Jake Bird (baseball)

Jake Bird
Bird with the Albuquerque Isotopes in 2022
Colorado Rockies – No. 59
Pitcher
Born: (1995-12-04) December 4, 1995 (age 28)
Newhall, California, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 16, 2022, for the Colorado Rockies
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Win–loss record7–9
Earned run average4.53
Strikeouts150
Teams

Jacob Timothy Bird (born December 4, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the UCLA Bruins, and led the Pac-12 Conference in earned run average in 2018. He was selected by the Rockies in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB draft and made his MLB debut in 2022.

Early life

Bird was born in Newhall, California, to Joel and Heidi Bird, was raised in Valencia, California, and identifies as Jewish.[1][2][3] His paternal grandmother was Jewish and his mother is Catholic.[4] He has one older brother, Josh, and two younger brothers, Travis and Trent.[3][2]

When Bird was eight years old, at the end of second grade he signed his friends' yearbooks as follows: "Save this autograph for when I’m playing in the major leagues."[2]

High school

Bird attended West Ranch High School in Stevenson Ranch, California, pitching and playing outfield for the baseball team, and playing for the basketball team.[2][5][6] In his senior year of high school he pitched to a 1.55 ERA with 72 strikeouts and 11 walks over 58 innings.[7][8][3] He was an All-Foothill League selection in 2014.[9] He committed to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to play college baseball for the UCLA Bruins during his senior year.[10]

College

Unselected in the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, he enrolled at UCLA, majoring in economics.[2] In 2016, Bird played collegiate summer baseball with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League, going 3–2 with a 2.77 ERA as a starter.[3][11] As a junior he was 5–5 with a 2.75 ERA.[12] His pitching repertoire consisted of a heavy sinker that reached 94 mph, a hard slider in the 86-88 mph range, a changeup, and a curveball.[2]

As a senior at UCLA in 2018, Bird compiled a 7–4 record and started 16 games, leading the Pac-12 Conference with a 2.18 ERA, and striking out 61 batters over 111+2⁄3 innings.[13][14] He said: "I'm just trying to pitch contact. My stuff is pretty heavy ... which gets a lot of ground balls... (Just) let the defense do their thing."[15] He was named All-Pac-12, Pac-12 All-Academic first team, and Academic All-America third team.[3] Following the season, he was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the fifth round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.[16]

Professional career

2018–21

Bird signed with the Rockies for a signing bonus of $50,000.[17] He made his professional debut in 2018 with the Grand Junction Rockies of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, going 4–1 with a 3.38 ERA and 30 strikeouts over 26+2⁄3 innings pitched in relief.[18] In 2019, he played with the Asheville Tourists of the Class A South Atlantic League, with whom he earned mid-season All-Star honors. He went 7–2 with two saves and a 3.62 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 40 games (second in the league) over 97 innings.[19]

To begin the 2021 season, he was assigned to the Hartford Yard Goats of the Double-A Northeast, where Bird induced a 70.9% ground ball rate.[20] He was then promoted to the Albuquerque Isotopes of the Triple-A West in early June.[21] Over 39 appearances between the two clubs, Bird went 6–1 with a 3.38 ERA and 59 strikeouts over 58+2⁄3 innings.[22] He pitched as a reliever in the Arizona Fall League for the Salt River Rafters after the season, and was 0–1 with a save and a 2.84 ERA.[23]

2022–23

Bird returned to the Isotopes to begin the 2022 season. There, before he was called up he had a 2.77 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 26 innings over 22 games, and induced a 64.4% ground ball rate.[24][20][25]

On June 11, 2022, the Rockies selected Bird's contract and promoted him to the major leagues.[26] He made his MLB debut on June 16, throwing one scoreless inning in relief versus the Cleveland Guardians.[27] On July 3, Bird earned his first career win after pitching a scoreless 8th inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks.[28] With the Rockies in 2022, he was 2–4 with a 4.91 ERA in 472⁄3 innings over 38 games.[29]

Bird was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque to begin the 2023 season.[30] However, he was brought back up on Opening Day, and stayed up with the team. Bird maintained a spot on the Rockies roster for the entire 2023 season. He went 3-3 with a 4.33 ERA in 89.1 innings (his 84.1 relief innings tied him with the Detroit Tigers’ Tyler Holton for the most innings by any MLB reliever, and tied for the ninth-most by a Rockies reliever all-time) over 70 games (8th in the National League). [31][32][33] His 89.1 innings overall were the fourth-most for a season in Rockies history among pitchers who had pitched in relief 95% of the time.[31] Bird led the 2023 Colorado Rockies season in pitching appearances with 70, including 3 games started and 8 games finished.[33] His 52.6% ground ball percentage was the highest on the Rockies pitching staff for any pitcher with more than 25 innings pitched.[32] He finished the season with 77 strikeouts and 27 walks against 381 batters faced.[33]

2024–present

In 2024 he was 2-2 with one save and a 4.50 ERA in 40 innings over 35 games.[33] When there were two outs with runners in scoring position, he held opposing batters to a slash line of .172/.368/.207.[33]

Pitching repertoire

Bird is a ground ball pitcher with a low-slot, sidearm delivery. His sinker, which he throws 45% of the time, averages 96 mph, and has significant tailing action, inducing ground balls.[34] He throws a 92 mph cutter, an 85 mph slider, and a breaking ball at 82 mph.[20][35]

See also

References

  1. ^ Jeremy Fine (September 8, 2022). "Baruch Ha'bah Jake Bird!".
  2. ^ a b c d e f David Gottlieb (June 10, 2017). "Jake Bird prepares for MLB Draft in wake of shoulder injury". Daily Bruin.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Jake Bird - 2018 Baseball Roster". UCLA.
  4. ^ Litman, Matthew (March 10, 2023). "Your guide to all the Jewish baseball players in the MLB". The Forward.
  5. ^ "Jake Bird's High School Baseball Stats". MaxPreps.
  6. ^ Eric Sondheimer (November 16, 2016). "Baseball: West Ranch is developing sophomore pitcher Trent Bird". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ^ Justin Vigil-Zuniga (June 13, 2022). "West Ranch alum called up to Rockies". The Signal.
  8. ^ "Harvard-Westlake's Jack Flaherty is Daily News All-Area Baseball Player of the Year". Los Angeles Daily News. June 17, 2014.
  9. ^ "Major League Baseball Draft; 2018 - Jake Bird". West Ranch Baseball.
  10. ^ Eric Sondheimer (February 27, 2014). "Baseball: West Ranch pitcher Jake Bird commits to UCLA". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ^ "#33 Jake Bird - Profile". pointstreak.com. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  12. ^ "2017 Pac-12 Conference Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com.
  13. ^ Scott Greene (February 6, 2019). "Diving Deep - Exciting Prospects Who Didn't Make Our Top 50s".
  14. ^ Thuc Nhi Nguyen (February 13, 2019). "'This is their time': Juniors hope to lead UCLA baseball to College World Series". Los Angeles Daily News.
  15. ^ Jack Kearns (May 16, 2018). "Pitcher Jake Bird aims to prove himself, finish strong in last season," UWIRE.
  16. ^ Sam Connon (June 9, 2018). "Four current Bruins, four UCLA commits selected in MLB Draft". Daily Bruin.
  17. ^ "Jake Bird - Stats". The Baseball Cube.
  18. ^ Matt Meyer (June 14, 2018). "Welcome to Rookie baseball". The Daily Sentinel.
  19. ^ Doug Maurer (June 5, 2019). "Four Tourists Headed to the All-Star Game". Asheville.com News.
  20. ^ a b c DeGenz, Mario (July 13, 2022). "Wednesday Rockpile: Jake Bird is tipping pitches". Purple Row.
  21. ^ Kyle Newman (May 28, 2021). "Rockies Insider: Early-season scouting report on notable prospects in Double-A Hartford, Triple-A Albuquerque". The Denver Post.
  22. ^ Jonathan Mayo (October 27, 2021). "Vilade treasuring Fall League opportunity". MLB.com.
  23. ^ Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Sam Dykstra (October 6, 2021). "Here are the Arizona Fall League rosters". MLB.com.
  24. ^ "Jake Bird Called Up by Colorado Rockies". UCLA. June 12, 2022.
  25. ^ "Isotopes 2022 Opening Day Roster Announced". milb.com. April 4, 2022.
  26. ^ "Saturday's Transactions". Bakersfield.
  27. ^ Danielle Allentuck (June 16, 2022). "Brian Serven's and Connor Joe's four-hit days not enough as Guardians sweep the Rockies". The Gazette.
  28. ^ Justin Vigil-Zuniga (July 5, 2022). "Bird gets first career win against Diamondbacks". The Signal. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  29. ^ "Jake Bird Amateur, College, Minor & Fall Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  30. ^ "Rockies' Jake Bird: Sent down to Triple-A". CBS Sports. March 25, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  31. ^ a b "Jake Bird Stats, Age, Position, Height, Weight, Fantasy & News". MLB.com.
  32. ^ a b Dechert, Renee (December 1, 2023). "Ranking the Rockies: No. 9, Jake Bird". Purple Row.
  33. ^ a b c d e "Jake Bird Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
  34. ^ Milholm, Joelle (January 5, 2024). "Friday Rockpile: Is the bullpen an answer to the Rockies starting pitching problem?". Purple Row.
  35. ^ "Jake Bird," Brooks Baseball.