He is a redshirt freshman starting at quarterback. Though young,
he is a team leader and calls the plays in the field.
It’s not Matt Moore or Drew Olson. It’s Chris
Denove, catcher for the UCLA baseball team.
Every play starts with and goes through him, and the team
expects him to be a vocal field general. Rarely in either
baseball or football do freshmen start because of the overwhelming
amount of material to master.
“In high school, I played both quarterback and catcher, so
I’m used to the leadership position,” Denove said.
Generally, UCLA (10-11) prefers to break its catchers in with a
few years on the bench followed by extensive playing time their
junior and senior seasons. However, both of last year’s
catchers graduated, and the team began this season with Denove,
fellow redshirt freshman Jeff Abney, and some serious questions
about how to handle a young pitching staff.
“Catching at UCLA is a very important job because
we’re one of the few schools not calling every pitch,”
pitching coach Gary Adcock said. “The end result is our guys
are better students of the game and decision-makers. We get rid of
the excuse that it’s the coach’s fault, and give them
full responsibility. So it helps a ton to have a guy like Chris who
is so young but has such a great feel for things.”
“It’s so rare that we have a guy so young starting
for us at catcher because the catcher should be the leader, and
it’s very tough being a freshman and establishing
leadership,” head coach Gary Adams added.
However, field leadership is not the only thing Chris has
provided. Through 20 starts in 21 games, he is third on the team
with a .347 batting average, tied for second in HRs (3), and tied
for the lead in total bases (40), RBI (18), slugging percentage
(.556) and hits (25). In a lineup that has struggled all season
searching for consistent production, he has for the large part
represented the lone stalwart.
“His bat has really carried us in the first few weeks, and
he has done an excellent job on handling the pitching, especially
since the Texas tournament a few weeks ago,” freshman Brett
McMillan said.
Additionally, his skillful handling of pitchers has entrenched
Denove in the lineup. As the season has progressed and Denove has
become more comfortable with the staff, the opponents’ runs
per game have steadily decreased and he has grown a good rapport
with even some of the older starters.
It didn’t happen overnight; during his redshirt year,
Denove was much more than a uniformed cheerleader.
“He caught a ton in the bullpen and spent a lot of time
reading teams’ strengths and weaknesses,” Adcock said.
“He took the responsibility seriously and now we’re
seeing the results. He’s done tremendously so early in his
career with setting up hitters, watching scouting reports, and
finding pitchers’ strengths.”
Not that the pitchers aren’t the ones deserving of the
credit, but with Denove behind the plate, the Bruins’ 5.14
ERA has improved over half a run from the 5.76 last season, even
while handling many pitchers equally as green as him.
While Denove was originally supposed to platoon with Abney,
Adams has lately penciled him into the lineup automatically.
“I hope to start all year, but it’s great to have
Jeff (Abney) because it’s a comfort for me to know if
I’m in a slump we can bring someone in that is equal,”
Denove said.
“It is pretty demanding though. After a three-game series,
on Mondays I just feel like crashing because my body is worn down.
That’s the biggest difference from high school.”
A comment like that puts things in perspective. Only two years
ago Denove was in high school handling 75-mile-per-hour fastballs
in the dirt and smashing hanging curves over the fence. To go to
another stratosphere of competition so seamlessly is truly
impressive.
Whether or not he can sustain his success through the long
college season remains to be seen, but by the time Denove would
normally be assuming the job a few years down the road he will
already be a seasoned and wily veteran. Thus, Adams may enjoy a
rare four years of stability at the receiver position.
“I just try to go out every day and be the guy that they
say is “˜doing it right,'” Denove said.
“When I was redshirting I had to sit back and watch, so I saw
where we needed improvement and have tried to fit that
role.”