Vanderbilt makes much needed change at hitting coach

The Vanderbilt Commodores recently ended their 2024 season with a regional loss to High Point University. Shortly after the loss, the Commodores annouced the firing of hitting coach Mike Baxter and assistant coach Tyler Shewmaker.

Baxter contributed in getting Vanderbilt to their 18th straight NCAA Tournament and their fourth SEC Tournament win, but the offense was not exactly as good as it needed to be. In 2024, the Commodores ranked 6th in the SEC in batting average, 10th in slugging percentage, 12th in on-base percentage, and 13th in home runs.

Although home runs are not everything in baseball, there have not been many home run hitters for Vanderbilt in recent years. The last hitter to have over 20 home runs was JJ Bleday in 2019, but after that, the Commodores offense progressively got worse.

This resulted in Vanderbilt deciding to depart from Baxter after seven seasons.

According to Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball, the Commodores are hiring Daytons head coach, Jayson King, as an assistant coach.

King has spent the last seven seasons at Dayton and in 2024 led them to a 33-22 record with a conference record of 14-9. Rogers also reported that King has a great history in working with hitters, which is why the Commodores decided to hire him as their new hitting coach.

Last season, Dayton ranked 1at in the Atlantic 10 in on base percentage, 2nd in slugging percentage, 3rd in batting average, and 4th in home runs. The pitching in the Atlantic 10 is not great, but being at the top of the conference in these categories is very impressive.

Why did Vanderbilt hire Jayson King as hitting coach?

The offense was not great for Vanderbilt under Mike Baxter, which resulted in the hire of Jayson King.

Now that the Commodores have a new hitting coach, they will be a team to watch in 2024. They have not been in Omaha for the College World Series since 2021. Coach King may be able to get Vanderbilt to the big show.