When you think about UCLA baseball’s pitching staff, you think about Griffin Canning.
The junior ace pitches Friday nights, has four pitches that coach John Savage has called “Major League average” and is projected to be a first-round pick in this month’s MLB draft.
But Savage’s rotation philosophy depends on treating all of his starters like they’re the Bruins’ No. 1 guy, and although sophomore Jon Olsen’s Sunday job makes him the No. 3 starter, his numbers suggest he’s better than that.
“Jon has been a serious contributor on this team,” Savage said. “He’s a really good three, and he could be a two. In some programs, he could be a one. … We would not be close to where we are without him.”
Olsen has gone 6-0 with a 2.08 ERA in Pac-12 play, always pitching on the third game of the series. Those numbers beat out Canning’s conference marks – a 6-3 record with a 3.01 ERA.
After the final matchup of the Oregon series over the weekend, Savage said he has been as good as any Sunday guy – maybe even in the country.
But despite Olsen’s effectiveness as the No. 3 starter, Savage chose not to promote the righty when junior No. 2 starter Jake Bird’s shoulder injury kept him off the mound.
“We didn’t move things around, which we really could have when Bird went down,” Savage said Saturday. “I just look back and I’m glad we did what we did and kept him on that Sunday deal. I think it’s really paid dividends.”
UCLA went 11-2 in the final game of its 13 three-game series this season, with Olsen on the hill for all of them. Savage pointed to the importance of winning the final game of the series.
“It’s critical. You’re either up 2-0, down 2-0 or you’re tied 1-1,” Savage said. “You look at the sweeps we have. You look at (California) and USC and Utah, and the way he pitched on those Sundays has been impressive.”
Though Olsen was essentially denied a promotion when Savage chose to keep him as the Sunday starter during the regular season, the righty said the decision didn’t bother him at all.
“It was kind of good I stayed on Sundays just in terms of schedule and maintaining the same routine throughout the week,” Olsen said. “It was kind of a decision that he made, that it would be best for me to just stay on the same track because it was going good at the time.”
Run support has been a crucial element in Olsen’s success this season. In Pac-12 play, the Bruins averaged around 4 1/2 runs on the first and second games on the series. On Olsen’s days, they averaged just over 10.
“Sundays have been pretty funny with our offense,” Olsen said. “I was able to just use my defense and not have to be perfect or make perfect pitches.”
These offensive performances have consistently come against teams that resort to a bullpen game in the last game of the series.
“I don’t see a lot of No. 3s matching up with Jon,” Savage said. “There are some teams that don’t have threes – a legit three – and it’s helped us. It really has.”
A tough call
Savage mentioned that he doesn’t like to move starting pitchers around, but that’s exactly what he might do this weekend at the NCAA regionals.
The coach said that he still has to decide whether he will start Bird – who has made three starts since returning from injury – or Olsen – who hasn’t missed a start this year – in Game 2 of the first weekend of postseason play.
“Coach always talks about having four No. 1s, in Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday,” Olsen said. “We all believe that we’re the No. 1 guy, even though we know Griff is.”