D1 Baseball Fall Report 01Nov23

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greasemachine

greasemachine

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GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Tickets for the 4,000-seat Pioneer Park on the campus of Tusculum University sold out quickly, and more than two hours before first pitch, there was a line of people wearing orange waiting to purchase the limited number of standing room only tickets left to sell.
There are just a handful of college baseball programs that could create such a spectacle in the fall, and Tennessee, which was set to play Virginia Tech at Tusculum, is now one of them. In fact, it’s the third year in a row the Volunteers have put on such a show for its fans around the state. In 2021, they played games in Chattanooga and Millington. Last year, they played in Jackson. And in addition to the game against the Hokies this fall, the Vols are set to take on Samford in Nashville this weekend.
“It’s just fun, and I know Virginia Tech is close, so not too far of a trip for them and they have a few people here, but the amount of people wearing orange and that are fired up to either meet our players or get an autograph, I think they had some orange hats they gave away, it’s pretty special,” said Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello.
It’s a sign of how far the Tennessee program has come in a short time that it draws this kind of interest in fall exhibitions. It wasn’t that long ago that it was a tough chore to come anywhere close to filling Lindsey Nelson Stadium during the season. Now, Lindsey Nelson Stadium is being renovated because it simply hasn’t had enough seats to meet fan demand in recent years.
The 2024 season should do little to tamp down interest in the program, as the Volunteers are incredibly talented once again. There was some turnover on the roster again, particularly on the pitching staff, but a newcomer class made up of precocious freshmen and superstars transfers promises to make it so that the program reloads rather than rebuilds for the second year in a row.
Crowded Infield Among Fall Headlines for Tennessee
The Volunteers will have one of the most dangerous offensive infields in the country. That was probably always going to be the case, but the addition of junior Clemson transfer Billy Amick through the transfer portal sewed it up.
After getting just 19 at-bats as a freshman with the Tigers and not being a regular in the lineup to begin the 2023 season, Amick came alive midway through last season and finished the campaign batting .413/.464/.772 with 17 doubles, 13 home runs and 63 RBIs.
While playing third base in Tennessee’s exhibition game against Virginia Tech, Amick looked the part of the best pure hitter on the field, connecting for a couple of run-producing hits throughout the day, including a hammered three-run home run to left-center. Beginning with a balanced setup at the plate, Amick has a quick, compact swing that produces plus raw power.
“The best part about him being in our locker room or being on our campus so far is how quickly he took to our team,” Vitello said of Amick. “I think a part of it is his willingness to do that, and then also I think both us and Billy got kind of lucky. He just matches up really well with some of our older guys, and so it kind of feels like he’s been here all along.”
Junior Christian Moore, who has the athleticism to play just about anywhere on the field but has mostly been a second baseman for the Vols, got the start at shortstop against VT and looks poised to lock down that position heading into 2024.
For stretches of last season, Moore carried the Tennessee lineup and he ended the season batting .304/.444/.603 with 17 home runs, 50 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. If he’s the best version of himself over the course of an entire season, he’s an SEC player of the year-type talent.
The returning first baseman is junior Blake Burke, who has as much raw power as anyone in the country. He’s coming off of batting .280/.369/.527 with 16 home runs. In SEC play last season, he batted just .211 with five home runs, but he’s far too talented a hitter to expect him to struggle that way against league competition for a second year in a row. With a 3-for-5 performance, he was one of the Vols’ best hitters against the Hokies after he put on a laser show in pregame batting practice.
It should be said that there are defensive questions about that trio. Amick’s bat is well ahead of his glove, Moore has never been a full-time shortstop at this level and Burke made 11 errors last season, a high number for a first baseman. But there’s reason for optimism, especially for the left side of the infield. Amick looked solid at the hot corner against Virginia Tech and even made a couple of above-average plays along the way. Meanwhile, Moore moved well at the position, especially ranging into the hole, and his arm strength really plays.
“I think the bottom line is our infield’s got potential to be pretty dang good defensively,” Vitello said. “There are a couple of plays that they didn’t even make, but there were also some average plays that were made well and then some above-average plays that were made that were difference makers in the inning.”
Second base is a bit more of a question mark right now. One potential solution is fifth-year senior Zane Denton, who was the starting third baseman last season. Given that he clubbed 16 home runs a year ago, it’s clear that Denton at the keystone spot would give Tennessee its best, or at least its most proven, offensive infield alignment. Denton, however, is not with the team this fall, and Vitello has been quoted as saying he’s away from the team because he’s “handling some things.”
Against Virginia Tech, fifth-year senior Ethan Payne got the start at second base. A role player in his time in Knoxville, Payne has just 37 at-bats in his career but he has some physicality in his 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame and he has had a strong fall at the plate.
There are also a number of newcomers who are going to press for playing time in a crowded infield.
The most impressive such player against Virginia Tech was junior college transfer Alex Perry, who played both first base and shortstop that day while going 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs. After beginning his career as a walk-on at Pearl River (Miss.) CC, Perry put up two massive seasons there, batting a combined .376/.496/.649 with 26 home runs, 124 RBIs and 45 stolen bases.
“Swinging-wise, you can see it in BP in the cage and also in our intrasquad scrimmages,” Vitello said of Perry’s offensive success as the fall goes on. “He just looks more comfortable and isn’t pressing and looks like himself at the plate.”
Ariel Antigua is a twitchy 5-foot-8, 180-pound freshman who could be Tennessee’s shortstop of the future. For now, he’s more likely to be in the group of players vying for time at second base. Dean Curley, another freshman, has a very different kind of game. He’s SEC-ready physically at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and has the big-time raw power to match. But don’t let the size fool you, he’s also a good athlete who could play a few different places on the dirt, though third base would seem to be his most natural spot.
Then there’s sophomore Missouri transfer Dalton Bargo, who is coming off of batting .279/.379/.442 for the Tigers last season. He has natural feel to hit, and he’s physical enough at 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds to impact the baseball. The sticking point with Bargo is that he was a DH at Missouri. He could just be a DH again with Tennessee, but the Vols have enough good offensive players that DH could also be quite the crowded spot.
Bargo has experience at first base—that’s where he played against Virginia Tech after beginning the contest at DH—but Burke is more or less entrenched there. He came out of high school as a catcher and he played there some over the summer in the Appalachian League, but after several years of feeling uneasy about the position, Tennessee finally has some experienced depth there. Bargo’s bat is one the coaches will likely want in the lineup as often as possible, but they may have to get creative to make that happen.
“I just really like being around the guy, because he’s kind of a throwback,” Vitello said. “He’s not really worried about what you label him, what position, what his future is in pro ball, what he’s doing on that given day in the lineup. He wants to play, he likes to compete and he wants to get better every day. He looks forward to being coached. He’s not afraid to work.”
The aforementioned catching picture is headlined by sophomore NC State transfer Cannon Peebles, who batted .352/.456/.697 with 12 home runs and 50 RBIs for the Wolfpack last season. He’s stocky and strong at 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, and that shows in his power production, which is all the more impressive when you consider that he had just 142 at-bats last season. It should be noted that Peebles is also relatively unproven behind the plate—he was mostly a DH in his one season in Raleigh in deference to potential 2024 first-round pick Jacob Cozart—but he shows promising tools at the position, including above-average arm strength and a clean exchange.
Senior Cal Stark and redshirt junior Charlie Taylor are also back at the position after splitting duties last season. Neither is known for his offensive prowess, but both are serviceable, experienced options who can get the job done if pressed into action. Stark suffered a hand injury earlier in the fall but he’s back on the field healthy now, hitting and playing catcher.
The outfield still has some things to be settled. The one incumbent back in the fold is center fielder Hunter Ensley. The redshirt junior was a spark plug last season upon his insertion into the everyday lineup, and his .318 batting average in SEC play was second on the team. Though he wasn’t a natural center fielder when he took over that position, he willed and worked himself into being a value add defensively, and he’s only gotten better as he’s gotten more comfortable. He might not be the toolsiest player on the field, but he’s the kind of player whose production makes it tough to take him out in favor of someone who perhaps has a higher ceiling.
Sophomore Dylan Dreiling on paper has the inside track to earning the job in left field. In a part-time role last season, he batted .295/.433/.621 with seven home runs and more walks (24) than strikeouts (20) in just 95 at-bats. To reach his potential, he’ll have to prove he can hit lefthanded pitching. Last season he struggled against lefties to the point that he rarely faced them, but against Virginia Tech, he slugged a rocket of a home run at 115 mph off the bat against a low-slot lefty, perhaps suggesting he’s making the necessary adjustments.
Based on raw talent, Tennessee might like to see redshirt sophomore Kavares Tears earn the job in right field, because in terms of ability, he has just everything you would want. The physical 6-foot, 205-pound outfielder has plus raw power and he hit well in a small sample last season, batting .304/.379/.518 in 54 at-bats, but swinging and missing against breaking stuff is a persistent problem and against Virginia Tech, he fanned all four times at the plate. If he can make more consistent contact, he has plenty of star power.
Redshirt freshman Reese Chapman is another interesting option in the outfield. He’s a plus runner who could be a fit at any of the three spots if he can elbow his way into playing time. Redshirt junior Colby Backus, who like Chapman didn’t see any playing time last season, has an intriguing skill set as well. He’s very physical at 6-foot-4 and 223 pounds, but he’s also a good enough runner and athlete to handle center field, and he broke out in a big way over the summer in the Appalachian League by batting .281/.346/.500 with eight doubles, eight home runs, 37 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.
Among freshmen, Texas native Brayden Sharp, a two-way player, might be the one best equipped to get on the field early. He’s a premium athlete with a potential center fielder of the future profile, but the key to playing time might lie in his ability to add weight to his 6-foot-2, 175-pound frame so that he can impact the ball more and stand up to the rigors of a long season.
A wild card in this mix is sophomore junior college transfer Marcus Phillips from Iowa Western CC. Though he’s much more likely to have an immediate impact on the mound (more on that momentarily), he’s an imposing figure at the plate at 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds.

​

d1baseball.com


 
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#2
D1 Baseball Fall Report 01Nov23 Pitchers

Drew Beam Leads Rebuilt Pitching Staff
Righthander Drew Beam earned the nickname QB1 early in his time in Knoxville as both a nod to his background as a high school quarterback and an acknowledgement of his moxie and unflappability on the mound.
Now, as a junior, Beam is the undisputed SP1 for the Volunteers, and it’s a role he’s long been ready for. In two seasons, he has a 3.20 ERA and 150 strikeouts compared to just 44 walks in 160.1 innings. In his one-inning start against the Hokies, he worked with a fastball from 93-95 mph, a curveball at 79-81, a high-80s changeup and a cutter in the high 80s and low 90s.
If you want to nitpick Beam, you can do so by saying that he doesn’t miss as many bats as other high-end, all-conference-level starters in the SEC, but given his low walk rate and knack for inducing soft contact, it’s hard to quibble with the results.
Tennessee RHP Drew Beam (Photo courtesy of Tennessee Athletics)
Though he didn’t pitch against Virginia Tech, sophomore righthander AJ Russell has the makings of a similarly high-end SEC starter. His role last season grew as time went on, and he never flinched, ultimately finishing the campaign with a microscopic 0.89 ERA, a .095 opponent batting average and 47 strikeouts compared to just seven walks in 30.1 innings. His longest outing last season was 3.1 innings, so he would need to be stretched out, but his stuff is promising. Russell last season worked almost exclusively with a two-pitch combination of a fastball that averaged over 92 mph and touched as high as 96, and a low-80s slider that had a 44% whiff rate.
The most experienced starter on the roster behind Beam is senior lefthander Zander Sechrist, who has been used extensively as the team’s midweek guy, a role in which he has thrived. In three seasons with the Vols, he has a 1.95 ERA in 83 innings. He works with a high-80s fastball, a low-70s curveball, and a high-70s changeup and slider. It remains to be seen if his repertoire is good enough for him to succeed against SEC competition, but Tennessee could certainly do a lot worse than someone with his experience.
Among freshmen who pitched against Virginia Tech, righthander Derek Schaefer, an Arizona product, stood out most and looked the part of a pitcher ready to handle a prominent role right away.
“He had great presence,” Vitello said of Schaefer. “You know, some of those innings, three outs are quirky, so if you get three outs and no one scores, it can looks like you really did a great job, but you know, we’re not necessarily looking for the scoreboard this time of year, it’s kind of more how a guy does something. So not only did he throw up a zero—(Virginia Tech’s lineup) was really good. I know we mixed lineups a little bit toward the end there—and (was) also very aggressive, but also the game was kind of tilting in their favor at that point, and he kind of came out and was a calming influence, made a great PFP play, threw strikes, had great presence, and anyone that recruited college baseball or scouted college baseball knows he’s got good stuff.”
Schaefer set the Hokies down in order in his inning, using a fastball from 90-93 mph and a slider at 83-84. As Vitello alluded to, he also showed off his ability to field his position by hopping off the mound to grab a slow roller down the third base line and throwing accurately to first. It’s a credit to him that his inning went so quickly that he didn’t use his entire repertoire.
Another newcomer, junior Jacksonville State transfer righthander AJ Causey, impressed against Virginia Tech. He tossed a scoreless inning using a sinking fastball from 90-92 mph and a frisbee slider at 72-75 that spun in excess of 3,000 rpm, all from a low slot. He closed as a freshman at JSU and started as a sophomore, so he could be a fit in just about any role for teh Vols in 2024.
The likes of Chase Dollander and Andrew Lindsey will be tough to replace in the rotation, but don’t overlook the losses of key bullpen pieces like Chase Burns and Seth Halvorsen when evaluating the way in which Tennessee has to rebuild ahead of next season.
One obvious candidate to throw late in games is sophomore Wichita State transfer Nate Snead. The righthander has a big arm that produces a fastball that last season touched as high as 99 mph. He had a tough day against Virginia Tech, giving up two rocket home runs on fastballs, but he’s had a strong fall overall and better days are certainly ahead. Against the Hokies, he showed four pitches, a fastball at 94-96 mph, a slider at 88-90, a curveball at 80-81 and a high-80s changeup.
Redshirt junior righthander Aaron Combs is another pitcher with impressive stuff. He had a limited role last season, appearing in 26 games but throwing just 21 innings. The numbers were very good overall, though, as he had a 3.00 ERA, a .187 opponent batting average and a 39-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He works with a fastball in the low 90s, a mid-to-high-70s curveball that spins in excess of 2,800 rpm and a mid-80s changeup. He looks ready for a high-leverage role in 2024.
A sure thing to return to his familiar role is Vollie Fingers himself, fifth-year senior lefthander Kirby Connell. Last season, Connell appeared in 33 games, tossing a total of 15.1 innings and putting up a 3.52 ERA. If there’s a sticky situation with a lefthanded batter coming to the plate late in the game, look for Connell to enter. He uses a mid-to-high-80s fastball, two distinct breaking balls and a changeup.
Phillips, the two-way player from Iowa Western CC, was one of the better arms Tennessee put on the mound against Virginia Tech. He worked with a fastball from 95-97 mph and a slider with cutter action at 89-90. He doesn’t have as much track record as others, but his arm is too good to not be part of the Vols’ plans next season.
Sixth-year senior Cal transfer Chris Stamos has stuff on the other end of the spectrum from Phillips, but he impressed against the Hokies all the same. With plenty of funk and deception in his delivery, the lefthander worked with a fastball at 86-89 mph, a high-70s slider, a low-70s curveball and a high-70s changeup, and he showed particularly good feel for his breaking stuff. In two seasons at Cal (after three years at Division III Principia in Illinois), he had a combined 6.75 ERA in 33.1 innings, but those numbers don’t paint the whole picture of how effective he can be.
Speaking of deception, sophomore lefthander Andrew Behnke gets by in a similar fashion. With a deliberate delivery that visibly messes with hitters’ timing, he showed a fastball from 87-90 mph with a breaking ball at 75-79 and a low-80s changeup. He threw 5.2 scoreless innings for the Vols last season.
Sophomore righthander JJ Garcia is another arm that got a cameo appearance last season, as he threw just 4.2 innings. After a successful summer in the Coastal Plain League where he had a 4.25 ERA in 29.2 innings, he’ll look to bring that momentum back to campus. With a slingy, three-quarters delivery, Garcia used a fastball from 89-91 mph and a low-80s slider against Virginia Tech.
Because the exhibition against the Hokies was an 18-inning affair, it provided a great opportunity for the Volunteers to get a bunch of newcomers on the mound.
That group included the athletic two-way player Sharp, who was the most impressive freshman other than the aforementioned Schaefer in terms of stuff. He worked quickly, almost to the point of coming off as impatient, using a fastball from 89-92 mph and a mid-to-high 70s breaking ball.
The group of newcomers also included:
– Lefthander Luke Payne, who worked at 88-90 mph with a high-70s breaking ball and a low-80s changeup.
– Lefthander Bryson Thacker, a Georgia native who was in the mid to high 80s with his fastball and in the low to mid 70s with his breaking ball.
– Brady Robertson, a redshirt freshman righthander who is listed as an infielder on the roster. He used a fastball from 86-90 mph with a low-80s slider.
– Lefthander Dylan Loy, who was 85-88 mph with his heater, 80-83 with his changeup and in the low 70s with his curveball.
– Redshirt freshman righthander Austin Hunley, the brother of former Tennessee pitcher Sean Hunley, who was 85-88 mph on his fastball and 76-80 with a slider.
– Two-way player Cole Eaton, an Omaha native who has a quick arm, a low three-quarters release, a fastball in the high 80s and a breaking ball in the mid 70s.
This pitching staff doesn’t have quite the same depth of high-end stuff as the last couple of Tennessee pitching staffs (that’s a very high bar to clear, of course), but it will excel in throwing a lot of different looks at batters and it feels like a safe bet that pitching coach Frank Anderson and the rest of the staff will find a way to get the most out of them.

​

d1baseball.com


 
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#6
#6
dtmtn said:
Thank you so much for posting that. Incredibly in-depth article on our team. Looks like our offense can be really good. Excited to see how Frank works his magic this year given our staff doesn't have the "stuff" of recent years.
Click to expand...

You might be really surprised......Barring several key injuries.....
 
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#9
#9
Is this thread a candidate to be pinned for Spring season?

...NOT for holding players accountable to what someone wrote about them, but more to follow their individual development and to have a ready cheat-sheet during games.
 
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#10
#10
Some would say the bad parts is there will be some great players who get left out of the loop because Joe named 17 fielders and that can never happen and normally only 11-12 will get any significant innings. Plus he named 17 pitchers and we only use about 8-9 with significant innings or time on the mound. So I'm guessing there are about 12 plus guys who will not get much time either at the plate, on the field, or on the mound. But no one knows who that will be right now but it is getting narrowed down more each day. I believe there will be some who play themselves into contention and some who will be told, you have to wait a while to get that playing time. I don't know who that will be but there are some on the border. Only a few more days to get that chance to prove your worth this fall. We all know that when they come back in the spring there is little to no time to get back on the board if you are taken off.
 
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#11
#11
From what I have seen this fall, I will say that the UT pitching staff actually does have significant depth and “stuff” as compared to past seasons. Based on what I have from the VT scrimmage, the article is also inaccurate on the velos of the pitchers as well. The reported velos on several of the pitchers is 2-3 mph lower than what I actually witnessed.
 
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#12
#12
6-4-3 said:
From what I have seen this fall, I will say that the UT pitching staff actually does have significant depth and “stuff” as compared to past seasons. Based on what I have from the VT scrimmage, the article is also inaccurate on the velos of the pitchers as well. The reported velos on several of the pitchers is 2-3 mph lower than what I actually witnessed.
Click to expand...

Concur. Minus Russell and Dallas in the VT scrimmage.
 
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#18
#18
greasemachine said:
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Tickets for the 4,000-seat Pioneer Park on the campus of Tusculum University sold out quickly, and more than two hours before first pitch, there was a line of people wearing orange waiting to purchase the limited number of standing room only tickets left to sell.
There are just a handful of college baseball programs that could create such a spectacle in the fall, and Tennessee, which was set to play Virginia Tech at Tusculum, is now one of them. In fact, it’s the third year in a row the Volunteers have put on such a show for its fans around the state. In 2021, they played games in Chattanooga and Millington. Last year, they played in Jackson. And in addition to the game against the Hokies this fall, the Vols are set to take on Samford in Nashville this weekend.
“It’s just fun, and I know Virginia Tech is close, so not too far of a trip for them and they have a few people here, but the amount of people wearing orange and that are fired up to either meet our players or get an autograph, I think they had some orange hats they gave away, it’s pretty special,” said Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello.
It’s a sign of how far the Tennessee program has come in a short time that it draws this kind of interest in fall exhibitions. It wasn’t that long ago that it was a tough chore to come anywhere close to filling Lindsey Nelson Stadium during the season. Now, Lindsey Nelson Stadium is being renovated because it simply hasn’t had enough seats to meet fan demand in recent years.
The 2024 season should do little to tamp down interest in the program, as the Volunteers are incredibly talented once again. There was some turnover on the roster again, particularly on the pitching staff, but a newcomer class made up of precocious freshmen and superstars transfers promises to make it so that the program reloads rather than rebuilds for the second year in a row.
Crowded Infield Among Fall Headlines for Tennessee
The Volunteers will have one of the most dangerous offensive infields in the country. That was probably always going to be the case, but the addition of junior Clemson transfer Billy Amick through the transfer portal sewed it up.
After getting just 19 at-bats as a freshman with the Tigers and not being a regular in the lineup to begin the 2023 season, Amick came alive midway through last season and finished the campaign batting .413/.464/.772 with 17 doubles, 13 home runs and 63 RBIs.
While playing third base in Tennessee’s exhibition game against Virginia Tech, Amick looked the part of the best pure hitter on the field, connecting for a couple of run-producing hits throughout the day, including a hammered three-run home run to left-center. Beginning with a balanced setup at the plate, Amick has a quick, compact swing that produces plus raw power.
“The best part about him being in our locker room or being on our campus so far is how quickly he took to our team,” Vitello said of Amick. “I think a part of it is his willingness to do that, and then also I think both us and Billy got kind of lucky. He just matches up really well with some of our older guys, and so it kind of feels like he’s been here all along.”
Junior Christian Moore, who has the athleticism to play just about anywhere on the field but has mostly been a second baseman for the Vols, got the start at shortstop against VT and looks poised to lock down that position heading into 2024.
For stretches of last season, Moore carried the Tennessee lineup and he ended the season batting .304/.444/.603 with 17 home runs, 50 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. If he’s the best version of himself over the course of an entire season, he’s an SEC player of the year-type talent.
The returning first baseman is junior Blake Burke, who has as much raw power as anyone in the country. He’s coming off of batting .280/.369/.527 with 16 home runs. In SEC play last season, he batted just .211 with five home runs, but he’s far too talented a hitter to expect him to struggle that way against league competition for a second year in a row. With a 3-for-5 performance, he was one of the Vols’ best hitters against the Hokies after he put on a laser show in pregame batting practice.
It should be said that there are defensive questions about that trio. Amick’s bat is well ahead of his glove, Moore has never been a full-time shortstop at this level and Burke made 11 errors last season, a high number for a first baseman. But there’s reason for optimism, especially for the left side of the infield. Amick looked solid at the hot corner against Virginia Tech and even made a couple of above-average plays along the way. Meanwhile, Moore moved well at the position, especially ranging into the hole, and his arm strength really plays.
“I think the bottom line is our infield’s got potential to be pretty dang good defensively,” Vitello said. “There are a couple of plays that they didn’t even make, but there were also some average plays that were made well and then some above-average plays that were made that were difference makers in the inning.”
Second base is a bit more of a question mark right now. One potential solution is fifth-year senior Zane Denton, who was the starting third baseman last season. Given that he clubbed 16 home runs a year ago, it’s clear that Denton at the keystone spot would give Tennessee its best, or at least its most proven, offensive infield alignment. Denton, however, is not with the team this fall, and Vitello has been quoted as saying he’s away from the team because he’s “handling some things.”
Against Virginia Tech, fifth-year senior Ethan Payne got the start at second base. A role player in his time in Knoxville, Payne has just 37 at-bats in his career but he has some physicality in his 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame and he has had a strong fall at the plate.
There are also a number of newcomers who are going to press for playing time in a crowded infield.
The most impressive such player against Virginia Tech was junior college transfer Alex Perry, who played both first base and shortstop that day while going 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs. After beginning his career as a walk-on at Pearl River (Miss.) CC, Perry put up two massive seasons there, batting a combined .376/.496/.649 with 26 home runs, 124 RBIs and 45 stolen bases.
“Swinging-wise, you can see it in BP in the cage and also in our intrasquad scrimmages,” Vitello said of Perry’s offensive success as the fall goes on. “He just looks more comfortable and isn’t pressing and looks like himself at the plate.”
Ariel Antigua is a twitchy 5-foot-8, 180-pound freshman who could be Tennessee’s shortstop of the future. For now, he’s more likely to be in the group of players vying for time at second base. Dean Curley, another freshman, has a very different kind of game. He’s SEC-ready physically at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and has the big-time raw power to match. But don’t let the size fool you, he’s also a good athlete who could play a few different places on the dirt, though third base would seem to be his most natural spot.
Then there’s sophomore Missouri transfer Dalton Bargo, who is coming off of batting .279/.379/.442 for the Tigers last season. He has natural feel to hit, and he’s physical enough at 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds to impact the baseball. The sticking point with Bargo is that he was a DH at Missouri. He could just be a DH again with Tennessee, but the Vols have enough good offensive players that DH could also be quite the crowded spot.
Bargo has experience at first base—that’s where he played against Virginia Tech after beginning the contest at DH—but Burke is more or less entrenched there. He came out of high school as a catcher and he played there some over the summer in the Appalachian League, but after several years of feeling uneasy about the position, Tennessee finally has some experienced depth there. Bargo’s bat is one the coaches will likely want in the lineup as often as possible, but they may have to get creative to make that happen.
“I just really like being around the guy, because he’s kind of a throwback,” Vitello said. “He’s not really worried about what you label him, what position, what his future is in pro ball, what he’s doing on that given day in the lineup. He wants to play, he likes to compete and he wants to get better every day. He looks forward to being coached. He’s not afraid to work.”
The aforementioned catching picture is headlined by sophomore NC State transfer Cannon Peebles, who batted .352/.456/.697 with 12 home runs and 50 RBIs for the Wolfpack last season. He’s stocky and strong at 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, and that shows in his power production, which is all the more impressive when you consider that he had just 142 at-bats last season. It should be noted that Peebles is also relatively unproven behind the plate—he was mostly a DH in his one season in Raleigh in deference to potential 2024 first-round pick Jacob Cozart—but he shows promising tools at the position, including above-average arm strength and a clean exchange.
Senior Cal Stark and redshirt junior Charlie Taylor are also back at the position after splitting duties last season. Neither is known for his offensive prowess, but both are serviceable, experienced options who can get the job done if pressed into action. Stark suffered a hand injury earlier in the fall but he’s back on the field healthy now, hitting and playing catcher.
The outfield still has some things to be settled. The one incumbent back in the fold is center fielder Hunter Ensley. The redshirt junior was a spark plug last season upon his insertion into the everyday lineup, and his .318 batting average in SEC play was second on the team. Though he wasn’t a natural center fielder when he took over that position, he willed and worked himself into being a value add defensively, and he’s only gotten better as he’s gotten more comfortable. He might not be the toolsiest player on the field, but he’s the kind of player whose production makes it tough to take him out in favor of someone who perhaps has a higher ceiling.
Sophomore Dylan Dreiling on paper has the inside track to earning the job in left field. In a part-time role last season, he batted .295/.433/.621 with seven home runs and more walks (24) than strikeouts (20) in just 95 at-bats. To reach his potential, he’ll have to prove he can hit lefthanded pitching. Last season he struggled against lefties to the point that he rarely faced them, but against Virginia Tech, he slugged a rocket of a home run at 115 mph off the bat against a low-slot lefty, perhaps suggesting he’s making the necessary adjustments.
Based on raw talent, Tennessee might like to see redshirt sophomore Kavares Tears earn the job in right field, because in terms of ability, he has just everything you would want. The physical 6-foot, 205-pound outfielder has plus raw power and he hit well in a small sample last season, batting .304/.379/.518 in 54 at-bats, but swinging and missing against breaking stuff is a persistent problem and against Virginia Tech, he fanned all four times at the plate. If he can make more consistent contact, he has plenty of star power.
Redshirt freshman Reese Chapman is another interesting option in the outfield. He’s a plus runner who could be a fit at any of the three spots if he can elbow his way into playing time. Redshirt junior Colby Backus, who like Chapman didn’t see any playing time last season, has an intriguing skill set as well. He’s very physical at 6-foot-4 and 223 pounds, but he’s also a good enough runner and athlete to handle center field, and he broke out in a big way over the summer in the Appalachian League by batting .281/.346/.500 with eight doubles, eight home runs, 37 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.
Among freshmen, Texas native Brayden Sharp, a two-way player, might be the one best equipped to get on the field early. He’s a premium athlete with a potential center fielder of the future profile, but the key to playing time might lie in his ability to add weight to his 6-foot-2, 175-pound frame so that he can impact the ball more and stand up to the rigors of a long season.
A wild card in this mix is sophomore junior college transfer Marcus Phillips from Iowa Western CC. Though he’s much more likely to have an immediate impact on the mound (more on that momentarily), he’s an imposing figure at the plate at 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds.

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d1baseball.com


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This took a lot of work to put together. Thanks so much for your time and expertise in making this happen. The detail was absolutely terrific. Thanks again.
 
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