Nick Maldonado 'likely' to pitch in starting rotation for Vanderbilt baseball this year

After being named preseason All-American and All-SEC as a closer, Vanderbilt baseball right-hander Nick Maldonado is likely to pitch out of the rotation this season, according to coach Tim Corbin.

Maldonado, who was draft-eligible last year but opted to return to school, averaged 1.25 walks per nine innings in 2021, an elite number. Due to his three-pitch mix and strike-throwing ability, Corbin had Maldonado work out as a starter in the preseason.

"We were thinking about, at least when he decided to come back to school here, because of his pitch package and what we think he's capable of doing, we wanted to put him in more of a starter position," Corbin said. "So he's trained in that position right now, the volume is built up so we will likely start him."

Corbin has yet to determine his starting rotation for the season-opening series against Oklahoma State, with games Friday through Sunday. Patrick Reilly and Christian Little are likely weekend starters, and other pitchers who could come into the mix include Thomas Schultz, Hunter Owen, Chris McElvain and Carter Holton. Vanderbilt will likely piggy-back pitchers at the beginning of the season when it plays as many as five games a week.

Infield options open

With Dominic Keegan moving back to catcher, the first base situation has been fluid all offseason. In preseason scrimmages, Tate Kolwyck, Gavin Casas, Jonathan Vastine and Troy LaNeve were among the players who worked out there. Corbin named Kolwyck and Vastine, both of whom can also play second base and shortstop, as likely contributors at that position. Casas injured his knee playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League and is not yet back at full strength, but when he is Corbin said he is in line for more playing time.

According to Corbin, Parker Noland is set to be the primary starter at third base barring injury. Noland started all but one game in 2021, playing third, second and first base.

Overall, the infield situation is largely fluid outside Carter Young at shortstop, with a number of players capable of playing multiple positions. Others who could play in the infield include Javier Vaz and freshmen Davis Diaz, Matthew Polk and Rob Gordon.

"Tate's gonna be there, what position I don't know," Corbin said. "I just think you look at our first base and second base position and I don't know if this is true of some teams but they're very similar. We've got guys that play second base, play first and guys that play first, play second, and I think that's good. Whether that's Vastine, whether it's Tate, whether it's Gavin Casas, Parker Noland and then Dom, going from the catching position to first base position when needed, so I think right now I don't have a lot of clarity, it'll probably depend some on the handedness of the pitcher."

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Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt baseball: Nick Maldonado will likely pitch in rotation