Walking into a Big League park for the first time as a kid has a certain magic to it that is felt, but can’t really be explained. Watching players that seem larger than life play the game on a pasture of grass that doesn’t seem real is an experience that grows fonder in memory as time goes by.

For Cole Percival, it’s something he was lucky enough to get to do quite a bit during his childhood Summers.

One could say that baseball was destined to become a huge part of his life.

Riverside

Percival graduated from Riverside Poly, a place he roamed in Jr. High when his dad was the Head baseball coach for the Bears.

At Poly, Percival was a standout and was selected as a First Team IUL All-League selection, the Leagues MVP, All CIF, a Riverside County  All-Star, a Perfect Game All-American, and an All-State selection for the state of California.

He was drafted in the 31st Round of the 2017 draft by the D-Backs after his great prep career but decided to go to school instead.

Percival’s dad, Troy, had become the Head Coach at nearby UC Riverside and getting to play for him and with several of his teammates from his Summer ball teams was a situation that won out over becoming a professional.

It was cool to be selected, but I knew I wasn’t ready for Pro Ball so I had no intentions of signing regardless of which College I chose.  I also wanted to play for my dad and I wanted to use those 3 years to develop as much as possible because, realistically, the pitcher I was in High School and the pitcher I am now are two totally different people, so I think I made a good choice there.

On his decision to go to UC Riverside:

Once dad got the job at UC Riverside I got to practice with the College guys a little bit and see how things were run, and when it came down to it, there was no place better than home so that was a pretty easy decision when I was deciding where to go to College. When picking a school, I don’t think there was ever a doubt in my mind about where I was going to end up, and I loved my time at UCR and I wouldn’t have been any happier anywhere else.

UC Riverside

Percival had a very good year in 2018 at UC Riverside and threw 87.1 innings and recorded an ERA of just 3.20. As an interesting side story, his first college game was against Nebraska who was coached by Darin Erstad, one of his dad’s best friends from their days as an Angel.

Although he had a good year in 2018, he had dealt with some pain during the fall before that season and when he got back to Campus in the fall of his Sophomore year in 2019, he noticed things didn’t feel quite right which set off a frustrating period of injury that took some time to diagnose, and a little known procedure to fix.

As we got to the fall I didn’t miss any time, but I just noticed that something was off and didn’t feel quite right and I wasn’t recovering super well and my elbow didn’t feel good. It was a pretty frustrating process because we went through the first 3 doctors and nobody really had an opinion on what exactly was wrong. Eventually, I saw the right doctor and he said there were no serious issues.

His doctor suggested a little-known procedure known as Platelet Rich Plasma injection, better known as PRP. PRP is when you’re blood is drawn, run through a Centrifuge, then reinjected back into your body to promote growth and healing.

Percival had 2 injections which caused him to miss his entire Sophomore season, which was frustrating for him because the recovery time for PRP was just 2 months, but because it took so long to diagnose, he didn’t recover in time to play that year.

Finally, I got that injection then started playing catch after 6 weeks and it felt pretty good. At about 2 months I threw my first bullpen and it felt great so it was a little dissapointing that I missed an entire season for something that I came back from in 2 months.

PRP Injection

Percival is very thankful for finding the right doctor and eventually getting the PRP injection and believes it’s important that more people become aware of the option for future use.

It’s interesting because it’s something that I don’t think is talked about enough because, realistically, if it’s an option and the doctors think it has a good chance at success, it worked great for me. I don’t think it’s quite talked about enough yet, and while I know a lot of guys in baseball that have had it, I really hope it progresses because it really did wonders for me. The alternative is being out for a year, and I’m very happy I did it.

Becoming a Dodger

Percival was technically a Sophomore in 2020 at UC Riverside after College players got a year of eligibility back due to Covid canceling that season.

After originally declining the draft and planning to come back to UC Riverside as a double year Sophomore, Percival eventually changed his mind and decided to turn pro.

Having declined the draft, he became an undrafted Free agent and interviewed with several teams, and after several Zoom calls with several different organizations, the 6’5 Riverside native chose the Dodgers.

I was technically a Redshirt Sophomore for my 3rd year of college in 2020 which was, unfortunately, shut down by the pandemic. You know, it was a weird time, nobody was allowed to come to watch and not a lot of people had made their way to come to see me so essentially it was just some bad luck. 

Percival continued talking about all of the situations that led to his decision to turn pro and how that led to him signing as a Free Agent.

As disappointing as it was, we were like, hey, let’s just go back to school and, unfortunately, at that time, UC Riverside was thinking about cutting all sports, and that was disappointing in itself, but, when that happened we just said, look, with the draft being pushed back next year to July it might be better off to turn pro now, even though we had already declined during the draft.

Percival finished talking about why he chose the Dodgers

I didn’t want to essentially start my career at 23 or 24 so we had a lot of good calls with a lot of good teams and when it came down to it, I liked being home with the Dodgers and I felt like they had the most to offer

After signing with the Dodgers in 2020, Percival was fortunate enough to spend time in the Instructional league which was the only form of Minor League baseball that was played that year.

So 2021 was his first professional season and he spent the entire season at High A Great Lakes. With the Loons in 2021, he recorded a 3.34 ERA and had an average against of just .204 as a starter.

He then began this year, 2022, with Great Lakes before being moved to AA Tulsa at the beginning of August.

Despite the fact that Percival made 6 starts with the Loons and posted a 2.91 ERA as a starter, and is a 5 pitch pitcher, he has been transitioned from his starting role to a relief role in an attempt to allow him to max out his stuff and push the 100 mph mark, something of which he has done.

Feature Cut

Percival features a 5-pitch mix with a 4-seam fastball, a 2-seam sinker, a slider, a curveball, and a changeup. His fastball has touched 99 this year, so it has good ride at the top of the zone and his 2-seam sinker has good movement away from barrels. In this video, you’ll see his 4-seam up in the zone, his 2-seam sinker down in the zone, his changeup with great tumble, and his slider with good break.

99

Percival has reached as high as 99 with his fastball. See for yourself!

Very Athletic

Although he doesn’t get to show it as much from his pitcher’s position, Percival is extremely athletic and takes pride in being one of the best athletes on the field every time he takes the mound. He is also very competitive and a helluva lot of fun to watch compete in the big moments of games.

Big Future

Percival has every tool that any organization could possibly want in a pitching prospect. He has a great frame at 6’5, he is very athletic, he’s also very competitive, he has 5 pitches and is bumping 100 mph with his fastball.

Oh, and, he has the bloodlines to suggest that he will be in the Major Leagues for a long time.

As long as he stays healthy, the question for him is not whether he will pitch in the Major Leagues, instead, the question is which role he will be given.

It’s an interesting decision because he is able to max out in relief and hit 99 as a result, but, then, also, he has 5 quality pitches and that squarely profiles as a starter. It’s definitely a good problem to have, and one that will get hashed out in the next year or so I would guess.

I would like to finish by thanking Cole for being so gracious with his time to tell his story and allowing me to interview and feature him. It was an absolute pleasure getting to know this young man and the way he told his story in the interview is absolutely awesome, so make sure and check that out if you haven’t already.

Percival is an absolutely awesome young man with big stuff and an even bigger future and I am honored to have had the chance to tell at least a part of his story.

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