Which Vanderbilt Pitchers Were Selected in the 2026 MLB Draft?

NASHVILLE — They had a long wait, but Vanderbilt finally had some pitchers selected in the 2026 MLB Draft on Sunday.

Reliever Alex Kranzler went first. He was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 17th round after three seasons with the Commodores. The right-hander was pick No. 514 overall.

Right-hander Luke Guth went two rounds later, at No. 577, to the Chicago Cubs. He made 23 appearances this past season, all out of the bullpen.

Conner Fennell , who was Vanderbilt's opening day starter last season, was selected in the 20th round at No. 585 overall to the Chicago White Sox.

Overall, Vanderbilt had five players selected, including Mike Mancini and Braden Holcomb.

Kranzler was one of Vanderbilt’s most consistent and reliable bullpen arms over the past three seasons. Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin threw him to the fire as a freshman and Kranzler responded by pitching well enough to stay out there.

His 2026 season is deceptive in that his numbers were actually the worst they’ve ever been, but he was good enough down the stretch to impress evaluators. Kranzler already has a big enough body of work to indicate that his 6.18 ERA is more a product of Vanderbilt putting him in difficult, unfamiliar positions than it is an indicator of true regression. MLB people are also of the belief that his under the hood indicators are better than the surface-level numbers.

It wasn’t entirely unfathomable that Kranzler would come back to school, but MLB people like him and he didn’t appear to have all that much to gain from a return to school. The odds were that he wouldn’t have been a part of Vanderbilt’s weekend rotation if he returned. His final eight outings–in which he put up scoreless outings in six of them–indicated that he’d turned the corner and was likely gone.

“I think he's slowed himself down,” Corbin said during the SEC Tournament. “I think that's the thing. I believe his rhythm to how he pitches, it looks easier. It doesn't look as forced. It doesn't look like grunt work. It's letting the ball do the work.”

Now, Kranzler will look to build on what he did at the end of 2026 as a professional player. As he does it, he’ll work to make sure he embraces every part of his situation.

“The big, I guess, difference maker was stop focusing or worrying about stuff in the past, future — just kind of be where you are and kind of just use that,” Kranzler said during the season. “We have a kind of ongoing joke right now, like, even if I mentioned going out to eat the night before, he'll kind of get on me and say that's the past. So just trying to stay as present as possible has been the big one.”

Fennell struggled at times in 2026 and finished the season with a 4-2 record as well as a 4.96 ERA. As the rotation's Friday starter, he gave up 47 earned runs, 84 hits, 17 homers and struck out 102 batters while walking 20. It was Fennell’s largest workload by a long stretch and accounted for his most formative year as a college player.

“It's definitely not been perfect in my eyes,” Fennell said in regard to his individual season in May. “I set my goals and standards pretty high for myself, but I've learned a lot about myself this year, and this has definitely been. probably the most important year of my baseball career so far, just because of how much I've learned about myself and how much I've learned as a whole.”

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