Jake Bird (baseball)

Unselected in the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, he enrolled at UCLA, majoring in economics.[2] In 2016, he 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, he 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]

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 he 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]

He 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 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 over 70 games (8th in the National League).[31] Bird led the 2023 Colorado Rockies season in pitching appearances with 70, including 3 games started and 8 games finished.[31] He finished the season with 77 strikeouts and 27 walks against 381 batters faced.[31]