Sept. 14, 2011
This is the first of a three-part series discussing some of the questions surrounding the baseball team as fall practice is underway.
The Commodores are coming off the most successful season in school history going 54-12 en route to the school’s first-ever College World Series. However, that was last year and a lot has changed since the Dores walked off the bus in Nashville after returning from Omaha in late June. Gone are 13 players from last year’s roster, including 11 to professional baseball. Gone is the senior leadership that earned so much praise from the coaching staff and guided the team all year. Gone are some of the most talented players to ever wear a Vanderbilt uniform. If that’s not enough, take a look at the stats from last year that won’t be back on West End this spring: 173 runs (38% of the team’s total), 283 hits (40%), 70 doubles (54%), 36 home runs (71%), 194 RBI (47%), 55 games started (86%), 14 saves (78%), 449.2 innings pitched (77%) and 425 strikeouts (75%).
But the sun will come up tomorrow and the Commodores look to have reloaded with one of the nation’s top recruiting classes and three Freshman All-Americans coming back for a sophomore season along with a junior class that has loads of playing time under their belt.
1. Who will play first and third and fill the power need?
Aaron Westlake and Jason Esposito combined to play in 405 games for the Commodores during their time at Vanderbilt. That amount of experience will be impossible to replace and the power numbers, 67 combined career home runs, the two produced won’t be easy to replace either. Senior Riley Reynolds gives Head Coach Tim Corbin an abundance of flexibility with his ability and experience and second and third base. Corbin could put Reynolds at first base, which would start a domino effect that could lead to bigger roles for sophomores Joel McKeithan (who hit three home runs in a wood bat league this summer) and Josh Lee and open the door for freshmen Connor Castellano, Vicente Conde and Zander Wiel. With a prototypical first baseman supplying power and Reynolds having no home runs in his first three years at Vandy the power need is an even bigger question. However, with the given roster and the way Coach Corbin coaches this team could hit and run and play small ball and the offense could be just fine. The Commodores have not been known, as a power team under Corbin so not hitting home runs won’t necessarily translate into not scoring runs.
Third base appears to be wide open with Will Cooper, Conde, Castellano, junior Andrew Harris and Lee all vying for playing time with Reynolds an option. None of them will be able to provide the defense that Esposito did but not many college players can. Just like first base, third base will be filled with an inexperienced player but Esposito was inexperienced when he took over the hot corner as a freshman in 2009.
The power part of the question depends on which Connor Harrell shows up on campus. If it’s the Connor Harrell that hit eight home runs and eight doubles over the team’s final 26 games, the Dores have a big bopper. If it’s the Connor Harrell that hit .232 with one home run and four doubles over his first 36 games the team will have to look elsewhere. Conrad Gregor will be counted on for more power after producing three home runs, including his first collegiate hit against Stanford, and 11 doubles as a true freshman. One thing is for sure; Harrell and Gregor will be counted on heavily to provide runs for the offense. Gregor could be the answer to both `who’s on first’ and `who’s hitting for power’ questions if the Freshman All-American can handle first base. Gregor saw action at first last fall but played in the outfield and mainly was the designated hitter in his first year, leading the team in hitting with a .353 average. After playing in the outfield and DHing this summer, Gregor will get more than his share of work at first base this fall for two reasons 1) if he can play first he answers both these questions and 2) there is no room for him in the outfield for him.
Junior Andrew Harris will be in the mix at first base and just about anyone that has a good fall at the plate will get a look.
Corbin’s take: I doubt if we will know who is going to play there until February. We will use Gregor, Harris and several right-handed hitters at first Base. Third Base will be very similar with Conde, Castellano, Cooper, Lee and Harris all competing for that spot. We will be inexperienced in both spots but that doesn’t mean that we will be deficient – we have started many young kids in this program in the last nine years and have performed very well because of them.
2. Who will be in the starting rotation with all three starters from last year gone and what will the bullpen look like?
If Vanderbilt baseball is known for anything, it’s pitching. But replacing an entire weekend rotation is never easy and only gets harder when two of the three starters were first round picks and the third was a sixth rounder. Talent won’t be the problem with plenty of arms to work with; pitching coach Derek Johnson will put a competitive staff together. Experience will be lacking, however, with only 12 starts on the returning roster. Sophomores Kevin Ziomek (five starts) and T.J. Pecoraro (six starts) and junior Will Clinard (one start) the only pitchers to have started a game for VU. Add in Pecoraro likely being out for the year while recovering from surgery and newcomers will have to fill at least one of the starting rotation spots if not two. Ziomek will be a frontrunner for one of the three starting jobs while Clinard will probably be used in the back of the bullpen, especially after a dominating post-season run last year. That leaves a quartet of newcomers in the mix for two spots. Freshmen Tyler Beede, Adam Ravenelle and Philip Pfeifer along with Drew VerHagen will have an opportunity to stake a claim to a spot this fall. Sophomore Robert Hansen could pitch himself into the mix with a solid fall.
A year ago the bullpen operated with great efficiency with Navery Moore, a 14th round pick by Atlanta, at the back of the pen and Mark Lamm, a sixth round pick by the Braves, in front of him. Throw in Corey Williams, a third round pick by Minnesota, as your top lefty and Will Clinard, a 30th round pick by the Twins, as the first right-hander out of the pen and you had a formula for success. Three southpaws return led by the mercurial Sam Selman with Keenan Kolinsky and Stephen Rice. All three lefties must expand their roles from a year ago as they combined for just nine innings. Clinard returns after turning down the Twins’ offer and will likely assume a bigger role this season. Just like the starting roles, the bullpen holes will need to be filled by newcomers. Lefties Jared Miller and Nevin Wilson along with right-hander Brian Miller round out the new arms with the aforementioned Beede, Ravenelle, Pfeifer and VerHagen. Without a doubt there will be more than one pitcher wearing a Vanderbilt uniform for the first time that will be expected to pitch and pitch often.
Corbin’s take: The starting rotation will be very similar to our first and third base situation…many possibilities, no probabilities. There will not be one pitcher on this staff that we won’t consider for these spots – if we left someone out at this time, it would be unfair to them and our team. Clinard, Ziomek and Selman carry the most experience coming back, but this determination will take some time and we are in no rush right now.
Tomorrow: How good is the incoming recruiting class?
