What we learned from Vanderbilt baseball's fall workouts: Rotation battle and transfer roles

Vanderbilt baseball concluded its fall season on Tuesday with a two-game sweep by the Gold team in the David Williams Fall Classic, an intrasquad scrimmage series.

Prior to the Fall Classic, the Commodores also held exhibitions with Rutgers (a 16-6 loss) and Wake Forest (an 11-10 win).

"From Rutgers to right now, I would say it's a noticeable difference," coach Tim Corbin said. " ... We played Rutgers a little bit early, but you can't do anything about that now. But we got a lot of at-bats, and I think when you get positional players 40-50 at bats, that's probably a good fall. That's because we had ... that pitching depth to be able to do that."

The Commodores return 25 of the 38 players from the 2023 roster and bring in a class of 17 freshmen and four transfers.

Here's what we learned about Vanderbilt's 2024 team in the fall:

Potential impact freshmen

On average, only 3-4 freshmen per year play significant roles at Vanderbilt. This year's crop has a strong chance to outplay that projection.

The headliner is lefty Ethan McElvain, who was named the No. 5 impact freshman in the country by Baseball America. In the fall, his fastball velocity was consistently in the mid-90s and he threw more strikes than he did in high school while showing a fiery demeanor.

Other freshmen who seem likely to carve out roles include infielders Braden Holcomb, Cam Kozeal and Matt Ossenfort and righty Alex Kranzler. Holcomb, who hit the scoreboard with a home run in batting practice, could see some time in the outfield. Any of the freshmen position players could also slot in at DH.

One freshman who will not play a large role in 2024 is RJ Hamilton, who is likely to miss most or all of the season after tearing two knee ligaments over the summer, Corbin said. Fellow freshman Kaito Muto also did not participate in the fall due to a back injury.

What role will the transfers play?

Vanderbilt brought in four transfers in the offseason, but the specific role those transfers will play has yet to be determined.

Air Force transfer Sawyer Hawks looks like he'll fill a bullpen role. He showed four different pitches at times, but his best pitch was his curveball that consistently kept hitters off balance. He should compete for the closer's job.

Coastal Carolina transfer lefty Levi Huesman showed a good slider, but he also struggled to throw strikes at times, with only 10 of 24 pitches going for strikes in his Fall Classic appearance. Huesman also figures to pitch out of the bullpen, but whether he can throw more strikes will determine how much Corbin can trust him.

UMass-Lowell transfer Jacob Humphrey showed strong baserunning skills as expected from a player who stole 78 bases in two seasons. Humphrey showed good ability to draw walks and get hit by pitches, but he might end up squeezed out of the outfield competition. Even if he doesn't start, he could be a defense and baserunning weapon at the end of games.

Samford transfer Jayden Davis will battle for the starting second base job but hasn't yet locked down that position as he struggled in the fall.

Where the rotation battle stands

Neither Carter Holton nor Devin Futrell, the most experienced starters on the Commodores' staff, pitched in the Fall Classic. Both are on track to be ready for the 2024 season, Corbin said. With those two expected to take two of the three weekend rotation spots, Vanderbilt is searching for one more starter to fill Hunter Owen's slot from a year ago.

The top two candidates in the fall appeared to be juniors Bryce Cunningham and Greysen Carter, as the two frequently pitched against each other in scrimmages across multi-inning stints. Cunningham has a more traditional starter's profile, while Carter can hit triple digits with his fastball but has walked more than a batter per inning in his college career. Carter did perform better during the fall and threw 67% of his pitches for strikes in his appearance in the intrasquad.

McElvain could be a candidate for the rotation, but Vanderbilt does not prefer to put freshmen in the weekend rotation to start the season. Andrew Dutkanych IV, who was the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2022 class, is another possibility. He seemed to be behind both Cunningham and Carter in the fall, but that could have partially been because he missed most of the 2023 season due to injury and did not play summer ball, requiring him to spend the fall building back up and gaining more reps.

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Breakout seniors?

Many of Vanderbilt's best teams have had players who broke out as seniors after modest starts to their career.

If the fall is any indication, Calvin Hewett and Troy LaNeve are those late-career breakout candidates. Both in their final years of eligibility, LaNeve and Hewett consistently stood out in the fall. Finally healthy after dealing with a shoulder injury for the past two years, LaNeve demonstrated his power potential with a home run off Chase Burns in a scrimmage against Wake Forest, but he also put together strong at-bats and came through in high-leverage situations. Hewett has long stood out for his defense and baserunning but he also hit consistently in the fall.

Jack Bulger and Alan Espinal, the two senior catchers, looked like they will face competition from two youngsters: redshirt freshman Logan Poteet and freshman Colin Barczi. Though Bulger continued to not strike out much, he was the only player with at least three at-bats who did not get on base during the intrasquad, and Vanderbilt occasionally used him in left field or DH as he has struggled to throw out runners. Espinal showed an ability to draw walks but continued to struggle with strikeouts, while both Poteet and Barczi showed some power potential. The battle likely will not be settled until the spring.

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: Vanderbilt baseball fall scrimmages: Transfers, impact freshmen in 2024