It’s just a midweek game at the beginning of March but if the hype on Justin Hooper is real, people will someday look back on it as a special moment.
A 6-foot-5 left-hander whose tantalizing potential earned him the No. 7 spot on Baseball America’s list of the top MLB Draft prospects in the freshman class, Hooper will make his first collegiate start Tuesday afternoon as No. 21 UCLA (3-4) heads to UC Santa Barbara (7-1).
Hooper excited scouts at the Perfect Game All-America Game last spring, reaching 97 mph with his fastball, and had a chance at being drafted in the first round last year were it not for his hard commitment to UCLA.
But coach John Savage has been conservative with his use of the promising lefty, rather than instantly thrusting him into the weekend ace role of the staff.
“I think it would be an injustice to throw him out there on a Friday or Saturday. You don’t need to be that Friday guy right away,” Savage said before the season. “You’d like to be, but I’ve seen guys from other schools get thrown into that type of situation and they’re not ready. And then you look a year and a half into their career, and they’re not where they should be.”
It’s a different approach than the one Savage used with current MLB pitchers Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer, who entered the program together in 2008 and immediately started on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
“We think he’s going to turn out to be really, really good but it’s not as game-ready as those guys,” Savage said. “Hooper is the prospect where you’re talking about Andrew Miller, you’re talking about Randy Johnson. I mean you’re talking about different company. In terms of success, it’s going to take a little time there.”
To get there, Savage said, Hooper still has a lot to polish.
“(He needs to work on) command – just repeating your delivery, repeating strikes, repeating your secondary pitch, having command on both sides of the plate, managing your running game,” Savage said. “This is a different deal, man.”
In his 44 pitches this year, Hooper has thrown just 23 strikes, walking two and hitting another. But he’s also shown flashes of dominance, striking out three in a five-out performance last Tuesday against Long Beach State.
He’ll be facing an imposing opponent in UCSB, which won the first-ever Tony Gwynn Classic this past weekend by scoring 36 runs in three games.
There’s talent up and down the lineup for the Gauchos, whose leadoff hitter, redshirt sophomore outfielder Andrew Calica, won last summer’s Cape Cod Baseball League batting title. In the cleanup spot is sophomore masher Austin Bush. At 6-foot-6, 265 pounds, Bush pounded out seven hits in 11 at-bats in the Tony Gwynn Classic.
Tuesday will be UCLA’s fourth straight away game.
UCLA used a road trip to Cal Poly to distance itself from a rough season-opening stretch at home. Although they weren’t able to earn a sweep, the Bruins rebounded from a 1-3 start, outscoring the Mustangs 26-12 to claim a series victory.
“I think it was good timing for us to go on the road,” said redshirt senior center fielder Christoph Bono. “We definitely need to play better at home but going on the road is definitely a change of pace, different scenery.”
Savage and the Bruins will hope the success translates to Tuesday.
“There’s not a lot of really good road teams out there,” Savage said. “We’ve always been a really good road team so hopefully this was a characteristic that our team will display the rest of the year.”