Vandy Boys Place two in D1 Baseball Top Five Pitchers

To the surprise of almost no one, the Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team has two of the top-five pitchers in the nation according to a recently released ranking by D1 Baseball.

The Vanderbilt Commodores are the defending baseball national champions and are ranked number one in the country to begin the 2020 season. A big reason for their winning last year and preseason ranking now rests on the strength of their pitching staff. 

D1 Baseball released its list of the top-150 pitchers in the country on Monday and two Commodores earned a place in their top-five.     

The rankings were based on three categories, zone control, pitch ability, and zone control. Here's how D1 explained how these metrics were used to evaluate pitchers.  

"We have approached the analytics process in a similar fashion—to identify possible under the radar prospects. We have broken down pitching into three categories: Zone Control, Pitch Ability, and Durability. Zone Control (ZC) is how well the pitcher controls the strike zone with strikeouts, walks, wild pitches and hit by pitch. Pitch Ability (PA) refers to a pitcher’s ability to pitch using statistics like WHIP, FIP, and OppSLG. Durability (DR) is largely based on innings pitched as college starting pitchers have shown greater success in professional baseball than college relievers."

"Adjustments have been made to account for park effects of the most extreme hitter and pitcher-friendly parks, as well as an adjustment for a team’s strength of schedule. Our analysis is based on 2019 spring season statistics only and does not consider how a pitcher fields his position or holds baserunners. Nor does it consider a pitcher’s athleticism, arm action, delivery, projection or any other in-person scouted qualities. It is simply a list to identify pitchers who have statistically performed in areas that are proven to correlate into professional baseball. Pitchers are graded from 0-100."

Senior pitcher Mason Hickman, sits second in the rankings, just behind Louisville's Reid Detmers, with Mason earning a 92.5 overall score.

Hickman rates an 87.4 in Zone Control, 92.7 in Pitch Ability, and 84.7 grade in durability.   

Sophomore Kumar Rocker ranked third, just behind his teammate with an overall ranking of 91.7. 

The reigning College World Series MOP has an 84.7 total in Zone Control, a 91.4 rating in Pitch Ability, and an 86.3 mark in Durability. 

It's a luxury to have two starters with the abilities of Hickman and Rocker, but that's not all the Commodores have as their pitching staff is arguably the best, and deepest in the nation heading into the season.

Their staff is the number one reason the experts believe the Commodores will once again find themselves in Omaha come seasons end.