect to be.
“The bar has been raised, knowing who we have here,”
Savage said. “We’re much better than last year. We have
clearly higher expectations, not only from ourselves, but from the
baseball community.”
Chief among the Bruins’ new talent are catcher Ryan
Babineau, infielder Brandon Crawford, and pitchers Tim Murphy and
David Huff. Huff, a junior college transfer from Cypress Community
College who played for Savage his freshman season at UC Irvine,
will be the Saturday-night starter against the Hurricanes. Huff, in
particular, wants to lead this team to a strong finish after being
around the team last season.
“Hopefully, I can pitch well and do my part,” Huff
said. “I need to keep the guys at the plate with a fighting
chance. Our goal is to do better than last year and just show
everyone that we’re not as bad as last year and not the
eighth best team in the conference.”
Though the new recruits raise the profile and general talent
level of the Bruin squad, it is the older players who will
ultimately decide whether or not this team can shake off the stain
of last year’s failures. Junior Hector Ambriz, who will start
on Friday night’s game, will have to play consistently well
for this team to succeed.
“It all starts with Hector,” Savage said. “The
expectations are on him. He needs to have the best year of his
career. He needs to go out there and do it from game
one.”
Ambriz, who had a 3.94 ERA and a .338 batting average last year,
started on Friday nights for the Bruins last season and it is hoped
that with one more year of experience, he will help set the tone
for a team that needs to consistently do the right things in all
facets of the game.
“We’ve been focusing on execution,” Ambriz
said. “We’ve got to do a better job of moving guys
over, and scoring guys from third base. We’ve got a bunch of
leadership, four great starters, and we’re really deep. We
expect to go to the playoffs.”
After Ambriz and Huff, the starting pitchers for the Bruins will
be junior college transfer Tyson Brummet on Sundays, and junior
Brian Schroeder on Tuesdays. Both Huff and Schroeder are
left-handed, which should provide a different look for opposing
hitters that was lacking in the Bruins’ rotation last
year.
Offensively, this team will be improved. Senior Chris Jensen
spent most of last season injured, before coming on strong in the
second half to tie the team lead in home runs with seven, while
batting .367. Jensen is slated play right field and anchor the
lineup from the No. 3 spot. With him playing a full year, the
Bruins should expect big things at the top of the lineup.
“He’s one of the best hitters out there,”
Savage said. “A healthy Chris Jensen can put up big numbers.
Just look at what he did last year in (29 games).”
The unexpected return of senior first baseman Brett McMillan
gives Savage that much more flexibility. McMillan, who was drafted
following his junior season by the Washington Nationals but elected
to come back to finish his college career at UCLA, had a relatively
disappointing season in 2005. He managed only a .257 average and
tied Jensen for the team lead in home runs despite playing in twice
as many games.
Nevertheless, his return provides veteran stability for a core
of inexperienced players.
“I need to lead by example,” McMillan said.
“The older guys need to be open to the younger guys so
they’re comfortable asking questions. We need to get to that
point where everyone is comfortable with each other. And if need
be, we have to give the younger guys a kick in the butt now and
again.”
“There were a lot of factors (for why I returned) but I
mostly just didn’t want to end my college career on that
note,” McMillan said. “This way I get to graduate and
also it gives us a chance to prove that we’re not a losing
team.”
“I want these freshmen to be sophomores by the time we
start the Pac-10. I look at what coach Howland has done with the
basketball team, and that is kind of the blueprint you’d like
to follow.”
Hopefully for the Bruins, Savage will have Howland’s
second-year touch.