Jake Bird Called Up by Colorado Rockies

MLB's Colorado Rockies selected the contract of Jake Bird on Saturday night, and summoned the UCLA baseball alum to San Diego to join the team on its current road trip.

With the move, Bird is in line to potentially make his MLB debut as early as Sunday. He becomes the 86th Bruin all-time to reach the Majors, and the 23rd coached by current UCLA head coach John Savage.

In addition, at least one player from every UCLA team from 1965-2018 has competed in MLB, a span of 53 consecutive years. Bird is the first player from UCLA's 2018 roster to reach the Majors.   

A native of Valencia, Calif., Bird went 14-16 with a 3.13 ERA over 71 appearances (28) starts over a four-year career at UCLA. He was at his best as a senior in 2018, going 7-4 with a 2.18 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 111 2/3 innings en route to All-Pac-12 honors. He led the conference in ERA that season, and also became the first UCLA player since 1988 to earn Academic All-American honors.

Bird has played parts of four professional seasons to this point in his career, posting a 19-6 win-loss record, 3.41 ERA, and 203 strikeouts in 208 1/3 innings.

He's been especially strong as Triple-A Albuquerque this year, crafting a career-best 2.77 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 26 innings spanning 22 appearances.

Bird appeared with the Rockies during 2022 Spring Training, making six relief appearances.

Stay tuned to @UCLABaseball on Twitter for all team updates.

John Savage-Coached Bruins to Reach Majors (debut team)
Hector Ambriz (Cleveland Indians)
Trevor Bauer (Arizona Diamonbacks)
Jake Bird (Colorado Rockies)
Charles Brewer (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Trevor Brown (San Francisco Giants)
Tyson Brummett (Philadelphia Phillies)
Griffin Canning (Los Angeles Angels)
Gerrit Cole (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Brandon Crawford (San Francisco Giants)
Jermaine Curtis (St. Louis Cardinals)
Cody Decker (San Diego Padres)
Erik Goeddel (New York Mets)
Matt Grace (Washington Nationals)
Tyler Heineman (Miami Marlins)
David Huff (Cleveland Indians)
James Kaprielian (Oakland Athletics)
Kevin Kramer (Pittsburgh Pirate)
Adam Plutko (Cleveland Indians)
Cody Poteet (Oakland Athletics)
Rob Rasmussen (Toronto Blue Jays)
Josh Roenicke (Cincinnati Reds)
Pat Valaika (Colorado Rockies)
Zack Weiss (Cincinnati Reds)