For our final installation of the Vandyboys roster preview, I will go over the infield. This is arguably Vanderbilt’s strongest position group, as there is a surplus of projected draft picks and high-ceiling players. There are several positions on the infield where both the starter and backup would be getting play at most other SEC schools, this means that there will likely be some positional shifting in order to get the best 8 players out on the field.

Vanderbilt has a number of utilitymen who could play either infield or outfield, this will separate them based upon a combination of where they have played most and where they fit best on this roster.

Braden Holcomb took a while to get going both offensively and defensively in the 2024 season but once he did it became apparent that Vanderbilt needs him to produce on both sides. Holcomb presents a large target at 6’4, something that showed its importance with the RJ Austin at 1st base experiment, and has above average agility and range for the position. So long as he cut down on the errors, which he did at 1st base over the summer, he is a great defensive option for the position.

Offensively, Braden Holcomb has the most raw power that Vanderbilt has seen in a long, long time. Holcomb finished with a .252 batting average and .821 OPS in his first season at Vanderbilt, but that is significantly warped by a brutal 1-20 stretch in his first 10 or so games. After that slump, Holcomb batted .301 with 4 home runs and 7 doubles over 83 ABs over the second half of the season. If you extrapolate that level of performance over a full season’s at bats, that would total around 12 home runs and 21 doubles – this will be the standard to hold Holcomb to in order to measure growth. This performance saw him become a staple in Vanderbilt’s lineup and it’s unlikely that he will come out until he gets drafted. This continued over the summer as Holcomb was named a Cape Cod League All-Star. He batted .333 with 6 doubles and 3 home runs over 123 ABs in the cape, one of the strongest offensive performances in the league.

Holcomb needs to grow in two distinct areas: striking out less and marrying hitting for power with hitting for a good average. Holcomb had a strike-out rate of 41% in the 2024 season and 32% in the Cape, both marks are too high but the 41% is egregiously bad. If Holcomb can get that below 30% this will really help Vanderbilt (and also make him a lot more attractive to scouts), look for him to cut down on the strikeouts this year. Also, there is no reason why Holcomb, with the current state of college baseball, should be hitting less than 15 home runs in a year. We saw in both the second half of the 2024 season and in summer ball that Holcomb can hit for a relatively high average, but 4 and 3 home runs, respectively, is way too low for a guy that might have the most raw power in the SEC. Hopefully new hitting coach Jason King will be able to help Holcomb on both of these areas of growth.

If Holcomb gets moved to a different position (likely a corner outfield spot) he has two very high quality backups. Chris Maldonado is returning after sustaining a rotator cuff injury that made him miss all but the first few games of last season. Maldonado was arguably Vanderbilt’s best bat his freshman year, hitting .310 with 8 home runs and 12 doubles in only 155 ABs. He looked primed to be one of Vanderbilt’s best bats before the injury derailed things for him. There is no guarantee that Maldonado will ever return to that form after a shoulder injury, but if he does it will be extremely hard to keep him out of the lineup. While there is a very small sample size of Maldonado on defense, he looked strong at the position in his limited time last year. I do not think that would be a worry with him.

Maldonado took his first swings since his injury in fall ball and looked very rusty. I will hold off on making any large-scale judgement since this was the first time Maldonado swung a bat in almost 8 months, but it is clear he will have to work to regain his form.

The next backup is Riley Nelson. The 4th overall JUCO transfer joins Vanderbilt after two dominant seasons in the junior college ranks. Last year he hit .412 with 21 doubles and 13 home runs in a wood-bat league. Arguably most impressively, he only had 12 strikeouts over 199 plate appearances (yes, he had more home runs than strikeouts – in a wood bat league no less). After this he played in the MLB Draft League where he hit .330 with 8 doubles over 115 ABs. In fall ball Nelson impressed as well before sustaining a knee injury, recording 3 hits and 2 doubles against Tennessee Tech. He showed a great feel for hitting and seemed solid defensively (at 6’3 Nelson has the requisite size to play the position), he is a threat to break into the rotation as either a first baseman or DH.

As we will see with another position on the infield, there is a real logjam at 1st base with several players who Coach Corbin would likely want to have on the field. I would not be surprised to see Holcomb get moved to the outfield so that either Maldo or Nelson can get into the lineup. It would also not surprise me at all to see Holcomb at RF, Nelson at 1st, and Maldo at DH, or some configuration similar to this, as these are three of Vanderbilt’s strongest bats and biggest power threats.

Another position with a significant logjam and some real talent, 2nd base will be one of the more interesting position battles to follow throughout winter practices and the non-conference schedule. The incumbent starter is Jayden Davis, who transferred to Vandy from Samford. Last season Davis posted strong numbers, batting .315 with 12 doubles and 2 home runs. Unfortunately, Davis’ strong season was interrupted by taking a pitch to the face which resulted in an orbital fracture and caused him to miss the last several SEC series. Davis would return in the Clemson regional but struggled in his first action back. While he was one of Vandy’s most consistent players, he left something to be desired with power production and on the defensive side of the ball. Davis has a relatively weak arm and below average range for a 2nd baseman, something that became noticeable in SEC play. With how much Tim Corbin cares about defense, this will be something Davis has to improve upon or fight past in order to start this year. As for Davis’ power, he hit 9 home runs for Samford and has power if he can access it, but last year he seemed to prioritize hitting for contact and spraying the ball to all fields instead of hitting for power. It will be interesting to see if that continues next year.

Looking to take Davis’ spot is JMU transfer Mike Mancini. Mancini was a top 50 transfer in this previous cycle and was JMU’s best player. He chose Vanderbilt over Mississippi State who pursued him aggressively. The second baseman hit .320 with 15 home runs and 10 doubles to go along with 29 stolen bases in the ‘24 season. His season was highlighted by a 4 home run day in JMU’s regional games against South Carolina and NC State. There were not many weaknesses in Mancini’s game last year, but the question about how he will perform against SEC pitching remains. JMU actually had a relatively difficult schedule, ranking as the 42nd team in RPI (above many other P4 teams). This included series against Arkansas and Coastal Carolina, along with several other high major games, suggesting that the jump up to SEC play might not be as difficult as for other transfers. On the other hand, though, Mancini struggled in the Cape this last summer, hitting only .230 with 4 doubles, 4 triples, and a home run in 100 ABs. He was also decidedly “fine” in fall ball. While he did not look out of place, his production did not jump out at anyone. If Mancini can approach the production that he had for JMU he is likely to start for Vanderbilt. He has much better range defensively, has more proven power production, and brings speed that Davis simply does not have. However, if he struggles with the level of pitching and reverts back to how he was in the Cape, it is an easy choice to put Davis in the lineup ahead of him.

As a small aside, while I do not know if Mancini has any experience in the outfield, if I were Tim Corbin I would consider putting him in left field if you want to get both his and Davis’ bats in the lineup. Vanderbilt’s relative weakness in the outfield means that the corner outfield spots are wide open. Mancini certainly has the speed to be a plus defender in the outfield and if his bat is that valuable then it would be unlikely that any of the other potential outfielders are better offensively than him. This is a potential solution with the surplus of infield talent that Vanderbilt has, it is much easier to move an infielder to the outfield than the other way around, and given the lack of talent in Vanderbilt’s outfield it would make sense if some of the more talented infielders take the corner outfield spots.

Unlike 1st and 2nd base, everyone knows who will be the starter at shortstop. Jonathan Vastine, despite being widely expected to depart for the draft last year, elected to return to Vanderbilt for his senior year after not being drafted at a spot he was happy with. Perfect Game recently rated Vastine as the best returning senior in all of college baseball. Vastine is probably the best defensive shortstop – if not overall shortstop– in the SEC. This is supported by both analytics and the eye test as Vastine led the SEC in defensive runs saved (despite an uncharacteristic streak of errors in the first half of last year) and routinely made highlight reel plays. While his calling card is certainly his defensive ability, his offense has steadily improved in each of his years at Vanderbilt. Vastine batted .299 to go along with 18 doubles, 2 triples, and 10 home runs last season. His slugging percentage was .545, tied for the team lead and making him one of Vanderbilt’s best power hitters last year. While a common narrative among Vandy fans is that Vastine is not at an offensive level that we would want him to be, the fact of the matter is that he is more than good enough on that side of the ball. While he certainly has his weaknesses (don’t let him go against a lefty pitcher with good breaking stuff) the pros far outweigh the cons. Combine his solid offense with his elite defense and Vanderbilt just may have the best shortstop in the SEC.

While he will not start at shortstop, someone who needs to be mentioned is Rustan Rigdon. Likely Vanderbilt’s shortstop of the future, the ‘Dores were lucky to get him through the draft because of an injury his senior year – he was widely considered to be a big draft risk before sustaining this injury. While another true freshman stole many of the headlines throughout fall ball, Rigdon quietly had an extremely impressive outing. He was one of Vanderbilt’s most productive hitters throughout the fall and even showed a bit more pop than was initially expected of him as he hit two home runs and several doubles over scrimmages. He was strong defensively as well, not showing any weaknesses that may have been expected of a freshman. While he will not play at shortstop this year, he is yet another candidate to be moved into one of the corner outfield spots or DH if Corbin either wants him to get some experience or if Rigdon forces his way in.

It is rare to ever say confidently that a true freshman will 100% be the starter at any position (much less an infield spot), but Brodie Johnston will definitely be at 3rd base for the ‘Dores. Johnston comes in with as much hype as I can remember any position player having for Vanderbilt before he even has a single official plate appearance. Johnston was named the 2nd best freshman in the country by Baseball America and 9th by Perfect Game. Over the summer Johnston played in the Appalachian league against predominantly mid and high major collegiate opponents and was named both an All-Star and All-Star Game MVP. He hit .284 with 6 doubles, 6 triples, 5 home runs, along with 14 stolen bases, making him one of the best productive power hitters in the league. He followed this up by dominating fall ball, being Vanderbilt’s most productive hitter in terms of power and near the top in terms of batting average, too. The Appy League stats in particular indicate just how tooled out Johnston is, too. He probably has the second best raw power on the team (behind Holcomb), a good hit tool, great speed, and an elite arm. We will likely see some typical freshman struggles on defense but Johnston looked comfortable at the hot corner when I watched him. He will be a contender for SEC freshman of the year and likely be a middle of the lineup bat for Vanderbilt.

Another reason why Johnston will almost certainly be the starter is the lack of depth at this position. Vanderbilt’s best backup at 3rd base is Braden Holcomb, who is more likely to be either at 1st base or at a corner outfield position. In fall ball the only other two who played 3rd base were Ryker Waite and Rustan Rigdon, neither of whom are projected to play there long term. Waite is a name for Vanderbilt fans to learn this year, as while it is unlikely for him to make any appearances in the lineup, he has elite speed and will be used as a pinch runner. As for 3rd base though, Johnston is about it. Vandy fans have to hope that he both lives up to the hype and avoids injury this year.

The likely starter for the Vandyboys at catcher is Colin Barczi. Barczi saw action late last year as a DH after Jack Bulger sustained an injury and struggled out of the gate but started to come on late. He hit .208 with 2 doubles and 2 home runs over the season but both of those home runs were impressive, including a 112 mph, 450+ foot bomb in the regional round. It is worth noting that Barczi was fighting through a shoulder injury all season. It prevented him from playing catcher as he could not throw. It is likely that this impacted his hitting ability as well. Barczi went on to play in the NECBL over the summer where he had a completely different season. Named an All-star and All-star game MVP, Barczi was arguably the best player (and certainly the best catcher) in the league. He hit .398 with 8 doubles, 2 triples, and 4 home runs in 103 ABs and came up with multiple walk-off hits. The power production in particular jumps off the page given that the NECBL is a wood bat league, although the high average is great, too. Equally impressive is the fact that behind the plate Barczi was elite defensively behind the plate, throwing out 40% of the runners who tried to steal against him (at least at the time of his All-star game). He continued this strong defensive form in fall ball as he threw out both runners he faced in the Tennessee Tech scrimmage. He did not have a strong offensive performance in fall ball, however, and he will have to prove that he can perform against high level pitching. Vandy desperately needs Barczi to break out this season, as his power and defensive potential are very strong, but he needs to hit a lot more in SEC play. Joe Healy from D1 Baseball put it well, he said that if Barczi can manage to come remotely close to his summer production for Vanderbilt, he will be “one of the most valuable players in the SEC” given his defensive upside. On a roster without many stars, Vanderbilt needs Barczi to become one.

Behind Barczi is JUCO transfer Mac Rose. As a fun fact, Rose was actually the final pick in this past year’s MLB draft, being selected by the Rangers with the last pick of the 20th round. Instead of going to the MLB, though, Rose chose to take his talents to West End. Rose hit .354 with 12 doubles, 2 triples, and 7 home runs in 198 ABs for McLennan Community College in his freshman year. Rose fits a need for the ‘Dores as they needed a backup catcher to split time with Barczi after Logan Poteet transferred. Freshman Aukai “Jaydon” Kea will likely need a year to develop. Rose looked fine in fall ball, not standing out in any particular way but also not struggling, which is about all you can ask for from a JUCO transfer. He should be a solid backup to take some of the load off of Barczi.

Overall, the infield is talented and deep, almost too much so. There are position battles at 1st and 2nd base and a very high likelihood that an “infielder” gets moved to the outfield. I would also be willing to wager a whole lot of money that the DH will be one of the players listed in this preview. Vanderbilt will need this group to perform up to their potential to make up for some weaknesses in the outfield, but I have faith that they will.