Vanderbilt baseball one month out: What you need to know

Just one month remains until Vanderbilt baseball finally takes the field again.

On Feb. 18, the Commodores will host Oklahoma State in their season-opening series. Pitchers Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter may be gone, but Vanderbilt still has plenty of talent, including almost every position player returning from last year's College World Series runners-up.

Here are some things to know as opening day approaches:

Rankings

There are six major polls in college baseball: Baseball America, D1Baseball, Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game, NCBWA and the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

So far, Vanderbilt was ranked No. 1 by Perfect Game, No. 2 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 3 by D1Baseball. Baseball America also ranked the Commodores No. 2 back in July in the publication's way too early poll.

The other polls have not yet been released.

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Preseason All-Americans

Naturally for a team that returns as much talent as Vanderbilt does, the Commodores have a number of players earn preseason accolades.

In Perfect Game's preseason All-America teams, catcher and first baseman Dominic Keegan was named to the first team, center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. to the second team and right-hander Nick Maldonado to the third team. Collegiate Baseball also named four Vanderbilt players preseason second team All-Americans: Keegan, Bradfield, Maldonado and shortstop Carter Young.

In 2021, Keegan earned Perfect Game All-American second team and was the Nashville Regional Most Outstanding Player. Bradfield, the 2021 SEC Freshman of the Year, was a consensus All-American and also earned a Rawlings Gold Glove. Young was named to the SEC All-Newcomer Team (an award for sophomores whose freshmen seasons ended prematurely due to COVID-19) in 2021.

Lockout provides uncertainty

Major League Baseball is in the midst of an ongoing lockout that began in December. While the lockout doesn't impact college baseball on the surface, it adds some uncertainty to what's next for some of the veteran players.

Many around MLB have floated the idea of changing the draft order or instituting a lottery. The biggest impact, though, is that a date for the 2022 draft has yet to be established. The draft was always in June prior to 2021, but last year it was moved to July to coincide with All-Star weekend. The date of the draft will impact who is eligible; sophomores are draft-eligible if they turn 21 within 45 days of the last day of the draft.

The main Vanderbilt player it could impact is catcher and outfielder Jack Bulger, who was born on Sept. 1, 2001. Bulger will be draft-eligible if the draft concludes July 18 or later, and ineligible if it is earlier than that. (The All-Star Game is set to be held July 19, though that could change if the lockout impacts regular-season games.)

Another impact the draft uncertainty has is how many rounds there will be. The draft is typically 40 rounds but it was cut to five in 2020 and 20 in 2021. If the shortened draft is here to stay, fewer players will be selected.

Young is the Commodores' top draft prospect and is currently slated to go somewhere in the back half of the first round. Other draft-eligible players who could go in the early rounds include Keegan, Maldonado, outfielder Spencer Jones, right-handers Chris McElvain and Thomas Schultz and outfielder Troy LaNeve.

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Meet the newcomers

Vanderbilt has a 16-person freshman class in addition to one transfer, Princeton graduate Jack Anderson. The Commodores are known for bringing in top classes year after year, but D1Baseball ranked the class just 17th as many of their top commits signed with MLB teams. That may not matter, though, with all the experience Vanderbilt is bringing back.

Infielder Davis Diaz and left-hander Carter Holton impressed in the fall and should fight for starting roles in their first year with others finding roles in the bullpen or as backup position players. Four true freshmen started for at least part of 2021: Bradfield, Bulger and right-handers Patrick Reilly and Christian Little.

Rebuilding the rotations

Even with up-and-down seasons, Reilly and Little have shot up 2023 draft boards based on what they showed in 2021. Reilly began in the bullpen before earning the role of Sunday starter, and Little was the midweek starter for most of the year before becoming Vanderbilt's No. 3 in the postseason. Both will likely begin as weekend startersr, with other options including Maldonado, Holton, Thomas Schultz and Chris McElvain.

Marquee opening series

The Commodores open their season against Oklahoma State, which was ranked No. 7 by D1Baseball and Collegiate Baseball and No. 16 by Perfect Game. The Pokes will provide a good litmus test for where Vanderbilt is, especially in the rotation. After that, the Commodores will face unranked opponents until the start of SEC play, but that doesn't mean there aren't any intriguing matchups. Vanderbilt faces both Belmont and Lipscomb at First Horizon Park in late March, rival Louisville in May and frequent postseason foe Michigan in mid-March. Several other area teams are on the non-conference schedule: Austin Peay, Western Kentucky, Tennessee Tech and Middle Tennessee.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What to know about Vanderbilt baseball as season approaches