Tonight's SP Ian Anderson could head roster of "Almost 'Dores"

[Versus75]

A roster of players who committed to Vanderbilt then skipped college be heavy on pitching but include a few good hitters as well. Matt Olson is the best example.

These profiles are taken from the www.perfectgame.org "College Commitments" lists which goes back to the high school Class of 2005. I have included high MLB draft choices that I could determine and added profile/stats links to www.baseball-reference pages for those who made it to the big leagues.

(It's difficult to say where some of the minor leaguers stand in their professional baseball career since the minors were cancelled this year.)

2005 - none

2006 - none

2007 - none

2008
Anthony Hewitt (OF) Drafted Round 1 (24th overall) by Phillies. Topped out in AA.

Ryan Westmoreland (OF) Drafted Round 5 by the Red Sox. One season in A-.

2009 - none

2010 - none

2011
Shawon Dunston (OF) Drafted Round 11 by the Chicago Cubs. Topped out in A+.

2012
Matt Olson (1B) Drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 1st round (47th overall).
4th in AL Rookie-of-the-Year voting 2017 / 2-time Gold Glove winner / 36 HR 2019.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... ma02.shtml

2013 - none

2014
Touki Toussaint (RHP) Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 1st round (16th overall).
4-0 in relief for 2019 Braves / not effective as SP in 2020.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... to01.shtml

Justus Sheffield (LHP) Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 1st round (31st overall).
4-3 as starting pitcher for Seattle Mariners, 2020.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... ju01.shtml

Isan Diaz (2B) Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2nd round.
Miami Marlins 2019 and 2020.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... is01.shtml

Dylan Cease (RHP) Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 6th round.
5-4 in 12 starts for White Sox, 2020.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... dy01.shtml

2015
Nolan Watson (RHP) Drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 1st round (33rd overall). Pitched 1 game at A+ in 2019 / he might be finished.

Triston McKenzie (RHP) Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 1st round (42nd overall).
8 games (6 starts) for Indians, 2020.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... tr01.shtml

Bryce Denton (OF-3B) Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2nd round. A+ in 2019, don't know if he's still in the game.

Reggie Pruitt (OF) Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 24th round. 48 SB at Class A/A+ in 2019.

2016
Ian Anderson Drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 1st round (3rd overall).
Brought up midseason 2020, has become no. 2 starter for Braves / 1.95 ERA in 6 regular season starts.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... ia01.shtml

Braxton Garrett (LHP) Drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 1st round (7th overall).
Started 2 games for Marlins in 2020.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... br01.shtml

Thomas Jones (OF) Drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 3rd round. Class A in Marlins organization, 2019.

Kobie Taylor (OF) Drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 15th round. Class A- in Marlins organization, 2019.

2017 - none

2018
Ryan Weathers (LHP) Drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 1st round (7th overall).
Started 22 games for Class A Fort Wayne in 2019. Promoted to the Padres 2020 playoff roster and pitched against the Dodgers.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... ry01.shtml

Ethan Hankins (RHP) Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 1st round (35th overall). Class A in 2019.

Xavier Edwards (SS) Drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 1st round (38th overall). Batted .322 in 123 games at Class A/A+ in 2019.

Will Banfield (C) Drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 2nd round. Played 101 games at Class A in 2019.

Ryder Green (OF) Drafted by the New York Yankees in the 3rd round. 8 home runs in 225 Rookie League at-bats, 2019.

Nicholas Northcut (3B) Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 11th round. Class A- in 2019.

2019
Anthony Volpe (SS) Drafted by the New York Yankees in the 1st round (30th overall).

Kendall Williams (RHP) Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2nd round. Only pitched 16 Rookie League innings in 2019, but with 19 Ks and 1.13 ERA.

Trejyn Fletcher (OF) Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2nd round. Rookie league in 2019. Rookie league in 2019.

[Versus75]

As I was researching the above post I thought Brett Hansen might have been included since he has not played for Vanderbilt. But then I saw that he didn't sign with the pros and did some more digging.

This Tennessean article from July 2018 may fill in the blanks: "Hansen reportedly has considered taking a two-year Mormon mission, which would push him into Vanderbilt’s 2020 signing class."

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports ... 768691002/

If indeed that's what Hansen did, I hope he kept in baseball shape because he will be competing for playing time with Rocker, Leiter, Fisher, Hlibocki, Doolin, Schultz, Christian Little, et al. 2020 recruit Benjamin Hansen, another pitcher of course, is Brett's younger brother.