Vanderbilt baseball recruiting took its biggest hit in the Major League Baseball draft to date, and yet its signing class still will be among the nation’s best.

Five Commodores signees inked professional contracts – the most in Vanderbilt history – before Friday’s deadline. But coach Tim Corbin said, “the ones we kept were some guys that could’ve actually gone higher than any of those who signed, but they deemed themselves unsignable (by major league organizations).”

Vanderbilt’s signing class now features 13 players, including some standouts projected as early round draft picks until they decided to go to school rather than the professional ranks.

Right-handed pitchers Donny Everett and Chandler Day, left-handed pitcher Evan Steele, middle infielder Alonzo Jones, corner infielder Julian Infante and outfielder Walker Grisanti are among those who could make an impact as freshmen for Vanderbilt next season.

Everett, a Clarksville High graduate, and Day were projected as first-round picks, but they were selected in the later rounds because they still wanted to go to Vanderbilt. Jones, perhaps the fastest player in the draft, also declared his intentions to join the Commodores, so he was picked in the 36th round.

Infante and Grisanti were not drafted. And Corbin said other Vanderbilt signees were called by major league clubs in the early rounds hoping to sway them.

“There are some kids that take a hard-line stance, and then there are some that leave it open,” Corbin said. “When they leave it open, there’s a tendency for them to sign.

“… We would like to keep a couple more than we did. I never go into it thinking about losing anyone, but I know that’s always a possibility.”

Vanderbilt lost five signees to the pros — pitchers Nolan Watson (Royals/first round) and Triston McKenzie (Indians/first), third baseman Bryce Denton Cardinals/second), and outfielders Darryl Wilson (Cubs/fourth) and Reggie Pruitt (Blue Jays/24th).

Corbin said he won’t lessen his recruiting standards just to get players who major league teams will bypass, especially with Vanderbilt winning a national title and finishing runner-up the past two seasons.

“I just don’t think we’re in a position to do that. We’ve got to evaluate the kids that are the best fit for us and the highest-level kids,” Corbin said. “Ever since our program has escalated, at least at the Omaha level, we have lost more kids. That’s because of the level of kid we are going after.”

Corbin said he thinks some major league teams even pay closer attention to players after they sign a national letter of intent with Vanderbilt, which had nine players drafted from this season’s team (including three in the first round).

“I think the professional teams see that and say, ‘Vanderbilt is making a run at this kid, so he’s probably one we should be evaluating,'” Corbin said. “It’s not necessarily that they’re evaluating them just because Vanderbilt is signing them, but that’s a good possibility because they are premium talents.”

Vanderbilt must replace its first baseman, shortstop and one outfielder in its lineup and all three starting pitchers in the weekend rotation. Corbin said he doesn’t like to project which, if any, of his incoming freshmen could start.

“It’s wait and see. As talented as any of these kids are – and I go back to (David) Price, (Mike) Minor, (Sonny) Gray and all those kids – I take a very conservative approach with them,” Corbin said. “I just try to slow-play their progression because it is difficult. Often times it’s the kids that feel really comfortable that have an opportunity to play. That takes time and maturity.”

This was a relatively large recruiting class for Corbin, who hoped to compensate for the high number of players and signees lost to the draft.

“Because of the juniors going out and the level of kids we were recruiting, this was a heavy class – kind of an anomaly for us,” Corbin said. “But this year was different than most because we had a gap of space where we needed kids who could come in and play.”

Reach Adam Sparks at 615-259-8010 and on Twitter @AdamSparks.

VANDERBILT SIGNEES LOST & KEPT

Players signed by Vanderbilt from high school who inked contracts with major league organizations

Vanderbilt’s remaining signing class