How Vanderbilt baseball reacted to new hitting coach Jason Esposito
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So far, so good for Vanderbilt baseball and new hitting coach Jason Esposito.
The Commodores hired Esposito after the program and Jayson King parted ways in the offseason. He's their third hitting coach in three years after Mike Baxter was fired in 2024.
Esposito was himself a player for Vanderbilt from 2009-11. He spent seven seasons working as a hitting coach in the Cleveland Guardians organization.
"What's appealing is the connectivity of a person," Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin said Sept. 16. "It's good to be very intelligent and very smart, but if you can't connect with the people, then that makes it very difficult. ... He's got a good way about him. You listen to him speak and can be off to the side and listening to him. I'm always very impressed."
Esposito was originally recruited by Florida before committing to Vanderbilt and turned down a large sum out of high school to play for the Commodores instead of MLB after being drafted in the seventh round. But things were rough academically at first. However, he later ended up getting a master's degree in kinesiology.
Esposito hopes to turn the fortunes of a program that has struggled offensively of late, finishing in the bottom five of the SEC in runs scored per game in every season since its last trip to the College World Series in 2021.
When working with the Guardians, Esposito was known for having a focus on analytics that he could bring to Vanderbilt.
"That's something that we haven't really made it a huge focus here in the past," Braden Holcomb said. "He talks a lot about the analytical side, which is good, and another good thing he does is the analytical side, especially as a person who's playing the game, it can be a little confusing, all that stuff, but he does a great job of breaking everything down and making sure that you truly understand what he's trying to get across."
Why Vanderbilt baseball can have more than 34 players on its 2026 roster
The NCAA recently implemented new roster limits for the 2026 season that required teams to have no more than 34 players, including both scholarship and non-scholarship athletes. Previously, the roster limit was 40.
However, that came with a catch. After a judge challenged the roster limits, a new stipulation was added that teams could have Designated Student-Athletes, or DSAs, who were players previously on a team's roster who would've otherwise been cut but can now remain on a team's roster without counting against the limits.
Between returning players, incoming freshmen and transfer commits, the Commodores currently have 39 players.
Corbin confirmed that Vanderbilt has a handful of DSAs, and that the number of DSAs is enough that the Commodores will be able to carry all healthy players from the fall roster on the spring roster.
"That's good for them, and it's good for us too," Corbin said.
Max Jensen injury update
One of Vanderbilt's transfer commits, Cornell infielder Max Jensen, isn't fully participating this fall. Jensen had knee surgery that cut his senior season with the Big Red short, which included surgery on his MCL and meniscus.
Jensen has returned to hitting in the cage but he hasn't yet gotten back to doing on-field work.
"Hopefully in the next couple of months he'll grow a lot because that was a pretty heavy knee surgery," Corbin said. " ... He's got some work to do for sure."
Vanderbilt baseball position battles at shortstop, center field
Vanderbilt needs to find a new shortstop and center fielder after losing longtime starters RJ Austin and Jonathan Vastine to the pros.
There isn't a clear replacement at either position. At shortstop, sophomore Ryker Waite had a breakout summer on the Cape, or fellow sophomore Brodie Johnston could move over from third base.
At center field, the Commodores have freshman Collin Brightwell and junior college transfer Cade Sears, but a wild card could be moving a player from another position. Austin himself converted to center field after playing second base and first base earlier in his career.
"We're cross-training a few guys, outfield, infield," Corbin said. "I would imagine that we'll put some infielders out there, too, just to see how they move around, how they catch the ball."
At shortstop, Corbin said the program is running "three or four" different players out at the position.
"I think we have good options at shortstop," Corbin said.
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: How Vanderbilt baseball reacted to hitting coach Jason Esposito
