For Tim Corbin and the rest of the Vanderbilt program, it’s been a roller coaster the last year and a half. From Winning a College World Series Title in June of 2019, to having most of the 2020 Campaign canceled suddenly due to the pandemic, to now beginning to ramp up Fall Camp for the 2021 College Baseball Season. Although it seems odd, the Vandyboys are still the reigning College World Series Champions and will look to get back to Omaha and repeat as Champs in 2021. One thing is for sure during the 2021 season for College Baseball as a whole, and that is rosters being very jammed and overly crowded on top of an unlimited amount of scholarships available due to every student-athlete being granted another year of athletic eligibility.
With this being said, The Dore Report took a stab at what the Vandyboys Pitching and Offense staffs might look like by the start of the 2021 Campaign. (Note: Incoming Freshman were not used due to availability.)
Rotation:
- RHP Kumar Rocker (Fri.)
- RHP Jack Leiter (Sat.)
- RHP Ethan Smith (Sun.)
- RHP Thomas Shultz (Mid.)
- RHP Sam Hliboki (Mid.)
There is no doubt the Weekend Rotation will be carried by 2021 Projected First Rounders RHP’s Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter. The Sunday Starter is a bit of a question mark but there is a plenty of guys on the roster capable of filling this spot. RHP Ethan Smith looks to be the early front runner of taking the role. With it being Smith’s Junior Season with Scott Brown and the rest of the pitching staff gives him a bit of an advantage here. Don’t sleep on Sophomore RHP’s Thomas Shultz and Sam Hliboki as they were brilliant in their shortened 2020 Freshman seasons. Also, Christian Little (reclassified to the 2020 Class) is going to be dynamic and could very likely push for a Weekend Spot as well. Overall, this staff is loaded with talent and should have no trouble with depth this season whatsoever.
Bullpen:
RHP Michael Doolin
RHP Luke Murphy
RHP Chris McElvain
RHP Nick Maldonado
LHP Hugh Fisher
LHP Ryan Keenan
After departures from Fifth Round Draft Pick and Vanderbilt All-Time Saves leader RHP Tyler Brown, RHP Erik Kaiser(Signed with NYM), and RHP Chance Huff (transferred to Georgia Tech) this bullpen will lack some of its veteran presence it’s had for the last few years. The success of the Bullpen will be on the shoulders of the Junior LHP Hugh Fisher who is by far the most talented of the relief core. After Fisher, the Bullpen is consisted of Freshman and Sophomores who haven’t pitched much if at all at the College level. Corbs will have the young guns prepared ready to go for the speed of the collegiate game but don’t be shocked if there’s some rocky outings to behind the season from this young and mostly inexperienced bullpen for the Vandyboys.
Lineup:
- LF Cooper Davis
- C CJ Rodriguez
- 1B Dominic Keegan
- RF Isaiah Thomas
- CF Tate Kolwyck
- 3B Parker Noland
- DH Jayson Gonzalez
- SS Carter Young
- 2B Javier Vaz
This new Vandyboys lineup really didn’t actually lose too much of its production if you look past Fifth overall pick Austin Martin. Departures from Seniors Ty Duvall and Harrison Ray will also play a factor but are definitely not make or break for this 2021 Vanderbilt lineup. It all starts at the top. Senior speedster Cooper Davis will be a huge factor leading off as he looks to be a huge spark plug this season. Davis is followed by Rodriguez, Keegan, and Thomas who will serve as the “meat” of this loaded lineup. On down, Kolwyck, Noland, and Gonzalez will be just as huge as all three of these players have great speed and can hit the ball to all fields with power. At the end, the highly versatile middle infielders: Carter Young and Javier Vaz should do a great job in producing and flipping the lineup card over continuously. This is a deeper and more experienced lineup than the one Commodore fans saw during the shortened 2020 campaign.
Bench:
IF T.J. McKenzie
OF Matt Hogan
OF Troy LaNeve
C Maxwell Romero Jr.
UTL Will Duff
UTL Spencer Jones
Again, we did not include incoming Freshman for this roster breakdown. These were the leftover Sophomores-Seniors position players left on the 2021 roster. These players along with the rest of the Freshman will continue to push for action during the rest of Fall Camp and throughout the Winter. It will be interesting to see which Vandyboys earn these starting spots over the next couple months as we are about 4 months til first pitch! We hope Commodore Nation enjoyed this roster breakdown as much as The Dore Report did, let us know what you think in the comments!
The Dore Report 
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