This Week in BaseVols (TWIB)

[txbo]

I think UT takes 2-3 and wins the series on the road in OK. Playing at Bricktown will feel like a neutral site but will obviously count as a road series for RPI purposes. It will be interesting who starts game 3 for the Vols as I’m assuming Mack will not be a go.


PS My daughter is graduating from UT or I would be there. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone!

Time flies. They are gone before you know it. Congrats to your little girl. Celebrate.

 

[taylorvol]

This Week in BaseVols (TWIB)

5/19/26

BaseVols Take OK Series
The #23 BaseVols won the Series by taking 2 out of 3 from the Oklahoma Sooners in OKC in front of a sparse crowd at the AAA ballpark (Chickasaw Bricktown) of the LA Dodgers. The Vols were lead by super Senior Reese Chapman (.462 at 6 for 15 with 2 doubles, 5 runs scored, and 4 RBIs), Manny Marin (.500 at 3 for 6 with a double, a triple, and 4 RBIs all in the first 2 games as he was held out for a minor injury for game 3), and Henry Ford (.364 at 4 for 11 with a double, 2 HRs, 4 runs scored, and 3 RBIs). Unfortunately, the hot hitting senior leader, Reese Chapman, was struck by a line drive in the jaw during practice activities in Hoover and will likely be out of action for the foreseeable future. Let’s hope Chapman is alright for the long term and recovers quickly as this is a huge loss for the Vols and has to be hugely disappointing for Chapman and his family. Starting Pitcher Landon Mack is traveling to Hoover for the SEC tournament but likely doubtful to pitch. Personally, I’d be surprised if we Mack on the mound for the remainder of the season. Ironically, the Vols have been healthy for the majority of the season, but are now experiencing injuries at the worst possible time. If Mack and Chapman aren’t back for the Regionals, it will put the Vols at a huge disadvantage.

On the downside, Garrett Wright (.154 with a .250 OBP), Trent Grindlinger (.143 with a .200 OBP), and Stone Lawless (.000 with a 0-6 in only 2 games) really struggled at the plate in OKC. If the Vols have any hopes for success in the postseason (especially without Reese Chapman and Landon Mack) these 3 need to heat back up quickly. With Chapman out, the Vols inserted freshman Nathan Eisfelder at RF, moved Blake Grimmer to 1B, inserted Jay Abernathy at 2B, and moved Levi Clark to C.

Despite leading the nation in fielding percentage, the Vols struggled defensively on the natural grass and dirt surface at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in OKC fielding a paltry .947 with 6 errors for the Series. Make no mistake, the true hops on the artificial surface in Knoxville is much easier on infielders than the natural playing surfaces in OKC, Hoover, and Omaha. Blake Grimmer was officially charged with 2 errors but easily could have had one more, but the college official scoring system seemingly grades on a generous defensive curve turning “would be” errors into hits. The bottom fielding percentages for the Series belonged to 2B Grimmer at .846, SS Ariel Antigua at .875, and 3B Henry Ford at .889. Hopefully, the series in OKC was an outlier and not indicative of how the Vols will play defensively on natural playing surfaces in Hoover or potentially in the Regionals or Supers.



The ABS (Automated Ball-Strike) umpire challenge system is being used for the first time in Hoover for the SEC Tournament. I can’t wait to see how this plays out as each team will obtain 3 challenges per game obtained by a quick tap of the headgear within 2-3 seconds of the pitch. Only the pitcher, batter, or catcher can initiate a challenge. Here’s hoping that ABS becomes standard in the SEC (and the rest of college baseball) next season for the teams that have the Hawk-Eye technology. For the ones that don’t, perhaps that will serve as motivation to obtain it.

I have found it interesting how Tennessee coaches currently receive feedback from the catcher on a questionable ball or strike call. From what I have noticed, they simply ask the catcher “where was it” and the catcher will simply motion with his hand up, down, outside, or inside or he will touch his chest to indicate that it was a strike. In the past, some UT catchers had a method to provide this feedback covertly with the manner in which they would throw the ball back to the pitcher. Personally, I liked this method much better because it didn’t alienate the catcher from the home plate umpire and gave the coaches the feedback they requested in a much more covert way. Perhaps ABS will improve calling balls and strikes moving forward and it will likely reduce dugout chirping.

Status of Tennessee Pitching Staff
As of now, I think the Vols currently have 5 or 6 reliable pitchers including Tegan Kuhns, Evan Blanco, Brandon Arvidson, Bo Rhudy, Nic Abraham, and Cam Appenzeller. After last night’s performance against SC, I think you can add freshman Will Haas to that list. Unfortunately, despite a 97 mph heater and a frisbee slider and elite talent, Brayden Krenzel looks like he could use a few months off. His ceiling is first round talent, but his floor is ending his baseball career at Ohio State. If Landon Mack is healthy OR if his adviisors allow him to pitch, I’d certainly include him on this list. Without Mack, UT looks like a short stay in the postseason unless they find some bullpen magic. On the positive side, there are several talented freshmen who have gained some valuable experience and will look much better on the mound next season.

Grading the Regular Season
When the season started, I proclaimed this team wasn’t a postseason contender due to their youth and inexperience (167th in the country and 13th in the SEC In returning production as measured by D1 Baseball). Considering this and the coaching attrition (Head Coach, Pitching Coach, Strength/Conditioning Coach, and Scouting Director), I would grade UT’s regular season as a solid B. Coach Elander calmed the storm, proved adaptable, and led with a steady hand and an “even keel” demeanor. He made adjustments to the lineup and pitching rotation when necessary but stayed loyal to high ceiling players like Levi Clark and Tegan Kuhns which paid off in spades. UT’s hitting has come on strong, the defense has the best fielding percentage in the nation, but the bullpen has been dreadful. Although dealing with the press isn’t on his list of favorite activities, Coach Elander was refreshingly more candid and direct than I expected. He’s much more of a straight shooter than I expected, but he needs to increase his fan and media exposure next season.

Hoover Heroics:
The Vols beat down the SC Gamecocks 11-6 on a warm Tuesday evening in Hoover, Alabama. Freshman Cam Appenzeller earned the win by going 5 innings and giving up 6 hits, 3 runs, 5 strikeouts, and 3 walks. Fellow freshman Will Haas got the save going 2.1 innings and only giving up 1 hit and 6 strikeouts with no walks and 1 hit by pitch. The Vols offense was led by the top of the order, Garrett Wright led the offense by going 4 for 5 with a HR, 3 RBIs, and 2 runs scored. Henry Ford went 3 for 4 with a HR, 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Finally, Blake Grimmer went 2 for 5 and scored 2 runs. I expect the Vols to start Nic Abraham vs the Arkansas Razorbacks at 5:30pm ET in Hoover.

Random Observations in Hoover:
It was a smart move by Elander to insert smooth fielding Jay Abernathy at 2B especially after the trouble Grimmer’s experienced at 2B on the natural surface in OKC. Abernathy made a nice 4-3 DP in the 2nd inning by quickly tagging the runner and firing to 1B

Nathan Eisfelder is no normal true freshman. He’s 20 yo and a top 100 HS recruit who looks ready to play in the SEC. He crushed a 2B to the wall in Right CF.

Vols 6 run 3rd inning was filled with sweet looking backside swings and solid approaches.

Speed kills: Abernathy hit a ground ball in the hole at SS who would have likely never made the play but was ruled an error when he hurriedly bobbled the ball.

SC is comically bad on defense. Vols were smart to keep the pressure on and force the atrocious Gamecock defense to make plays.

Go Vols! Beat Arkansas!

Taylor

 

[VolFan_stuck_in_the_901]

This Week in BaseVols (TWIB)

5/19/26

BaseVols Take OK Series
The #23 BaseVols won the Series by taking 2 out of 3 from the Oklahoma Sooners in OKC in front of a sparse crowd at the AAA ballpark (Chickasaw Bricktown) of the LA Dodgers. The Vols were lead by super Senior Reese Chapman (.462 at 6 for 15 with 2 doubles, 5 runs scored, and 4 RBIs), Manny Marin (.500 at 3 for 6 with a double, a triple, and 4 RBIs all in the first 2 games as he was held out for a minor injury for game 3), and Henry Ford (.364 at 4 for 11 with a double, 2 HRs, 4 runs scored, and 3 RBIs). Unfortunately, the hot hitting senior leader, Reese Chapman, was struck by a line drive in the jaw during practice activities in Hoover and will likely be out of action for the foreseeable future. Let’s hope Chapman is alright for the long term and recovers quickly as this is a huge loss for the Vols and has to be hugely disappointing for Chapman and his family. Starting Pitcher Landon Mack is traveling to Hoover for the SEC tournament but likely doubtful to pitch. Personally, I’d be surprised if we Mack on the mound for the remainder of the season. Ironically, the Vols have been healthy for the majority of the season, but are now experiencing injuries at the worst possible time. If Mack and Chapman aren’t back for the Regionals, it will put the Vols at a huge disadvantage.

On the downside, Garrett Wright (.154 with a .250 OBP), Trent Grindlinger (.143 with a .200 OBP), and Stone Lawless (.000 with a 0-6 in only 2 games) really struggled at the plate in OKC. If the Vols have any hopes for success in the postseason (especially without Reese Chapman and Landon Mack) these 3 need to heat back up quickly. With Chapman out, the Vols inserted freshman Nathan Eisfelder at RF, moved Blake Grimmer to 1B, inserted Jay Abernathy at 2B, and moved Levi Clark to C.

Despite leading the nation in fielding percentage, the Vols struggled defensively on the natural grass and dirt surface at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in OKC fielding a paltry .947 with 6 errors for the Series. Make no mistake, the true hops on the artificial surface in Knoxville is much easier on infielders than the natural playing surfaces in OKC, Hoover, and Omaha. Blake Grimmer was officially charged with 2 errors but easily could have had one more, but the college official scoring system seemingly grades on a generous defensive curve turning “would be” errors into hits. The bottom fielding percentages for the Series belonged to 2B Grimmer at .846, SS Ariel Antigua at .875, and 3B Henry Ford at .889. Hopefully, the series in OKC was an outlier and not indicative of how the Vols will play defensively on natural playing surfaces in Hoover or potentially in the Regionals or Supers.



The ABS (Automated Ball-Strike) umpire challenge system is being used for the first time in Hoover for the SEC Tournament. I can’t wait to see how this plays out as each team will obtain 3 challenges per game obtained by a quick tap of the headgear within 2-3 seconds of the pitch. Only the pitcher, batter, or catcher can initiate a challenge. Here’s hoping that ABS becomes standard in the SEC (and the rest of college baseball) next season for the teams that have the Hawk-Eye technology. For the ones that don’t, perhaps that will serve as motivation to obtain it.

I have found it interesting how Tennessee coaches currently receive feedback from the catcher on a questionable ball or strike call. From what I have noticed, they simply ask the catcher “where was it” and the catcher will simply motion with his hand up, down, outside, or inside or he will touch his chest to indicate that it was a strike. In the past, some UT catchers had a method to provide this feedback covertly with the manner in which they would throw the ball back to the pitcher. Personally, I liked this method much better because it didn’t alienate the catcher from the home plate umpire and gave the coaches the feedback they requested in a much more covert way. Perhaps ABS will improve calling balls and strikes moving forward and it will likely reduce dugout chirping.

Status of Tennessee Pitching Staff
As of now, I think the Vols currently have 5 or 6 reliable pitchers including Tegan Kuhns, Evan Blanco, Brandon Arvidson, Bo Rhudy, Nic Abraham, and Cam Appenzeller. After last night’s performance against SC, I think you can add freshman Will Haas to that list. Unfortunately, despite a 97 mph heater and a frisbee slider and elite talent, Brayden Krenzel looks like he could use a few months off. His ceiling is first round talent, but his floor is ending his baseball career at Ohio State. If Landon Mack is healthy OR if his adviisors allow him to pitch, I’d certainly include him on this list. Without Mack, UT looks like a short stay in the postseason unless they find some bullpen magic. On the positive side, there are several talented freshmen who have gained some valuable experience and will look much better on the mound next season.

Grading the Regular Season
When the season started, I proclaimed this team wasn’t a postseason contender due to their youth and inexperience (167th in the country and 13th in the SEC In returning production as measured by D1 Baseball). Considering this and the coaching attrition (Head Coach, Pitching Coach, Strength/Conditioning Coach, and Scouting Director), I would grade UT’s regular season as a solid B. Coach Elander calmed the storm, proved adaptable, and led with a steady hand and an “even keel” demeanor. He made adjustments to the lineup and pitching rotation when necessary but stayed loyal to high ceiling players like Levi Clark and Tegan Kuhns which paid off in spades. UT’s hitting has come on strong, the defense has the best fielding percentage in the nation, but the bullpen has been dreadful. Although dealing with the press isn’t on his list of favorite activities, Coach Elander was refreshingly more candid and direct than I expected. He’s much more of a straight shooter than I expected, but he needs to increase his fan and media exposure next season.

Hoover Heroics:
The Vols beat down the SC Gamecocks 11-6 on a warm Tuesday evening in Hoover, Alabama. Freshman Cam Appenzeller earned the win by going 5 innings and giving up 6 hits, 3 runs, 5 strikeouts, and 3 walks. Fellow freshman Will Haas got the save going 2.1 innings and only giving up 1 hit and 6 strikeouts with no walks and 1 hit by pitch. The Vols offense was led by the top of the order, Garrett Wright led the offense by going 4 for 5 with a HR, 3 RBIs, and 2 runs scored. Henry Ford went 3 for 4 with a HR, 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Finally, Blake Grimmer went 2 for 5 and scored 2 runs. I expect the Vols to start Nic Abraham vs the Arkansas Razorbacks at 5:30pm ET in Hoover.

Random Observations in Hoover:
It was a smart move by Elander to insert smooth fielding Jay Abernathy at 2B especially after the trouble Grimmer’s experienced at 2B on the natural surface in OKC. Abernathy made a nice 4-3 DP in the 2nd inning by quickly tagging the runner and firing to 1B

Nathan Eisfelder is no normal true freshman. He’s 20 yo and a top 100 HS recruit who looks ready to play in the SEC. He crushed a 2B to the wall in Right CF.

Vols 6 run 3rd inning was filled with sweet looking backside swings and solid approaches.

Speed kills: Abernathy hit a ground ball in the hole at SS who would have likely never made the play but was ruled an error when he hurriedly bobbled the ball.

SC is comically bad on defense. Vols were smart to keep the pressure on and force the atrocious Gamecock defense to make plays.

Go Vols! Beat Arkansas!

Taylor

Please tell me we will be free of Reynolds soon

 

[taylorvol]

This Week in BaseVols (TWIB)

5/26/26

Now that the regular season has ended for the BaseVols, it’s time to officially grade the UT coaching staff and provide superlatives for the players. Last week, I gave the Vols a solid B for their efforts on the field based on all of the hurdles and challenges they faced so late in the Fall preseason. Regarding the coaching staff, I see lots of positives except for one significant area in need of improvement.

Grading the Coaching Staff

Head Coach Josh Elander B
Despite being named the Head Coach in late October, Coach Elander hit the ground running, kept the team together through turmoil, heavy coaching attrition (i.e. Head Coach, Pitching Coach, Strength/Conditioning Coach, and Scouting Director), and led his team as a trusted advisor with a steady hand. He made adjustments to the lineup and pitching rotation when necessary but stayed loyal to high ceiling players like Levi Clark and Tegan Kuhns which paid off in spades.

Associate Head Coach: Chuck Jeroloman B
Jeroloman was the #2 man who Elander hired from Florida to backfill his position. The BaseVols hitting improved drastically during the 2nd half of the season and Levi Clark has developed into an outstanding hitter and solid defensive first baseman. Overall, in SEC games, UT finished 11th in the SEC in Batting Average at .256, 10th in OPS at .811, 4th in SLG% at .469, 14th in OB% at .342, and 4th in HRs with 53.

Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator: Ross Kivett A
UTs defense improved dramatically under the direction of Kivett leading the nation with a .984 fielding percentage despite having 3 players known more as DHs (Blaine Brown, Blake Grimmer, and Levi Clark) than position players. Levi Clark who ended SEC play with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, proved to be a solid 1B and C and was adept at scooping throws at 1B. Although both Blake Grimmer at 2B and Blaine Brown in LF struggled at times defensively, they became serviceable at those positions. In fact, I think Brown will take a huge jump next season both defensively and at the plate.

Assistant Coach/Pitching Coach: Josh Reynolds D
Granted after losing arguably the best pitching coach in college baseball in Frank Anderson, Coach Reynolds had tremendous shoes to fill. To put it mildly, the Vols struggled on the pitching mound. In conference play, UT finished 10th in the SEC with a 6.05 ERA, 14th in hits allowed with 295, 11th in runs allowed with 197, 5th in walks allowed with 101, 6th in strikeouts with 300, and 15th in HRs allowed with 61. Overall, there seemed to be poor development and a questionable strategy.

Regarding pitching strategy, the Vols decided they had too many “look alike” power arms in 2025, and decided to assemble as many different looks on the mound as possible for 2026. Granted this decision was made by the prior staff as Reynolds was forced to work with a roster curated by others. With that said, it’s hard to find pitchers that improved over last season or over the course of this season. (Let’s face it, Tegan Kuhns was always earmarked as early round MLB talent). Bo Rhudy, Nic Abraham, and Will Haas appear to be exceptions to the rule as they improved during the season. Unfortunately many seemingly performed worse this season vs last (see Brayden Krenzel) or declined as the season progressed (Cam Appenzeller). At the very least, many pitchers seemed stagnant and showed little to no improvement (Brandon Arvidson), or were portal busts (Brady Frederick and Mark Hindy). Frankly, if UT wants to compete for championships in 2027, their pitching, talent evaluation, and coaching in this department must improve dramatically.



Player Superlatives:

MVP: Reese Chapman

Freshman of the Year: Trent Grindlinger

Pitcher of the Year: Tegan Kuhns

Transfer of the Year: Garrett Wright

Defensive Player of the Year: Manny Marin

Most Improved Player: Levi Clark


Predicting next year’s roster in the NIL and Portal Era might be a futile task, however here’s my best guess:

Lost Via Graduation or MLB Draft
Chapman, Hindy, Ford, Marin, Wright, Grimmer, Blanco, Arvidson, Kuhns, Rhudy

Core Returnees
Clark, Grindlinger, Abernathy, Brown, Eisfelder, Moore, Williams, Appenzeller, Mack, Abraham, Haas, Day, Baiotto, *Lawless
*Although draft eligible, Lawless had a major injury setback so I think he returns for his redshirt Junior season.

Transfer Portal Risks
Newstrom, Krenzel, Bates, Frederick, Antigua, Myatt

I like the fact that Coach Elander moved from 3B coach back into the dugout. I think this was especially important for a first year Head Coach to be in the dugout leading the team—especially when the home dugout is on the 1B side of the field. For what it’s worth, his regular season record while coaching 3B was 18-10 (3-6 in SEC). His record after moving to the dugout was 19-9 (12-9 in SEC).

In 2026, why is there still no ESPN Gameday for college baseball on big conference match up weekends? Can you imagine the atmosphere in Starkville for Ole Miss vs Miss State, in Knoxville for Arkansas vs UT, in Baton Rouge for TX vs LSU? Finally, ESPN is making a long needed step in the right direction by having live studio shows from Omaha for the upcoming College World Series. With every game now being available on ESPN streams, the evolution of Rally Cap and Squeeze Play, and key games being broadcast across TV, the college game is stronger than ever! However, if the NCAA would back off on having the umpires acting as the “fun police” and “let the boys play”, college baseball would grow exponentially as social media impressions would be off the charts!

In an unexpected turn of events, instead of penalizing the KY Mildcats for cancelling a late season midweek game vs Northern KY, the NCAA penalized Mercer for cancelling an early season weekend series against KY. Essentially, the NCAA cited Mercer’s weak non conference Strength of Schedule for leaving them out of the 64 team playoff.

Now that the Automated Balls and Strikes (ABS) system was successfully tested at the SEC tournament, will college baseball eventually adopt all of the recent MLB rule changes? Since installing the Hawk-Eye technology required for ABS likely costs stadiums anywhere from $200K to $500K, it will certainly be slowly adopted for the non SEC and ACC teams. However, banning the shift, requiring all pitchers to face a minimum of 3 batters, and limiting pickoff attempts cost nothing to implement. Plus implementing these MLB rules will shorten the games making college baseball even more appealing to TV as they fit more neatly into <3 hour windows.

The resurgent Vols are headed to the NC Tar Heels Regional in Chapel Hill, NC and will face ECU at Noon on Friday. Later that evening, VCU plays NC at 5pm in the double elimination tournament. The Vols have their work cut out for them with their sparse pitching options. I expect to see Evan Blanco starting on Friday with Tegan Kuhns taking the mound on Saturday. The 3rd starter for Sunday is TBD and dependent on if Landon Mack is available. I expect the Vols to pull out all the stops in an attempt to stay out of the losers bracket and will leverage key bullpens options (ie Arvidson and/or Appenzeller) as needed on Friday and Saturday vs saving for a spot start on Sunday. If Mack is available, this would obviously be a huge bonus to the Vols struggling bullpen. Thankfully Bo Rhudy and freshman Will Haas appear to be in top form and Nic Abraham will likely be needed to provide some quality innings if the Vols look to survive in Chapel Hill. Notably senior leader Reese Chapman is likely to play even with a fractured cheek bone further cementing his legacy as a true VFL who played all 4 seasons at UT! Here’s hoping for some Vols magic to find a way to win in a very tough NC Regional! GBO!



Taylor

 

[taylorvol]

Updating my hits and misses from last week’s TWIB predicting Portal Risks. As of tonight,
7 Vols have either entered or declared intentions to enter the Transfer Portal:
Antigua, Newstrom, Krenzel, Hankins, Moore, Bates, and High
(I hit on bolded players but missed on Hankins, Moore, and High). With that said, I expect many more Vols to enter. Keep in mind, many of these players have been “recruited over” or told they are no longer a fit. Some will proactively look for greener pastures. It’s become a “cut throat“ business with the 34 roster cap after years of COVID inflated rosters of 40 plus stockpiling additional redshirts or non scholarship players.

Clipped from TWIB:
Predicting next year’s roster in the NIL and Portal Era might be a futile task, however here’s my best guess:

Transfer Portal Risks
Newstrom, Krenzel, Bates, Frederick, Antigua, Myatt

 

[BillyHoyleVol]

I really hated to see Ethan Moore hit the portal. Truly, I’m hope nothing but the absolute best for those guys (unless they’re playing us…then I wish them 0’fers and double digit ERAs.)

I’m excited for AA and Hunter High to see the field somewhere. Also, Krenzel seems like a good dude and it’d be cool to see him round back in to form.

 

[taylorvol]

I really hated to see Ethan Moore hit the portal. Truly, I’m hope nothing but the absolute best for those guys (unless they’re playing us…then I wish them 0’fers and double digit ERAs.)

I’m excited for AA and Hunter High to see the field somewhere. Also, Krenzel seems like a good dude and it’d be cool to see him round back in to form.

Agreed as I think he will rake somewhere. I will be pulling hard for all of these guys wherever they land as long as it’s not KY or Arkansas! lol. I will still pull for them but in the manner you mentioned above!

 

[taylorvol]

This Week in BaseVols (TWIB)
6/2/26

The BaseVols season ended in a rather quick manner in steamy Chapel Hill as the Vols went 0-2 in the North Carolina Regional losing back to back nooners to ECU and VCU. It bears repeating that a team that was 167th overall and 13th in the SEC in Returning Production (metric by D1 Baseball on returning ABs and IPs) was never going far in the postseason. Candidly, 2026 was a rebuilding year where Elander managed to win 15 SEC games and make a Regional. Not great but certainly good considering the circumstances—just ask Vandy and LSU. The only savior to a rebuilding season would have been hitting on virtually every single Portal transfer (see UGA who basically fields an entire team of portal players as only 1 starter didn‘t come via the portal).

Unfortunately, UT’s portal haul was a mixed bag with some stellar players and several outright portal busts. I hate to think of the fate of this team had Reese Chapman not returned. Chapman was simply the MVP and heart and soul of this team playing despite a broken cheekbone. Tegan Kuhns was an absolute warrior on the mound despite being under the weather during a scorching hot afternoon in Chapel Hill. Kuhns will likely be a 1st rounder in the upcoming MLB Draft.

The overall portal class was a big disappointment especially looking at it through an SEC only lens:

Rank Ordering the Portal Additions (SEC stats only)

1. Evan Blanco 6-1 with a 5.16 ERA and .235 b/avg 63 Ks/18 BBs in 59.1 IPs
2. Henry Ford .248/.496/.307 with 8 HRs and 25 RBIs and .983 FP
3. Garrett Wright .252/.420/.353 with 4 HRs and 11 RBIs and 1.000 FP
4. *Bo Rhudy 0-1 with 3 saves, 4.50 ERA, and .203 b/avg 19 Ks/3 BBs in 16 IPs
5. Landon Mack 1-3 with a 6.0 ERA and .312 b/avg 47 Ks/16 BBs in 39 IPs
6. Blaine Brown .241/.464/.323 with 7 HRs and 18 RBIs and .981 FP
7. *Tyler Myatt .179/.179/.226 with 0 HRs and 3 RBIs and .944 FP (only 28 ABs)
8. Mark Hindy 36.0 ERA in only 5 appearances and 1 IP (3 hits and 4 ERs)
9. Brady Frederick 0-1 with 15.75 ERA and .474 b/avg 4 Ks/4 BBs in 4 IPs
10. *Finley Bates (a total non factor with only 1 official AB for a K in SEC play)

Rank Ordering the Freshmen
The top two rated freshmen produced and the dynamic duo of Grindlinger and Appenzeller must be on the 2027 roster.

1. Trent Grindlinger .341/.549/.419 with 4 HRs and 18 RBIs in 82 ABs
2. Cam Appenzeller 3-1 with a 5.77 ERA and .256 b/avg 36 Ks/9 BBs in 34.1 IPs
3. *Nathan Eisfelder (only 2 ABs and went 1-2 with an RBI)
4. *William Haas 5.40 ERA and .231 b/avg in only 3.1 IPs

*Not enough ABs or IPs in SEC play to be considered statistically significant


Areas for Improvement in 2027:
The Vols only had 4 hitters with batting averages over .255 in SEC play:

1. Trent Grindlinger at .341
2. Levi Clark at .293
3. Reese Chapman at .284
4. Blake Grimmer at .274

Next were Marin at .254, Wright at .252, Ford at .248, and Brown at .241)


The Vols only had 2 pitchers with ERAs under 5.00 in SEC play:

1. Tegan Kuhns at 3.52
2. Brandon Arvidson at 4.34

(Next were Blanco at 5.16, Appenzeller at 5.77, and Mack at 6.0)

Who was awarded the Golden Tickets/DSAs (aka Designated Student Athletes) for 2026?
Although DSAs aren’t typically officially announced publicly, I’m taking an educated guess that UT awarded 5 DSAs for the past season. Considering that rosters were capped at 34, and that UT ended up with 39 players on the 2026 roster, it’s safe to say that the Vols had 5 DSAs. Considering that UT redshirted Hutson Chance, Cash Williams, Jackson Estes, Ari Bethea, DJ McDowell, and Ethan Moore, I assume 5 of the 6 received DSAs. It’s possible all of them except for Jackson Estes will transfer (Estes might as well but assume the Vols will do everything they can to retain him). The DSA designation means that they don’t count against the 34 roster cap for the remainder of their careers. (It was a result of the House Settlement Agreement which implemented DSAs in an attempt not to hurt the 2026 class of recruits who would have been adversely impacted by the move from 40 man rosters to 34.). Essentially, DSAs can transfer with immunity on full scholarships and are certainly more appealing transfers with that DSA designation. Unfortunately, many of the DSAs will likely be forced to “play down” from a Power 4 conference (SEC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12) to a JUCO or mid major conference.

TWIB Notes:

I give HUGE props to the improvement Blake Grimmer made at 2B throughout the season. First of all, he’s more of a LF’er or corner 1B/3B guy, but was open to doing whatever necessary to help the team. Candidly, he went from looking completely out of place at 2B to looking very good. His 6-4-3 double play turns improved dramatically as well as his footwork at 2B. It’s obvious that he worked hard with Ross Kivett and Ricky Martinez to become a solid 2B in the SEC. Grimmer is a really impressive athlete, solid teammate, and likely played his way onto several MLB draft boards.

The NCAA Baseball Tournament has surpassed March Madness with upsets and total chaos. None of the 8 CWS teams from last season even made a Super Regional this year. UCLA was ranked 1st all season and didn’t even make it out of their own Regional which was played before an embarrassingly sparse crowd in LA.

Squeeze Play on ESPN is so well done by Chris Burke, Mike Rooney, Kris Budden, and Matt Schick. Burke and Rooney’s passion and knowledge of all things college baseball is “must see” TV for college baseball casuals or enthusiasts.

The scene in Morgantown, WV was absolutely incredible during the entire Regional when the Mountaineers were on the field. However after WV walked off KY in extras on Monday evening, it reached the NEXT LEVEL! Seeing over 5,000 fans singing “Country Roads” was spine chilling awesome! Watching the Mildcats’ fans utter disappointment only made it that much better!


2027 Roster Makeup???
Predicting the 2027 roster is likely an exercise in futility during portal season and the unregulated NIL era. With that said, I think this is “directionally accurate”:

Existing 2026 Roster: look for the Vols to retain 14-16

Incoming Freshman: onboard ~10 of the 19 commitments

Portal Transfers: obtain a minimum of 8 portal transfers

Candidly, the Vols need lots of pitching help, 2-3 big bats, at least one outfielder, and a couple of middle infielders. Of course the final roster will likely be slightly greater than 34 depending on how many current DSAs they retain and/or how many new DSAs come via the portal.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 9 BaseVols have entered the portal and there’s likely many more to come. It will be a wild and crazy portal season. Here’s hoping the Vols manage the off-season wisely and the 2027 season is one for the memory books! GBO!


Taylor

 

[Vols330]

This Week in BaseVols (TWIB)
6/2/26

The BaseVols season ended in a rather quick manner in steamy Chapel Hill as the Vols went 0-2 in the North Carolina Regional losing back to back nooners to ECU and VCU. It bears repeating that a team that was 167th overall and 13th in the SEC in Returning Production (metric by D1 Baseball on returning ABs and IPs) was never going far in the postseason. Candidly, 2026 was a rebuilding year where Elander managed to win 15 SEC games and make a Regional. Not great but certainly good considering the circumstances—just ask Vandy and LSU. The only savior to a rebuilding season would have been hitting on virtually every single Portal transfer (see UGA who basically fields an entire team of portal players as only 1 starter didn‘t come via the portal).

Unfortunately, UT’s portal haul was a mixed bag with some stellar players and several outright portal busts. I hate to think of the fate of this team had Reese Chapman not returned. Chapman was simply the MVP and heart and soul of this team playing despite a broken cheekbone. Tegan Kuhns was an absolute warrior on the mound despite being under the weather during a scorching hot afternoon in Chapel Hill. Kuhns will likely be a 1st rounder in the upcoming MLB Draft.

The overall portal class was a big disappointment especially looking at it through an SEC only lens:

Rank Ordering the Portal Additions (SEC stats only)

1. Evan Blanco 6-1 with a 5.16 ERA and .235 b/avg 63 Ks/18 BBs in 59.1 IPs
2. Henry Ford .248/.496/.307 with 8 HRs and 25 RBIs and .983 FP
3. Garrett Wright .252/.420/.353 with 4 HRs and 11 RBIs and 1.000 FP
4. *Bo Rhudy 0-1 with 3 saves, 4.50 ERA, and .203 b/avg 19 Ks/3 BBs in 16 IPs
5. Landon Mack 1-3 with a 6.0 ERA and .312 b/avg 47 Ks/16 BBs in 39 IPs
6. Blaine Brown .241/.464/.323 with 7 HRs and 18 RBIs and .981 FP
7. *Tyler Myatt .179/.179/.226 with 0 HRs and 3 RBIs and .944 FP (only 28 ABs)
8. Mark Hindy 36.0 ERA in only 5 appearances and 1 IP (3 hits and 4 ERs)
9. Brady Frederick 0-1 with 15.75 ERA and .474 b/avg 4 Ks/4 BBs in 4 IPs
10. *Finley Bates (a total non factor with only 1 official AB for a K in SEC play)

Rank Ordering the Freshmen
The top two rated freshmen produced and the dynamic duo of Grindlinger and Appenzeller must be on the 2027 roster.

1. Trent Grindlinger .341/.549/.419 with 4 HRs and 18 RBIs in 82 ABs
2. Cam Appenzeller 3-1 with a 5.77 ERA and .256 b/avg 36 Ks/9 BBs in 34.1 IPs
3. *Nathan Eisfelder (only 2 ABs and went 1-2 with an RBI)
4. *William Haas 5.40 ERA and .231 b/avg in only 3.1 IPs

*Not enough ABs or IPs in SEC play to be considered statistically significant


Areas for Improvemennt in 2027:
The Vols only had 4 hitters with batting averages over .255 in SEC play:

1. Trent Grindlinger at .341
2. Levi Clark at .293
3. Reese Chapman at .284
4. Blake Grimmer at .274

Next were Marin at .254, Wright at .252, Ford at .248, and Brown at .241)


The Vols only had 2 pitchers with ERAs under 5.00 in SEC play:

1. Tegan Kuhns at 3.52
2. Brandon Arvidson at 4.34

(Next were Blanco at 5.16, Appenzeller at 5.77, and Mack at 6.0)

Who was awarded the Golden Tickets/DSAs (aka Designated Student Athletes) for 2026?
Although DSAs aren’t typically officially announced publicly, I’m taking an educated guess that UT awarded 5 DSAs for the past season. Considering that rosters were capped at 34, and that UT ended up with 39 players on the 2026 roster, it’s safe to say that the Vols had 5 DSAs. Considering that UT redshirted Hutson Chance, Cash Williams, Jackson Estes, Ari Bethea, DJ McDowell, and Ethan Moore, I assume 5 of the 6 received DSAs. It’s possible all of them except for Jackson Estes will transfer (Estes might as well but assume the Vols will do everything they can to retain him). The DSA designation means that they don’t count against the 34 roster cap for the remainder of their careers. (It was a result of the House Settlement Agreement which implemented DSAs in an attempt not to hurt the 2026 class of recruits who would have been adversely impacted by the move from 40 man rosters to 34.). Essentially, DSAs can transfer with immunity on full scholarships and are certainly more appealing transfers with that DSA designation. Unfortunately, many of the DSAs will likely be forced to “play down” from a Power 4 conference (SEC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12) to a JUCO or mid major conference.

TWIB Notes:

I give HUGE props to the improvement Blake Grimmer made at 2B throughout the season. First of all, he’s more of a LF’er or corner 1B/3B guy, but was open to doing whatever necessary to help the team. Candidly, he went from looking completely out of place at 2B to looking very good. His 6-4-3 double play turns improved dramatically as well as his footwork at 2B. It’s obvious that he worked hard with Ross Kivett and Ricky Jackson to become a solid 2B in the SEC. Grimmer is a really impressive athlete, solid teammate, and likely played his way onto several MLB draft boards.

The NCAA Baseball Tournament has surpassed March Madness with upsets and total chaos. None of the 8 CWS teams from last season even made a Super Regional this year. UCLA was ranked 1st all season and didn’t even make it out of their own Regional which was played before an embarrassingly sparse crowd in LA.

Squeeze Play on ESPN is so well done by Chris Burke, Mike Rooney, Kris Budden, and Matt Schick. Burke and Rooney’s passion and knowledge of all things college baseball is “must see” TV for college baseball casuals or enthusiasts.

The scene in Morgantown, WV was absolutely incredible during the entire Regional when the Mountaineers were on the field. However after WV walked off KY in extras on Monday evening, it reached the NEXT LEVEL! Seeing over 5,000 fans singing “Country Roads” was spine chilling awesome! Watching the Mildcats’ fans utter disappointment only made it that much better!


2027 Roster Makeup???
Predicting the 2027 roster is likely an exercise in futility during portal season and the unregulated NIL era. With that said, I think this is “directionally accurate”:

Existing 2026 Roster: look for the Vols to retain 14-16

Incoming Freshman: onboard ~10 of the 19 commitments

Portal Transfers: obtain a minimum of 8 portal transfers

Candidly, the Vols need lots of pitching help, 2-3 big bats, at least one outfielder, and a couple of middle infielders. Of course the final roster will likely be slightly greater than 34 depending on how many current DSAs they retain and/or how many new DSAs come via the portal.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 9 BaseVols have entered the portal and there’s likely many more to come. It will be a wild and crazy portal season. Here’s hoping the Vols manage the off-season wisely and the 2027 season is one for the memory books! GBO!


Taylor

I know this takes an inordinate amount of time to put together and I'm incredibly thankful for it.

 

[taylorvol]

I know this takes an inordinate amount of time to put together and I'm incredibly thankful for it.

Hey, thank you! I sincerely appreciate you saying that. I have always enjoyed writing and the BaseVols make for a very interesting topic (at least for me) and hopefully for a few others like yourself!

 

[taylorvol]

With it looking like SS Manny Marin is going to forego the Draft and return for his junior season, the Vols look to have secured the most important defensive position for 2027. I’m very surprised but think this is a great decision for his development as well as his opportunity to improve his draft status.

Portal Needs: Pitching, Pitching, Pitching, 3B, 2B, CF, and LF

 

[taylorvol]

I hate that the NIL, portal era, and reduced rosters have led to roster churn, extreme attrition, and players leaving before you have even learned their names. In short, I’m afraid player development has gone by the wayside. Will we ever see another Trey Lipscomb, Kavares Tears, or Kirby Connell? Why is homegrown developed talent important? Look at this amazing quote from Mike Wilson….


“What if I told you Levi Clark had more homers and RBIs this year in SEC play than Blake Burke did as a junior in 2024? Could even kick in that his slugging percentage was higher, his OBP was very close and he walked more.” Mike Wilson, VolQuest

 

[taylorvol]

As of today, there’s been 26 assistant coaching changes in college baseball (D1 Baseball). Will UT keep their coaching staff intact for 2027, or is there change brewing?