A blueprint and a dilemma for Arizona baseball, Chip Hale after down year | Michael Lev

The Bruin Blueprint is the one the Wildcats want to copy.

Two years ago, UCLA committed to a youth movement, went 19-33 and didn’t qualify for its conference tournament. Sound familiar?

Two years later, the Bruins entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed. Sound like a plan?

Chip Hale is well aware of the potential parallels. He also knows that just because it worked for UCLA doesn’t mean it’ll work for Arizona.

“It's an easy thing to say,” Hale said.

It’s not an easy thing to do.

Not only did they have a loaded freshman class in 2024, but the Bruins were able to retain most of those players, who, in turn, developed into starters and stars.

Nine UCLA position players had 100-plus at-bats this season. Six were true freshmen for the Bruins in ’24. One other was a redshirt freshman.

On the pitching side, three key arms were freshmen in ’24. They all struggled. They all were better for the experience.

That was the idea Hale subscribed to as Arizona’s 2026 campaign crumbled. Injuries shelved multiple projected contributors. Hale gave abundant playing time to freshmen.

The Wildcats went 19-34 — almost identical to UCLA’s record two years ago — and missed the Big 12 Tournament.

“I would hope that's who we are. That'd be great. I would take that,” Hale said of the notion of following UCLA’s path.

“That was part of our thinking when we went to the young group. Let's let them make their mistakes now. Let's embrace the suck ... and maybe three or four of these guys are key contributors as juniors.”

Nucleus, enhancements

Hale and his staff have identified a nucleus to build around.

Infielders Tony Lira and Nate Novitske made the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. Outfielder Caleb Danzeisen drew a team-high 35 walks. Infielder Cash Brennan made some spectacular plays at shortstop and third base. Right-handers Jack Lafflam and Benton Hickman flashed the skills of a future weekend starter and closer, respectively.

There are good ballplayers in that group. UCLA had some great ones.

Roman Martin, the Bruins’ starting third baseman, was Perfect Game’s 23rd-ranked player in the class of 2023. Shortstop Roch Cholowsky was ranked 17th. He’s in the mix to be the top pick in this year’s MLB Draft.

“I'm not sure the No. 1 pick in the draft is on our roster,” Hale said.

When UCLA’s freshmen turned into sophomores, the Bruins took off. They reached the College World Series last year after missing the NCAA Tournament the previous two seasons.

UCLA benefited from moving to the Big Ten — not nearly as deep a league as the Pac-12 — and caught a break when unseeded UTSA won the opposite regional. But still: 48 wins is 48 wins. Omaha is Omaha. The Bruins wasted no time proving that 2024 was a one-off.

They enhanced this year’s team with some impact transfers, including outfielder Will Gasparino and right-hander Logan Reddeman (who missed the regional because of injury). That’s Hale’s objective as well, with the portal having opened on Monday.

But it’s a delicate balance for Arizona’s head coach. Does he go all in on portal players to try to win as much as possible next year? Or does he take a more patient approach, continue to rely on recruiting/developing and possibly push the win-big timeline to 2028?

Sooner or later?

There’s no question that the Wildcats need more talent — and that no one is willing to tolerate another season like the one that just transpired. It was miserable.

But Hale and his staff believe Arizona’s incoming crop of freshmen is even better than the previous one.

“We love this class,” Hale said. “There's some guys that have some pedigree in this group. ... We got guys I think that can contribute.”

He means as early as next year. But Hale knows that’s no guarantee either.

He cited the case of Hickman, one of this year’s freshmen. Hickman was so impressive in the fall that Hale thought he could be Arizona’s closer sooner than later — especially with Tony Pluta’s season-ending injury creating a hole in the back of the bullpen.

It turns out that pitching in real games is different from intrasquad scrimmages and lab sessions. Hickman had a handful of strong outings but struggled overall, walking 19 batters and hitting 10 more in 19 innings. He finished with a 6.63 ERA.

“It’s hard for freshmen,” Hale said.

Mix and match

The best solution — and the most likely outcome — is a mix of veterans and youth.

A handful of injured vets are expected to return next season, notably Pluta, fellow right-hander JT Drake and outfielder Easton Breyfogle. Hale expects to add at least seven players through the portal (a number that could grow if Arizona has some unexpected departures). They won’t be backups.

“If we bring these guys in, we're not bringing them in to sit on the bench,” Hale said. “These seven are going to be maybe our Saturday/Sunday starters, playing up the middle for us, leading off. ... If you want to win at a high level, you're going to have to be a little older.”

What about the next batch of freshmen? Let them come in and compete. If any prove to be the best option at a given spot, let them play.

An infusion of talent, by whatever means, will only boost the program by creating more competition for starting jobs. On paper, veterans such as Breyfogle, Andrew Cain and Carson McEntire are returning starters. But aside from Lira and catcher Beau Sylvester (assuming he doesn’t get drafted), I’m not sure anyone on the position side should be guaranteed a starting spot heading into fall workouts.

An infusion of talent also would improve Arizona’s depth, which was stretched to the limit this past season. It’s hard to keep everyone happy, and you run the risk of losing freshmen if they don’t play. But it trumps the alternative.

Other coaches in other sports have wrestled with the win-now vs. recruit-and-develop debate. UA football coach Brent Brennan believes you can do both simultaneously if your culture is sound. That’s never been a problem under Hale.

Arizona’s past two CWS teams had a smattering of freshman contributors. That’s probably the right proportion most years.

Jacob Berry and Daniel Susac were starters for the 2021 squad. (Both later became sophomore-eligible first-round picks.) Smith Bailey was the most consistent starting pitcher for the ’25 club. The only other rookie who played meaningful innings for that team was outfielder Gunner Geile, who only got those innings because Brendan Summerhill was hurt.

The Bruin Blueprint doesn’t account for injuries, and some key losses unquestionably hurt UCLA this past weekend. But as models for a turnaround go, it’s hard to beat.

Whether Arizona can replicate it remains to be seen.