Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin has a good eye for talent.
Maybe even too good at times.
Seth Hernandez
Courtesy of Joe Greer
A Vandy commit on Friday was named the Gatorade national baseball player of the year, marking the second time in three years the award has gone to a prospective Commodore.
This time, the player was right-handed pitcher Seth Hernandez, who posted a 9-1 record, 0.39 ERA and 105 strikeouts against just seven walks in 53-1/3 innings for Corona High in Corona, Calif.
But just as was the case with the 2023 Gatorade national baseball player of the year, former Vanderbilt commit Max Clark, there’s a good chance Hernandez won’t ever be suiting up for the Commodores.
Clark, an outfielder who starred for Franklin High School in Franklin, Ind., wound up going the pro route after the Detroit Tigers selected him with the No. 3 overall selection in the 2023 Major League Baseball draft. He signed a deal with the Tigers that included a $7.7 million bonus, per MLB.com.
Still ranked as one of the top prospects in baseball, Clark is hitting .267 in three minor league baseball seasons, with 15 home runs and 126 RBIs.
The 6-4, 190-pound Hernandez is considered the top high school pitcher in the nation, already capable of hitting 100 miles per hour with his fastball. He put up good numbers at the plate as well, hitting seven home runs and driving in 30 runs in 2025.
Hernandez made a verbal commitment to Corbin and the Commodores in the summer of 2023.
“That’s my dream school,” Hernandez told The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif., in 2024. “I love their stadium, love their uniforms and love the coaches there. Ever since I was a kid, probably eight years old, telling my dad while we were watching the College World Series, ‘Dad, I want to go to Vandy!’”
But Major League Baseball may well snuff out his path to Nashville.
MLB.com’s latest mock draft has Hernandez getting picked No. 9 overall by Cincinnati in July, as does ESPN’s latest mock draft. The Athletic’s latest mock has Pittsburgh taking Hernandez at No. 6, while Bleacher Report is forecasting Hernandez to Colorado with the No. 4 overall selection.
The Perfect Game website lists Vandy’s 2025 recruiting class, including Hernandez, as ninth best in the country.
The site ranks Vandy’s 2026 class as fourth best in the nation to date.