When Riley Nelson visited Vanderbilt, he already had a voice of influence.
In 2022, Nelson roomed with Commodores lefty Ethan McElvain at the Connie Mack World Series. McElvain was the ace of that Midland team based in Ohio, which ended up winning the event.
"He was recruiting me pretty heavily, that's for sure," Nelson told The Tennessean.
Nelson, who spent the 2024 season at Yavapai College, a junior college in Arizona, committed Saturday to Vanderbilt. He had previously been committed to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, but after a strong performance in the spring at Yavapai and the summer in the MLB Draft League, he wanted to go somewhere bigger.
In 2024, Nelson hit .412 with 21 doubles and 13 home runs en route to an all-conference selection at his junior college. He then hit .330 with eight doubles in the MLB Draft League.
"I just felt like I just needed to go to a bigger school," Nelson said. "Just have a better opportunity for me in terms of draft stock and helping a bigger school win and competing for national championships."
He was attracted to the family atmosphere at Vanderbilt as well as the coaching staff.
Nelson's main position is first base, but he also can play third base and the outfield corners if needed. He provides depth at a position of need there. While several players on the Commodores roster can play first base, including Chris Maldonado, Braden Holcomb and RJ Austin, it is not any of their primary positions. Nelson is also a left-handed hitter, something Vanderbilt doesn't have much of.
Offensively, he described his skill set as "more of a gap-to-gap guy that can supply power when needed. I have a great feel for the zone, which helps with a small (strikeout) percentage."
At junior college this spring, Nelson had 29 walks and 12 strikeouts in 210 plate appearances for a minuscule 5.7% strikeout rate. In the MLB Draft League, he walked 12 times (10.4%) to 18 strikeouts (15.6%). But the power showed up as well. Nelson tied for second in his conference in home runs in 2024 and in the MLB Draft League he was tied for second with eight doubles.
The experience over the summer could help ease the steep transition from junior college to SEC pitching. Some junior college transfers become impact players right away, but for others it takes more time.
"The SEC pitchers have three plus pitches that they can throw for strikes in any counts, JUCO one to two pitches," Nelson said. "I's definitely an adjustment. I'm just glad I got to play in the Draft League. Kind of got to get my feet wet and then have the whole fall to develop and get ready."
Vanderbilt doesn't typically tap heavily into the junior college ranks; Nelson is the first junior college transfer to commit to the Commodores since Javier Vaz, who was part of the 2021 and 2022 teams. Vaz is proof those players can be successful, though. He was a 15th-round draft pick in 2022 and is now in Double-A with the Kansas City Royals.
TRANSFER TRACKERVanderbilt baseball transfer tracker 2024: Who is leaving, joining via portal
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.
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