Vanderbilt Commodores
Overall Rank: #7
Conference Rank: #3 SEC
Following a tough offseason, Vanderbilt was playing quite well by the end of the 2017 season. The team struggled at times during the regular season, but managed to win the Clemson Regional before falling to top seeded Oregon State in the Super Regionals. This year Vanderbilt should get a little more back to normal on the field and compete for an SEC title.
2017: 36-25-1, 15-13-1
2017 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Tim Corbin
Key Departed Players:
Will Toffey, IF, .354 BA, 12 HR, 64 RBI
Jason Delay, C, .309 BA, 2 HR, 41 RBI
Jeren Kendall, OF, .307 BA, 15 HR, 53 RBI, 20 SB
Kyle Wright, P, 5-6 W-L, 103.1 IP, 121 SO
Key Returning Players:
Julian Infante, IF, .315 BA, 11 HR, 66 RBI
JJ Bleday, OF, .256 BA, 2 HR, 22 RBI
Ethan Paul, IF, .251 BA, 5 HR, 27 RBI
Patrick Raby, P, 2.73 ERA, 10-4 W-L, 105.1 IP, 87 SO
Drake Fellows, P, 3.30 ERA, 3-3 W-L, 62.2 IP, 68 SO
Projection:
The pitching staff should be in good shape with Patrick Raby, Drake Fellows and Chandler Day leading the way. Raby went 10-4 with a 2.73 ERA as a sophomore and is ready to become the leader of the staff. Fellows was inconsistent at times during his freshman campaign, but still finished the year with a 3.30 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 62.2 innings of work. Day recorded a dozen starts and sported a 3.78 ERA. Add in freshmen like Jake Eder and Tyler Brown and the Commodores should do better than the seventh best ERA in the SEC. Losing Will Toffey, Jason Delay and Jeren Kendall is a lot to overcome. Julian Infante is a great place to start. He hit .315 with 11 homeruns and a team high 66 RBIs during his sophomore season. JJ Bleday, Ethan Paul and Connor Kaiser have plenty of experience, but some new faces will need to step up and be productive at the plate if Vanderbilt is going to take home a conference title.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament
