Jake Eder Looking For Breakout Season for Vanderbilt Baseball
There's an old saying in baseball that you can never have enough arms, which is true, but definitely not a p[roblem facing the Vanderbilt Commodores as they prepare to start the 2020 college baseball season.
Blessed with a ton of talented arms, lead by Mason Hickman and Kumar Rocker, head coach Tim Corbin and his staff have another, far less taxing problem when it comes to their pitching staff this season. Defining the roles for the plethora of guys they have who possess big league stuff.
One such player is Jake Eder, now a junior who has served in multiple roles through his first two Commodores seasons, and was a key part of the championship team last season with his three-inning save in the world series.
Following the Commodores season, Eder spent the summer playing in the Cape Cod League where he finished as the 46th overall ranked player of the season.
ProspectsLive had this to say of Eder following the season.
46. Jake Eder, LHP | School: Vanderbilt | CCBL Team: Orleans Firebirds | 15 IP, 1-1, 1.20 ERA, 15 K, 4 Bb | Grade: 45 | Draft: 2020
A late addition to the league following Vanderbilt’s national title run, Eder is a big lefty with a control over stuff profile. Eder features a low-90s fastball, with below average spin. It’s most effective down in the zone but he can place it and move it against less dangerous bats. His secondaries consist of an average high-70s curveball with 1-7 movement. The true strength of Eder is his mechanics. It’s an easy delivery that puts little stress on his arm or shoulder, he does an excellent job of repeating and staying on line. This aids his strike-throwing greatly, which he’ll need if he can’t add velocity and spin by the time he hits pro-ball. Very slid back end profile. -RL
While the Commodores have Hickman and Rocker who are set to occupy two of the three weekend starting spots, Corbin must still settle on a third weekend and midweek starter entering the season. Eder is squarely in the running to fill either of those spots at this time.
In fact, many people who follow the team feel he and freshman Jake Leiter have the inside track to earning those two starting roles, at least to begin the season.
Having too many arms is a good thing if you're Vanderbilt baseball in 2020, the question is which players will fill which roles and just how effective they will be in those roles will determine if the Commodores will be making a return trip to Omaha in a few months.
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A 29 year veteran of radio in the Middle Tennessee area and 16 years in digital and internet media having covered the Tennessee Titans for Scout Media and TitanInsider.com before joining the Sports Illustrated family of networks.