Is Vanderbilt Baseball Not As Good As We Thought?; Column – Sports Illustrated

As if the mere results weren’t harsh and ruthless enough for this program, there was Wyatt Nadeau coming out of the bullpen in the second inning of its Saturday matchup with Arizona. 
The problem here has nothing to do with Nadeau. The freshman right hander hasn’t given up a run in three outings and seven total innings this season. He’s a beacon of light for this program that could be drafted at some point down the line. The Vanderbilt reliever picked it up seamlessly as he went for four scoreless innings on Saturday.
He’s the victim of a bad Vanderbilt baseball moment in a bad Vanderbilt baseball weekend, though. 
Nadeau’s arrival into Vanderbilt’s eventual 5-1 Saturday loss to a previously 1-8 Arizona team wasn’t about him at all. It was about Vanderbilt Saturday starter Austin Nye–who’s got perhaps the best chance to be a first round MLB Draft pick of anyone on this roster when this is all said and done–who left Saturday’s game in the first inning. 
Nye’s velocity was down significantly while he was out there and, more importantly, he was done. Who knows how bad Nye’s injury is–if it’s significant, then that’s borderline catastrophic– but it certainly doesn’t help anything. And best believe that Vanderbilt needed something to help it this weekend. 
This Vanderbilt baseball team–that was previously appearing as if it was the closest thing Tim Corbin has had to elite since his last Omaha team–didn’t look to be anywhere near that declaration as it took the field at Las Vegas Ballpark. It lost 9-4 to UC Irvine, again on Saturday in the game that made this really sink in. 
Sunday was this group’s chance to provide any evidence to feel good about where this all stands coming out of the weekend, but it still hasn’t done that. That’s what a winless weekend out west for this program does. That’s what Vanderbilt baseball falling short of its standard does–and that’s what it’s done through its first 12 games. 
The midweeks and the series against Marist have been impressive, but that only goes so far here. Vanderbilt is 1-5 away from Hawkins Field and 1-4 against power-five teams. Whether it has Nye the rest of the way or not, it’s difficult to be encouraged by any of that. What makes that more difficult is how this presents itself after Vanderbilt has fallen short of its standard in the last few postseasons. That makes this feel closer to unacceptable than this actually is.
Especially when the Vanderbilt offense is supposed to turn the corner, when this is supposed to be the year that this program could assert itself again in the postseason. Especially when this group appears to have the bitter taste of last season’s regional exit in mind. 
“You can use experience in the past, but at the same time I can’t allow these guys to think that what happened last year or the year before was, you know, a sticking point for them,” Corbin said in the preseason. “[It’s not about] Vanderbilt history for them, it’s about their destiny and what they can do and how they can really build the engine of their move.” 
All hope of this story ending positively isn’t lost here as a result of what Vanderbilt has in its lineup–which appears to have a significantly higher ceiling than it did a season ago behind Brodie Johnston and Braden Holcomb’s respective improvements as well as its intriguing bullpen.
To be fair, this group does have the parts–and some numbers–to indicate that it’s better than it was last season. Look at its 2026 slash line through eight games–.352/.472/.680–as opposed to its .300/.427/.460 line after eight games a season ago. That’s not to mention the 22 homers this group had through eight games relative to its five at that time a season ago. Give it credit, it has the peripheral signs of being much better, but how what happened in Las Vegas can lend itself to any optimism is puzzling. 
It’s early and Vanderbilt has often peaked late in the regular season over the past few years, but it’s time to ask some questions of where this is all heading. It feels as if Vanderbilt has to win at least 15 league games to keep the regional streak alive. That's difficult Especially if it’s without Nye for an extended period of time. 
Vanderbilt’s opponents doubled up its runs over the course of the weekend, it averaged just three runs a game and–most convincingly–this isn’t the first time in its first three weekends of this season that it’s gone away for the weekend and come back with more losses than wins. 
This is the type of thing that forces you to cling to the idea that the long game involves this netting positive results. The short-term, game-by-game view wouldn’t.
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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