Anchor Drop, June 7, 2018: 86 Days

Good morning.

We’re now 86 days away from the season opener against Middle Tennessee State. There is no 86 on the current roster. (I swear, this will get more interesting once we get out of the 90s and 80s.)

Five more Vanderbilt baseball players were selected on the third day of the MLB Draft. Maddux Conger (22nd round, Tigers), Justin Wilson (23rd round, Yankees), Alonzo Jones (25th round, A’s), Ethan Paul (26th round, Pirates), and Stephen Scott (31st round, Marlins) all have the option of beginning their professional careers now — though I kind of wonder if some of those players (all of whom have college eligibility remaining) may elect to return. Notably, juniors Patrick Raby and Julian Infante were not drafted. Andrew VU ‘04 may have something to say about the impending roster crunch.

Maybe the bigger news is that recruit Nick Northcut was picked by the Red Sox in the 11th round. It will be interesting to see if the Red Sox can make the numbers work — Boston selected high school players, who are not likely to go significantly under slot, in the first two rounds, and there’s only so much you can come up with in savings by signing third through tenth round picks for under slot value. The odds of Northcut ending up at Vanderbilt are considerably less than they were yesterday. A few more recruits were also selected, though most of them were in the range where teams are picking players like Michigan (formerly Ole Miss) QB Shea Patterson, who does not play baseball.

The SEC announced the conference basketball schedule yesterday. Aside from the three “permanent” rivals (Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee), Vanderbilt will play Alabama and Arkansas twice. They’ll also play Texas A&M on the road, which means I may actually get to go to a game this year.

Adam Sparks writes that whistlers are allowed at the super regionals, but cowbells aren’t. Add this to the list of things that Mississippi State fans will blame if they lose.

Tweet of the Day

Off the West End

The Warriors won Game 3 against the Cavs, which means that Damian Jones is one game away from getting his second ring.

I can’t decide which is more impressive: Jones getting two rings for playing a grand total of 206 minutes (regular season and playoffs), or Tony Kemp getting a ring for a season in which he made 39 plate appearances. Getting rewarded for the hard work of others: the Vanderbilt tradition.

Sonny Gray went eight innings and allowed just two hits, though he got a no decision for his efforts.

Lenny Dykstra continues to be insane.