With spring training in full swing, No. 17 Vanderbilt Baseball head coach Tim Corbin, along with players Miller Green and Braden Holcomb, addressed the media for the first time in 2026. The trio covered many topics from construction in right field, to the team’s disappointing exit from the Regional round of the NCAA Tournament, player development and the general excitement of the impending season.
First was Corbin, who expressed how, just like all the years past, he was excited to get on the field with his team in the spring after a good fall camp.
“I finally get to be out here with everyone [and] with the excitement,” Corbin said. “We got out here a little earlier than in years past because of the NCAA allowing us to do so, which is good from a ramp-up standpoint. We’ve been building with each week…[we’re] in good spirits and I would say we’re improving.
This time of year, just like every year, Corbin spends the fall and spring getting to know the unique personalities and feel among his team and players. This year, he said he has seen a lot of maturity from a relatively young squad.
“[This team is] mature [and] handling the training environment really well,” Corbin said. “When you come back from [winter] break, it seems like there’s a comfort level with everyone, especially young guys, in terms of knowing what to expect and what’s out there.”
This season in particular, Corbin noted how he has seen new leaders emerge on his team after the departure of multi-year leaders and captains in RJ Austin, Jonathan Vastine and others to the 2025 MLB Draft. While some of those leaders, like Chris Maldonado and Green have been at Vanderbilt since they were first-years, other players who came to the program through the transfer portal have assimilated nicely into the team and taken on leadership roles.
“It’s striking sometimes what one person’s leadership can do in one year and maybe eight months of activity on a campus,” Corbin said. “And I look at Logan Johnstone and Max Kensen and Jacob Faulkner [who are] kids who came into our program that are older [and] that have blended nicely into the group.”
Although he is no stranger to the excitement of a new season and warm days on Hawkins Field, Corbin emphasized how he never tires of that feeling.
“If you have your health, you have everything, and at age 64, I’m proud and happy of that. And so [it’s been good] to be out here and just be able to compete with them, stay up with them, that’s the key,” Corbin said. “What I’m trying to do is shrink [the age gap between them and me] to a point where I can still do the things that they need [from me] as a coach and leader.”
In terms of team logistics, there are still some question marks for Corbin and Co. At the moment regarding who exactly is going to be on the starting lineup come opening day. Most notably, there has been a competition for the center field starting position — one that will be hard to replace gold-glover Austin in — as well as the middle infielders.
“You get to a point in the fall where you’re trying a lot of people, a lot of different places,” Corbin said. “You’re starting to do that now, too, in January, but at some point you have to gain some consistency on the field with where they fit best…I think those questions start to become a little clearer with more time on the field as we move closer to game[s].”
He emphasized that the thing he is looking for above all else when evaluating the center field and shortstop positions is limiting errors — what he referred to as ball security.
“In this conference, you just can’t give [the ball] away. If you’re giving four or five outs an inning, you’re going to be in trouble.”
Vanderbilt’s pitching staff, overseen by longtime Vanderbilt assistant coach Scott Brown once again, looks to be one of the nation’s best. The ‘Dores are returning some big-time arms, including Connor Fennell — who transitioned from a reliever to a weekend starter during SEC play. The Black and Gold also return Austin Nye, who was an All-American at the mid-week starter position last year. Corbin has continued to see both of those players increase their ceiling and improve their game.
“[I’ve seen] more maturity and more confidence [in Nye],” Corbin said. “He’s a professional. When he gets on the field, it’s all business.”
The Commodores also return a solid bullpen, highlighted by now juniors Green, Alex Kranzler and Luke Guth, as well as a group of sophomores who saw their fair share of innings last year, too.
“The bullpen has a lot of arm talent this year,” Green said. “[We’ve] got a good group of leadership, I think, and the freshman arms, they’re legit.”
In terms of health, Corbin feels that his team is in good shape and aims to keep it that way, emphasizing recovery among his athletes. Athletes, primarily pitchers, who were limited in training this fall have since either returned to the mound or are slated to in the coming days. Something that he saw the importance of with Vanderbilt Football’s success in 2025.
“When I think about Clark [Lea’s] team, I think the one skill that the football team excelled in was health, and people staying on the field,” Corbin said. “When you stay on the field, you get a chance to exceed your abilities. A lot of that ability falls on the hours before or after the guys spend here, and they’ve been doing a good job [prioritizing] that.”
One area where Vanderbilt made some changes in the offseason was on the offensive side of the ball, when it hired Jason Esposito as an assistant coach and the primary hitting coach. Since then, the Commodores have focused on a unified approach across the staff in their at-bats, and the players think it has paid off.
“We’re all as an offensive unit bought into one specific approach,” Holcomb said. “It’s very easy to go up there and execute it, knowing what we’re trying to do and also hold each other accountable…I’m really excited to see how this offensive unit does, because I’ve seen a lot of really good adjustments and a lot of really good things happening.”
This new approach, Holcomb emphasized, had given the hitters more freedom and confidence, especially power hitters like himself.
“The approach gives us so much more confidence to just go up there and swing freely,” Holcomb said. “I think it really has kind of freed a lot of us up and given us so much more confidence up there, just to have some fun and do some damage.”
Finally, Hawkins Stadium will have a slightly new aspect to it this year. After construction started on the right field stadium and pitching lab in the fall, the walls of the park have been moved in 15 feet, while increasing to 10 feet tall.
“It’s definitely a noticeable difference, just the way the ball is flying out there,” Holcomb said. “I think it’s going to play to some advantage for us this year, so we’re excited.”
Finally, Corbin and his team are keeping their emotions surrounding last season’s disappointing regional elimination separate from this year — something that Corbin said he emphasizes, no matter the previous year’s result.
“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. “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.”
Vanderbilt Baseball will open its season on the road at the Shriners Children College Showdown in Arlington, Texas, where they will face TCU on Feb. 13.
