The Dore Report Baseball
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Before the season, Braden Holcomb was my pick to be Vanderbilt’s team MVP.
That was not some wild swing. It was a fairly safe pick. Among Vanderbilt’s returning players, Holcomb had posted the best OPS in SEC play the year before. The power had already shown up. The big moments had already shown up. The physical profile was impossible to miss. If Vanderbilt was going to take a step forward offensively, Holcomb becoming the centerpiece of the lineup always felt like one of the cleaner paths to get there.
By the end of the season, that is exactly what happened.
Holcomb did not just enter the year as a logical MVP candidate. He backed it up with the best season of his Vanderbilt career, hitting .351 with a .434 on-base percentage, a .618 slugging percentage and a 1.052 OPS. He added 80 hits, 19 doubles, 14 home runs, 54 RBI, 52 runs, 35 walks and six stolen bases, giving Vanderbilt the middle-of-the-order production it needed.
If this is the end of Holcomb’s time as a VandyBoy, then it deserves more than a quiet exit. It deserves real appreciation.
vandy nation let’s ride! ⚓️⬇️ #VandyBoys
Holcomb’s breakout did not come out of nowhere. He was not a random one-year surprise, and he was not a player who suddenly appeared in the middle of the order without warning. The signs were already there.
That was true before he even arrived on campus.
Braden Holcomb (‘23 FL) has some serious juice! Deep bomb to LCF. Explosive rotation in the hips. Fluid path with big length through contact. #17UFLWS pic.twitter.com/Gj1QcXhInc
Holcomb came to Vanderbilt as one of the most highly touted players in the country. Out of Foundation Academy in Orlando, Florida, he was ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 38 overall player nationally and the No. 10 player in Florida. He hit .493 with 11 home runs and 33 RBI as a senior, competed in the MLB High School Home Run Derby at the All-Star event in 2022, and was named a 2023 Rawlings/ABCA All-America first-team selection.
Braden Holcomb (‘23,FL) • @VandyBoys smokes this ball over the SS head. Extremely physical, above avg speed on the bases for his size. @PowerBSB #PBC pic.twitter.com/WCzDPbznpc
He was not just a baseball-only athlete, either. Holcomb also lettered in football and basketball and was an All-State first-team tight end in 2022. That multi-sport background matters when talking about his Vanderbilt career, because the athleticism was always part of what made him different.
The frame and power were easy to see. The bigger question was how quickly it would translate in the SEC.
Braden Holcomb ‘23 (FL)
Blast off!🚀
𝟏𝟏𝟐 𝐄𝐕, 𝟒𝟐𝟎 𝐟𝐭. 💣@VandyBoys recruit #PBRPreseasonClassic || #MLBDraft
@PBRFlorida || @ShooterHunt pic.twitter.com/jghsNsMQH5
As a freshman in 2024, Holcomb hit .265 with a .361 on-base percentage, a .480 slugging percentage, an .842 OPS, five home runs and 17 RBI across 35 games. There were flashes, but there were also the normal growing pains that come with being a young bat in the SEC.
Even then, the moments stood out.
Holcomb hit his first collegiate home run to end a run-rule victory against Gonzaga. He homered twice and drove in five runs in a series finale at LSU, including a 466-foot blast. He also made his presence felt in the SEC Tournament, driving in two runs in a win over Florida and later hitting a two-run homer against No. 1 Tennessee in the semifinals.
Those moments offered an early look at what could come.
Holcomb leaves The Box‼️ 🤯
💣 466 ft ☄️111 MPH pic.twitter.com/hjk1ETRJEa
As a sophomore in 2025, Holcomb became a much bigger part of Vanderbilt’s offense. He hit .275 with a .378 on-base percentage, a .503 slugging percentage, an .881 OPS, nine home runs and 34 RBI. The jump was not massive on paper, but it mattered. He played more, produced more, and became one of Vanderbilt’s most dangerous returning hitters by the end of the year.
More importantly, the big moments started to stack up.
There was the three-run, walk-off home run against Kentucky to complete Vanderbilt’s five-run comeback. There was the game against No. 18 Alabama, when he tripled in the sixth inning, homered in the eighth, and then hit a two-run walk-off homer in the ninth. There was the 4-for-4 game with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored against No. 5 Georgia. There was the homer and four-RBI performance at No. 19 Oklahoma. There was the back-to-back homer with Jonathan Vastine at No. 25 Auburn.
Braden Holcomb 2nd HR of the game is a walk off bomb and Vanderbilt takes the series
Vandy Boys were down 7-2 in the 8th 👀👀pic.twitter.com/5VRWYxsHrq
By the time the season ended, Holcomb had already shown he could be a real SEC bat. He had already shown he could change games. He had already shown why Vanderbilt fans should have expected him to be one of the most important players on the 2026 roster.
BRADEN HOLCOMB DOES IT AGAIN!
Vanderbilt takes the opener against Kentucky, 8-7.pic.twitter.com/vOFglqCLZy
Then came the junior season, and everything came together.
The average jumped from .275 to .351. The on-base percentage jumped from .378 to .434. The slugging percentage jumped from .503 to .618. The OPS jumped from .881 to 1.052. His home runs went from nine to 14. His RBI went from 34 to 54. His hits went from 42 to 80.
It was the kind of year-three jump Vanderbilt needed.
Holcomb became the complete version of the hitter Vanderbilt needed him to be.
HOLC SMASH
116mph, 461ft 🤯 pic.twitter.com/eui8r9ula6
The easy thing with Holcomb is to talk about the power. That is understandable. When a player is listed at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, and when he can hit baseballs the way Holcomb can, the power is always going to be the first thing people notice.
The best part of his 2026 season, though, was that he was not just a power hitter.
Holcomb did a little bit of everything on the field. He had 19 doubles. He walked 35 times. He scored 52 runs. He stole six bases. He was not just waiting around to run into a mistake and leave the yard. He became a consistent offensive force.
The consistency separated his final season from the flashes that came before it.
Holcomb always had loud tools. He always had the kind of frame and raw ability that made people dream on what he could become. In 2026, the consistency finally matched the talent. The production finally matched the projection. The player Vanderbilt hoped it was getting became the player Vanderbilt actually had.
HOLC SMASH 💪 pic.twitter.com/pufZSLbgGS
It also matters that Holcomb’s Vanderbilt career was not just about offense. Vanderbilt listed him as a utility player, and that label fit. While Holcomb spent most of his time in left field for Vandy, Braden also spent time and gave quality innings to the club at first base, third base, right field, and center field.
For most players with Holcomb’s size, that kind of defensive movement would not be realistic. Holcomb was different.
What a catch from Braden Holcomb 👏
He robs what could have been a big play for TCU ⚾️#CollegeBaseballSeries | @CBS_Arlington | @VandyBoys
📺: https://t.co/7mscUgtZJA pic.twitter.com/tIhHjDXBJx
Tim Corbin put it best in Holcomb’s Vanderbilt bio, saying, “Braden possesses a rare combination of size, speed, and athletic ability. In my years of coaching, I have not coached a player with his physical profile who can play nearly every position on the field—and play them well.”
That is a strong statement from a coach who has seen a lot of talented baseball players come through Nashville.
It also helps explain why Holcomb was so valuable. He was not just a middle-of-the-order bat that had to be hidden somewhere. Vanderbilt could move him. Vanderbilt could use him in different ways. Vanderbilt could ask more of him than most players with his offensive profile.
That flexibility should be part of how he is remembered.
Holcomb's throw is on the money as the rain has arrived here at Kentucky Proud Park. pic.twitter.com/aU2lnIlu9G
Across three seasons, Holcomb hit .308 with a .401 on-base percentage, a .553 slugging percentage and a .954 OPS. He finished with 149 hits, 30 doubles, two triples, 28 home runs, 105 RBI, 108 runs, 72 walks and nine stolen bases.
Put together, those numbers make for a very strong Vanderbilt career.
HOLC SMASH 💪 pic.twitter.com/pSW7CMAVaS
It may not get talked about that way enough, partly because Holcomb came to campus with such a big recruiting profile. When a player arrives as a top-40 national prospect with the high school production, All-American honors, home run derby background, and multi-sport athletic profile Holcomb had, the expectations are high from the beginning. Sometimes that can make it harder to appreciate the career that actually happens.
People remember the ranking. They remember the hype. They remember the physical profile. They remember what they thought the player might become.
College baseball careers are rarely that simple.
Holcomb’s Vanderbilt career was not a straight line from highly ranked recruit to instant star. A lot of that may have been independent of him as well. In Holcomb’s three years on West End, he had a different hitting coach every year, which can be difficult for a young hitter trying to become the player he thinks he can be.
It took time. It took growth. It took role changes. It took adjustments. By the end, Holcomb had become exactly what Vanderbilt needed.
Holcomb became the power threat, the consistent hitter, the run producer, the player opponents had to plan around. He became the guy who could move around the field and still anchor the lineup.
His final season should carry real weight in how fans remember him. It was not just the best season of his Vanderbilt career. It was the year that tied the whole story together.
The freshman flashes showed what he could be. The sophomore moments can’t be forgotten. The preseason breakout belief made too much sense. Everything clicked in 2026, and Holcomb turned in the kind of season that should be remembered.
There were plenty of important players on this VandyBoys team. There were plenty of names worth discussing. But when looking at the full picture, Holcomb’s value is hard to beat.
He hit for average and power. He got on base. He drove in and scored runs. He created big moments that Vandy fans will never forget. He changed positions multiple times. Whatever was asked of Holcomb, he did it, and he usually did it well.
If this is the end for Braden Holcomb at Vanderbilt, it should not feel like a quiet exit.
It should feel like the conclusion of a career worth appreciating.
Holcomb finished his time in Nashville with a .954 OPS, 28 home runs, 105 RBI and 149 hits. He gave Vanderbilt walk-off hits, SEC Tournament moments, tape-measure power, and a final season that validated the belief many had in him entering the year.
Before the season, Holcomb looked like the safest bet to become Vanderbilt’s most valuable bat.
By the end, he had done exactly that.
🖤💛 pic.twitter.com/sLpsJRIa37
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