Anchor Drop, August 18, 2021: 17 Days to Kickoff

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

Today marks 17 days until Vanderbilt football’s September 4 season opener against East Tennessee State. 17 for the Commodores is linebacker Feleti Afemui. A 6’3”, 245-pound redshirt senior from Maui, Afemui started ten games at inside linebacker in 2019 before opting out of the 2020 season. It remains to be seen if he will reclaim his starting spot for 2021.

Vanderbilt soccer, the defending SEC tournament champs, was picked to finish fourth in the SEC in the preseason coaches’ poll. Arkansas and Texas A&M are in a tie for first in the poll; South Carolina is third. Soccer opens its regular season tomorrow night against Tennessee Tech.

Baseball America announced Tuesday that former Vanderbilt pitchers Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter are, respectively, the National Player of the Year and National Freshman of the Year. Leiter was the number two overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft; Rocker went tenth overall and then wasn’t signed by the New York Mets, who apparently decided they did not want the National Player of the Year.

Sports on TV

All times Central.

• 11:35 AM: MLB: Cubs at Reds (MLB Network)
• 12:10 PM; MLB: Cleveland at Twins (MLB Network)
• 2:45 PM: MLB: Mets at Giants (MLB Network/MLB.tv free game)
• 3:05 PM: MLB: Blue Jays at Nationals (MLB Network)
• 6:00 PM: MLB: Red Sox at Yankees (ESPN)
• 6:45 PM: MLB: Brewers at Cardinals (ESPN+)

Scoreboard

MLB: Yankees 5, Red Sox 3 (Game 1) ... Yankees 2, Red Sox 0 (Game 2) ... Nationals 12, Blue Jays 6 ... Angels 8, Tigers 2 ... Braves 2, Marlins 0 ... Rays 10, Orioles 0 ... Cubs 2, Reds 1 ... Brewers 2, Cardinals 0 ... Mariners 3, Rangers 1 ... Cleveland 3, Twins 1 ... Royals 3, Astros 1 ... White Sox 9, A’s 0 ... Rockies 7, Padres 3 ... Diamondbacks 3, Phillies 2 ... Giants 3, Mets 2 ... Dodgers 4, Pirates 3.