UCLA’s John Savage Pitching Coach Of Year

by • Featured Stories

TUCSON, Ariz. — UCLA Head Baseball Coach John Savage is Collegiate Baseball’s national Pitching Coach of The Year for 2019.

He is the 17th winner of this prestigious award chosen by a committee of previous winners.

Savage is the fourth pitching coach from the Pac-12 to be honored. Others include Shaun Cole (Arizona), Dan Spencer (Oregon St.) and Nate Yeskie (only 2-time winner at Oregon St. who is now at Arizona).

Savage will be presented the award at the upcoming American Baseball Coaches Association Convention Jan. 4 in Nashville, Tenn.

He has been a pitching coach in college baseball for the past 27 years with stops at Nevada, U.C. Irvine, Southern California and UCLA the past 15 seasons.

In 2019, UCLA’s pitching staff was remarkable and highly ranked in the final NCAA stats:

  • No. 1 ERA: 2.60
  • No. 1 Hits allowed per 9 innings: 6.18
  • No. 1 WHIP: 1.05
  • No. 4 Strikeout to walk ratio: 3.13 (647 strikeouts, 207 walks)
  • No. 7 Strikeouts per 9 innings: 10.2

Through his years at UCLA, Savage has established the Bruins as a consistent national championship contender. He guided the Bruins to college baseball’s pinnacle in 2013, as UCLA won its first-ever NCAA baseball title.

Under his guidance, UCLA has advanced to the postseason in 11 of the last 15 seasons, hosting an NCAA Regional in six of the last 10, including four straight from 2010-2013.

At UCLA, Savage has produced some of the nation’s top pitchers, including Gerrit Cole (first overall pick in 2011 Draft by the Pirates), Trevor Bauer (third overall pick in 2011 Draft by the Diamondbacks), Adam Plutko (Cleveland Indians), Griffin Canning (Los Angeles Angels) and Ryan Garcia (2019 Pac-12 Pitcher of The Year), just to name a few.

To read more of this article, purchase the Jan. 3, 2020 edition of Collegiate Baseball or subscribe by CLICKING HERE. The story delves into John Savage’s pitching system which includes 11 important areas that his pitchers focus on.