Vanderbilt baseball was given the No. 1 recruiting class after the MLB draft, according to Baseball America.
Baseball America's rankings gave the Commodores three of the top 10 players to make it to campus in Joseph Contreras (4), Noah Wilson (5) and Eli Herst (10). Contreras is a pitcher with an upper-90s fastball and already has experience pitching in the World Baseball Classic. Wilson is a speedy outfielder who set an MLB Draft Combine record for 30-yard dash. Eli Herst is one of the most college-ready pitchers in the class.
Vanderbilt has eight top-100 players overall in the rankings, tying with Tennessee for the most nationally. Other top-100 players include James Tronstein (18), Bo Holloway (22), Gunner Skelton (73), Keller Bradley (79)
and RJ Cope (88).
Tronstein, a powerful hitter who can play shortstop or center field was a 15th-round pick of the Houston Astros but did not sign, while Skelton turned down seven-figure offers in the draft after putting up a strong performance in the college-level Appalachian League. Holloway, another local player, can throw in the upper 90s as a left-handed pitcher.
The last time the Commodores had a recruiting class ranked No. 1 by Baseball America was in 2019, with Vanderbilt failing to land a top-five class in either 2024 or 2025.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt baseball ranked No. 1 recruiting class by Baseball America
