Vanderbilt Commodores Baseball Receive Curious Preseason Ranking
The Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team has been dominant in the sport for years, but may need to prove they still belong at the top.
Perfect Game USA released their preseason Top 25 ranking for the 2025 college baseball season and the Commodores came in at No. 15.
That is Vanderbilt's lowest ranking on the list since 2018, where they were left off completely. The only other time they haven't been in the top 10 in that time was the 2023 season.
This comes after their worst season in years, which saw them finish with a fine 38-23 overall record. Their SEC record, however, was just 13-17. It is understandable as to why they may have some lowered expectations.
There has been a good bit of movement from year-to-year, both on the roster and within the coaching staff.
Head coach Tim Corbin returns for his 22nd season at the helm of the Commodores program, but will be replacing two key assistant coaches.
Jayson King, previously the head coach of the Dayton Flyers, joins the staff with over 800 career wins under his belt. Ty Blankmeyer comes over from the Duke Blue Devils, where he was an assistant and the recruiting coordinator.
Those coaches will be leading an exciting group of players composed of returning stars and major transfer portal additions.
Vanderbilt didn't lose any key guys from last year's roster to the portal, but did lose a couple of intriguing youngsters like Logan Poteet and Matt Ossenfort.
First baseman R.J. Austin returns as the team leader in RBI (54) and batting average from a year ago with a complete slash line of .331/.396/.455.
Austin has been a rising star since his breakout at the SEC tournament as a freshman and looks to be the star player of this squad.
The most intriguing transfer portal addition to the offense is former USC Upstate slugger Koby Kropf. The 23-year-old had an outstanding campaign last season and could make himself a lot of money if he contiunes to play at the same level against SEC competition.
Kropf posted a .352/.431/.704 slash line with 20 home runs. The grad transfer will also need to step up as Vanderbilt will be without their top slugger from last year in Alan Espinal, who exhausted his eligibility.
A lot will be riding on the southpaw JD Thompson in the pitching staff, who is their top returning pitcher. Thompson posted a 4.15 ERA in 52 innings of work last year.
There is plenty of talent on this Commodores roster and they should have a real shot at being improved from a year ago.
Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders