Anchor Drop, June 5, 2019: 87 Days to Kickoff

Good morning.

We are now 87 days away from Vanderbilt football’s season opener against Georgia. #87 for the Commodores is Amir Abdur-Rahman. As a freshman, the 6’3”, 205-pound wide receiver appeared in all 13 games and made four catches for 108 yards and a touchdown and... oh, here, just watch the touchdown in all its glory:

Bonus points for doing it against UT, and yes, we are also curious if Jordan Matthews made an appearance there.

Day 2 of the MLB Draft is in the books, and while four Commodores were drafted on Tuesday, Vanderbilt didn’t lose any more players out of its incoming recruiting class. Drake Fellows went to the Padres in the sixth round; Philip Clarke was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 9th round, a few picks ahead of Ethan Paul (who went to the Pirates for the second year in a row.) Finally, the Red Sox drafted Stephen Scott in the 10th round.

Of the four, Clarke — who’s a draft-eligible sophomore and won’t lose all leverage should he return for his junior season — is the only one who we’d even think might return. Scott and Paul are, of course, seniors and will be gone regardless; Fellows, a junior, probably has no particular reason to return for his senior season.

On Day 3, we’d expect some teams to take a flier on some more of our recruits, though for the most part we’re in the clear after the 11th round. Teams will figure up how much of their bonus pool they have remaining tonight and might draft someone they think they can sign for that amount in that round, but after that, there’s really little reason to be concerned. And some upperclassmen, like Harrison Ray, Ty Duvall, Julian Infante, and Patrick Raby, might get picked up.

The good news has more to do with two players who weren’t picked. Commit Spencer Jones made a tweet indicating that he’d be suiting up for Vanderbilt for the next three years. And draft-eligible sophomore Pat DeMarco didn’t go in the first ten rounds, an indication that teams likely view him as unsignable (or at least that his asking price is too high.)

The schedule for the Nashville Super Regional was announced on Tuesday. Vanderbilt will host Duke at 5:00 PM CT on Friday in the first game; that will be televised on ESPN2. Game 2 will be televised on ESPNU at 8:00 PM CT, while Sunday’s if-necessary Game 3 will be at 2:00 PM CT on ESPN2.

Scoreboard

MLB: Nationals 9, White Sox 5 ... Braves 12, Pirates 5 ... Blue Jays 4, Yankees 3 ... Indians 5, Twins 2 ... Giants 9, Mets 3 ... Tigers 9, Rays 6 ... Marlins 16, Brewers 0 ... Red Sox 8, Royals 3 ... Orioles 12, Rangers 11 ... Cubs 6, Rockies 3 ... Reds 4, Cardinals 1 ... Dodgers 9, Diamondbacks 0 ... A’s 4, Angels 2 ... Phillies 9, Padres 6... Astros 11, Mariners 5.

Today: Game 3 of the NBA Finals (8:00 PM CT, ABC), which only feel like they’re taking forever. Also, your usual MLB action: Tyler Beede gets the start for the Giants at Citi Field (6:10 PM CT), and Mike Minor pitches for the Rangers against the Orioles (7:05 PM CT).