Kyle Wright Guides Vanderbilt to Victory

SEE ALSO: Start Was Redemptive For Wright

CLEMSON, S.C.—In front of more than 5,000 fans at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, Vanderbilt righthander Kyle Wright pitched seven strong innings Saturday to guide the Commodores to a 9-4 victory over Clemson. Wright allowed three runs—all in the bottom of the sixth inning—but struck out nine batters and walked only one.

“I think just the environment of the stadium really allowed me to keep going,” Wright said. “I felt pretty good with everything . . . I feel like I threw multiple pitches for strikes.”

Wright’s first pitch of the game was a 97-mph fastball to Clemson’s Logan Davidson. Davidson worked the count to 2-2, then shot a hanging breaking ball back up the middle for a line-drive single. With one out, Wright hit Seth Beer with a curveball, but he recovered with a strikeout and a ground ball, and then he took his foot off the gas and turned on cruise control.

The righthander, who’s likely to be a top three selection in the draft less than 10 days from now, pitched at 92-94 for most of the outing, dipping as low as 90 with his two-seamer and bumping 95-96 as late as the sixth inning. He found bursts of command, locating his fastball with pinpoint precision down in the zone and to both sides of the plate. Wright generated arm-side run or late sinking action on the pitch throughout the evening, showing at least 55 fastball movement on the 20-to-80 scouting scale.

While his fastball velocity, command and movement all showed plus potential, Wright’s changeup was equally impressive. He repeated his arm speed on the pitch well, giving it a fastball look out of his hand. Thrown in the mid-80s, Wright’s changeup showed late fade and flashed arm-side run. Wright’s changeup flashed plus potential often, generating swinging strikeouts from Andrew Cox and Beer.

“I’ve gotten better and better with it each week,” Wright said of his changeup’s progress. “It’s a pitch that can take over games because you can’t see it. I’ve grown more and more confident with it each time I’ve gone out there. It’s a pitch that I work on a lot throughout the week to bring into the game on the weekend, so it’s been a big pitch for me as it was tonight.”

Wright’s curveball also showed flashes, showing tight spin and late vertical break early and often. He hung a couple breaking balls up in the zone, but showed confidence throwing the pitch for a strike or using it as a chase pitch down and away from righthanded hitters. The pitch has plus potential.

In the sixth inning, Wright momentarily lost his timing. He needed 30 pitches to get through the inning. Reed Rohlman sent a belt-high fastball up the middle to lead off the inning, and Chase Pinder worked a walk with one out. After Wright punched out Weston Jackson, Andrew Cox golfed a down-and-in fastball off the wall in right center field, scoring two. Jordan Greene singled in a third run before Wright escaped the jam.

Despite appearing tired in the sixth, Wright went back out for the seventh. He struck out the first two batters of the inning, then got a lineout to end his night. Freshman lefthander Zach King finished off Clemson with two effective innings, allowing one run in the eighth before throwing a 1-2-3 ninth inning to end the game.

NOTES

• Vanderbilt center fielder Jeren Kendall went 3-for-5 in the game. He struck out swinging at a slider away in his first at-bat, then bunted for a single in his second, reaching first base in 3.8 seconds. He grounded out to second in the fifth inning, reaching first in 3.9 seconds. Kendall went with an outside slider in the sixth, hitting a blooper to left field for a double, reaching second in 7.7 seconds. In his final at-bat, he turned on a hanging breaking ball, driving a hard line drive to right for a double.

Kendall has an upright swing and doesn’t use his lower half much, trusting his hands to bail him out. He has plus bat speed and can drive the ball to his pull side with authority. Clemson’s approach was to pound him away; he did take some poor swings but adjusted and laid off pitches close to the outside corner.

• Clemson lefthander Charlie Barnes had a rough night in the box score; he surrendered 13 hits and seven runs in 5.2 innings. But Barnes showed potential with his fastball control and changeup, which flashed plus potential. Barnes pitched at 87-89 throughout the outing and his fastball showed above-average sink early in the outing. His changeup dives late and looks like his fastball out of his hand.