NASHVILLE, Tenn. – As the 2021 MLB regular season concluded Sunday, many former Vanderbilt standouts ended their season on high notes as five former Commodores begin to prep for the playoffs.
Division champs. 🏆🔥
Congrats to our #VandyBoys in the show. 👏#eVerythingU | #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/Ue4MFMK0VU
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) October 4, 2021
Teammates Walker Buehler and David Price will open the postseason Wednesday when the Los Angeles Dodgers face the St. Louis Cardinals in a National League Wild Card matchup.
Buehler closed out the regular season with a dominant performance for the Dodgers on Sunday afternoon. The right-hander worked five innings of one-run baseball against the Milwaukee Brewers while picking up 11 strikeouts to earn his 16th win of the season.
Buehler is the only pitcher in the MLB to rank in the top three in both wins (16) and ERA (2.47) ranking third in both categories. He also closed out the regular season with a WHIP of 0.97 which ranked fourth in the MLB.
Price covered a bullpen role for the Dodgers in his final seven appearances of the regular season going 1-0 across the span. The southpaw closed out the campaign with a 5-2 record on the mound while striking out 58 batters.
Dansby Swanson closed out the regular season in solid fashion for the Atlanta Braves as the team captured its fourth consecutive NL East Division Championship. Swanson batted .333 across the final seven games of the regular season while slugging .444 in 18 at-bats across the span.
The Atlanta shortstop finished the regular season with a career-high 27 home runs which marks the most by a Braves shortstop in a single season.
Teammates Mike Yastrzemski and Curt Casali will round out the Commodores in the postseason as the San Francisco Giants posted the best record in Major League Baseball en route to capturing the NL West title.
It took all 162, but the NL West finally belongs to the @SFGiants! #CLINCHED pic.twitter.com/S3yjn55xOY
— MLB (@MLB) October 3, 2021
Yastrzemski belted 25 home runs across the regular season while driving in 72 RBIs.
YAZ 💣 pic.twitter.com/tUTYiGJTxD
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) September 25, 2021
Tony Kemp posted an impressive season for the Oakland Athletics playing in 132 games. Kemp recorded a career-best 92 hits on the campaign while also setting a personal-high in walks with 52 on the season.
TK stays 🔥@tonykemp | #RiseAndGrind pic.twitter.com/kOqUK7gBBi
— Oakland A’s (@Athletics) September 26, 2021
Bryan Reynolds finished eight in the National League in batting average with a mark of .302 in his standout season. Reynolds belted 24 home runs while posting a WAR of 6.0 which tied for the 12th-best in the NL.
Vanderbilt Alumni on MLB Playoff Rosters
Dansby Swanson – Atlanta Braves
Walker Buehler – Los Angeles Dodgers
David Price – Los Angeles Dodgers
Curt Casali – San Francisco Giants
Mike Yastrzemski – San Francisco Giants
Vanderbilt Alumni on MLB Playoff Staffs
Aaron Gershenfeld* – New York Yankees (Player Development)
Antoan Richardson – San Francisco Giants (First Base Coach)
Jeremy Sowers – Tampa Bay Rays (Major League Operations)
*former Vanderbilt assistant
