Vanderbilt baseball offseason wish list: Five things the Commodores' roster needs

Vanderbilt baseball faces a long offseason after losing in regionals for the second straight year. It will be at least a month before anyone can get a good idea of what the full 2024 roster will look like, but the Commodores' focus will now be turned to figuring out who's back and who's not.

There are several positions of uncertainty entering the offseason. Catcher and the outfield are points of concern, but the infield seems relatively set. That provides a blueprint for where Vanderbilt may need to anticipate contributions from freshmen or look to the transfer portal.

Here's a wish list of five things the Commodores need most in the offseason:

More power hitters

Vanderbilt, which finished second-to-last in the SEC with 76 home runs, desperately needs more power on its roster. Whether those players come from the high school ranks or from the transfer portal is less important; the Commodores need to get more natural power through whatever means necessary.

Five of the six SEC teams still alive in the postseason were also the top five teams in the conference in home runs (though the sixth, Kentucky, finished last). Other teams that got upset, like Arkansas and Auburn, also lacked in the power department. To thrive in the current environment of the SEC, home run hitting is a necessity.

Health for returning pitchers

Several of Vanderbilt's most talented underclassmen arms, including Carter Holton, Andrew Dutkanych and Ryan Ginther, dealt with injuries at the end of the season. A long offseason to get healthy could be beneficial to the trio as all three figure to fill major roles on the 2024 team.

A rotation with a healthy Holton and Dutkanych, along with other returners like Devin Futrell and Bryce Cunningham, has the potential to be among the SEC's best.

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Reinforcements in the outfield

With the likely loss of Enrique Bradfield Jr., a projected first-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, as well as the out-of-eligibility RJ Schreck, Vanderbilt will need to retool significantly in the outfield next season.

Matthew Polk is the only underclassman outfielder who has significant in-game experience, though older players like Calvin Hewett and Troy LaNeve could opt to return as well. Only one incoming signee, Max Clark, is listed as an outfielder and he, too, is projected as a first-round draft pick and may not make it to campus.

One option is moving current or incoming players whose primary experience is in the infield to the outfield. RJ Austin, who played second base in 2023 but is listed as a "utility" on the official roster, is one candidate to do so, with Chris Maldonado sliding to second base from DH. But this may also be an area in which Vanderbilt will need to look to the transfer portal.

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More freshman pitchers

Vanderbilt's 2022 freshmen class included just three pitchers, and two of the three missed significant time with injury. Though Dutkanych, David Horn and JD Thompson all look like quality arms, Vanderbilt will likely want to bolster its pitching depth by bringing in a larger class in 2023; the Commodores played games in 2022 with as few as 11 pitchers available.

This is a relative likelihood for Vanderbilt, which has 11 pitchers currently signed. It's likely a handful will opt to turn professional instead of coming to campus, but the large number of signees gives a much larger cushion to work with.

The Commodores' incoming class includes three top-tier left-handed pitcher recruits, and getting one or more of that group − Thomas White, Alexander Clemmey and Ethan McElvain − to campus would add on to an already formidable slate of lefties in Holton, Futrell, Ginther and Thompson.

An experienced catcher

Junior catchers Jack Bulger and Alan Espinal are both draft-eligible, though whether one or both will go pro is unclear. If they both leave, Vanderbilt would be left without a single catcher on the roster who has seen a college inning. Redshirt freshman Logan Poteet was primarily the bullpen catcher in 2023, and incoming freshman Colin Barczi is the lone signee at the position.

Getting one of Bulger or Espinal back could qualify as an experienced catcher, but this is another position where a foray into the transfer portal could be necessary. Finding a grad transfer who has one year of eligibility to bridge the gap to Poteet or Barczi could be a prudent move.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt baseball offseason wish list: What Commodores' roster needs