Season after season of trying to crack the code finally paid off for Tennessee in 2024. Head coach Tony Vitello led the Vols to the program’s first national championship.
The standard has now been set in Knoxville. Despite losing a lot of key players, Tennessee will be looking for a back-to-back bid in 2025—and may have the talent to do it.
The No. 1 high school recruiting class in the country along with plenty of good transfer pickups has Tennessee poised to be a big-time player in the SEC again.
The only question that lingers: How can these players fill the shoes of the legendary 2024 team? According to Vitello, this is a team that’s ready to move beyond that.
“It’s new to me because the fall was good,” Vitello said. “It was unlike last fall, where everything was kinda hunky-dory from the get-go. It was almost like, ‘Don’t mess this up,’ or ‘how can we add to this, we’ve got to get creative.’ This is more of a traditional build-up phase and I think there was a lot of positives out of the fall. It ended well.
“But when they came back in January—I didn’t say anything to them, maybe Hunter Ensley did, I don’t know—but they just seemed to have a little more personality and a little more energy to them. It’ll be interesting to see if they can keep that level of those two things or other positive traits, or even better, build off it.
“But I think they’re the 2025 team, and they kinda want to put their own stamp on this particular year with, ‘This is our personality. … I think this group kinda wants a fresh start. I think this sounds wild, but I think the First Pitch banquet, hopefully, was the final cut-off for last year’s stuff. I think our guys are ready to move on.”
THE LINEUP
The Vols return two full-time starters from last year, add two (and perhaps three) high-level Division 1 transfers in the infield and then will give several returning reserves a shot at bigger things. The lineup wasn’t entirely settled as opening day approached.
“When the season starts, we’ll probably have some movement and hopefully there will be a little more come to light starting SEC play,” Vitello said, speaking to both the lineup and the rotation.
Shortstop Dean Curley and center fielder Hunter Ensley are the returning starters. Curley showed similar power with 12 home runs and a .285 batting average as a true freshman last season. He’s an all-American candidate this year and ranks 24th on MLB Pipeline’s top prospects for the 2025 draft.
“He’s always been a guy that’s been wiling to be outspoken,” Vitello said. “You can crack a joke to him or he can crack a joke to you. He asks very intelligent questions. … Part of that is him being a special player because that’s not the norm.”
Ensley batted .296 and had 12 home runs a season ago. He’s hit .284/.388/.474 with 19 home runs across his four previous seasons and will provide all-out effort while manning center.
The two for-certain transfers in the lineup round out the baseman positions for the Volunteers. Gavin Kilen comes in from Louisville and is expected to play second base after hitting .303/.344/.486 at Louisville, where he started at shortstop while occasionally filled in at second. MLB Pipeline lists him as the No. 28 overall prospect for the coming draft.
Transfer Andrew Fischer is expected to play third base. Fischer is a good power addition to Tennessee’s lineup as he hit 17 home runs in Oxford last season but was also dealing with an injury as the season dawned. He’s hit .287/.400/.621 over 460 plate appearances between one season apiece at Duke and Ole Miss, smashing 20 of his 31 home runs at Ole Miss last season. MLB Pipeline ranks him 42nd overall for the 2025 draft.
The Vols hope to have former North Carolina first baseman Alberto Osuna occupying the same position in Knoxville. Osuna would be playing a sixth year of baseball, but the first two were at the JUCO level. He hit .259/.359/.519 in three years at UNC and turned 24 in January. Tennessee was awaiting a ruling on his eligibility the week of opening day.
Returning catcher Cannon Peebles, when healthy, rounds out the starting infield. It took a while for him to get going with his bat in his first season in Knoxville after transferring in from N.C. State. Peebles was dealing with an arm injury the week of the Vols’ first game. He hit .352/.456/.697 with 12 home runs in 172 plate appearances for the Wolfpack as a freshman in 2023.
“He’s looked good,” Vitello said. “He got sick and then because he missed some days, came back like a ball of fire as he always does and probably tried to do a little too much, so (his arm) was sore. … And now I’m the bad guy because I want him to peak in May and June, and so we’ve held him out of things. But I think he’s really worked hard behind the scenes and he always has a sense of urgency.”
Alongside Ensley in the outfield will be Reese Chapman on the right side. He is a hitter who can get better with more at-bats as he had a .274 average with seven home runs in 106 at-bats. He’s hit .272/.401/.528 over 158 plate appearances for Tennessee in two seasons.
“He’s obviously more mature physically and mentally because he’s older,” Vitello said. “He’s obviously more mature physically and mentally because he’s older. … He’s also got all that stuff behind the scenes that falls under the label of ‘experience’ that I think will truly help him.”
One of the best freshmen in this 2024 class is Jay Abernathy who is an option to slot in at left field. He was a top-100 player and a top ten player in high school from the state of Georgia.
“Jay is mature beyond his years,” Ensley told The Daily Beacon. “Jay’s just a very talented kid, can really swing the bat from the left side. I expect that guy to help us a bunch this year.”
Dalton Bargo is another returner who can be slotted into DH. He also is a top candidate for first base as Alex Perry announced he was stepping away from the team for personal reasons. Bargo is a power threat who hit eight home runs a season ago in 126 plate appearances after hitting .279/.380/.442 across 195 plate appearances for Missouri in 2023.
Colby Backus can also play left field. He is another sneaky power option for Tennessee with five home runs in 31 at-bats in 2024. He turned 23 this January after seeing his first Division I action last season.
Stone Lawless could see some time at designated hitter. He has yet to play in his Tennessee career as a redshirt freshman and is probably the backup catcher.
Five-foot-8 sophomore Ariel Antigua had just 25 plate appearances last year, hitting .217/.378/.325 in them, but saw 35 games at short and six at second as a late-inning defensive replacement.
Highly-regarded freshmen Manny Marin and Chris Newstrom could see time as infield reserves, while Levi Clark could catch or perhaps find time as a DH or in the infield. MLB Pipeline rated Marin the No. 149 prospect for last year’s draft.
THE PITCHING
Who’ll start? That was one of the pressing questions around the program entering the season, though the Vols have plenty of talented options and also, one of the best pitching coaches around in Frank Anderson.
“I think Frank does his thing and gets his guys to understand that throwing strikes is Step One,” Vitello said of Anderson. “That’s not anything out of the norm for any program but he’s excelled at that. The numbers back it up. … I think right now we have a lot of guys who are committed to doing it or capable of doing it.”
The first guy to touch the ball on Friday will likely be Liam Doyle, who spent 2023 at Coastal Carolina and last season at Ole Miss. He’s compelled a 4.93 ERA over 111 1/3 collegiate innings with 153 strikeouts. Doyle has allowed 17 career home runs and gave up fly balls on 28% of plate appearances last year with just a 10% ground-ball rate, so he’ll need to adjust to pitching at the home-run haven that is Lindsey Nelson Stadium. MLB Pipeline considers him the 75th-best prospect for this summer’s draft.
“He’s a left-handed pitcher that throws 99 to 100 with a high spin rate,” Ensley told The Daily Beacon. “I think that plays out at every single level. So I think for him, if he just stays in the zone, he’s going to get people out.”
Vitello, who used Cal transfer Chris Stamos as an opener last year due partly to his personality, sees some of the same mental attitude in Doyle that he likes to begin games.
“Liam and Fischer, obviously, kind of came together because they’re buddies,” Vitello said. “Those two guys need to start a podcast. I’d prefer it start when their time is done here so they just focus on playing. But you ain’t short on personality or attitude with that guy. You would’t have liked what we were saying about them in our dugout last year when we were facing them because you could see all that kinda coming off in his presence when he’s pitching against us. … You do want that guy going into battle. … Why not get a guy out there where you feel like, this is the guy you’d want the flag, charging across the field in Braveheart or whatever.”
Nate Snead worked out of the Volunteers’ bullpen and recorded a 3.11 ERA in 75.1 innings. He also had six saves. MLB Pipeline ranks him 69h overall for the coming draft. He’s started just two of his 53 career appearances between Tennessee and Wichita State, but could begin 2025 in a starting role.
“He is a guy who still carries the value he did last year,” Vitello said of Snead. “He’s a fun-loving kid that’s a great personality to have in the dugout and the locker room and then that switch turns on for him in the game mode. He constantly wants the ball. He constantly wants to compete. He’s resilient physically, so he always wants to be out there regardless of what day it is or what he did the day before.
“And so he’s a Swiss army knife for us. … I think he’s capable of doing whatever we ask.”
As of opening week, it appears that Marcus Phillips will also transition from the bullpen to the rotation. He gives the Vols a third starter who can hit the high-90s and perhaps touch 100 with his fastball. Control—15 walks, two hit batsmen and five wild pitches in 20 innings last year—will be an area where Phillips must improve.
However, the biggest story with Tennessee pitching will be the timing of A.J. Russell’s return from Tommy John surgery. He spent most of the 2024 season injured and pitched only 14.1 innings. MLB Pipeline has him as the No. 43 overall prospect for the 2025 draft.
“He looks so good physically right now and I think that’s a tribute to him taking care of himself and making his comeback or rehab go as smoothly as possible. … By the halfway point he’ll be pitching for us. All of us would like for that to be sooner, but there’s some steps along the way to knock out,” Vitello said.
When Russell is on, he’s spectacular, as demonstrated by his 4 1/3-inning, 10-strikeout outing against Texas Tech in last season’s opening weekend.
Blue-chip recruit Tegan Kuhns, the No. 96 prospect per MLB Pipeline for last year’s draft, could see starts at some point—and perhaps in February mid-week games. MLB Pipeline graded his slider as his best pitch and said he’ll use both two- and four-seam fastballs.
“With Tegan, he does have the ability (to be a star), and (Blade) Tidwell is the one guy we’ve most compared him to. … I think Teegan and some those other (freshmen) have good work habits. … He’s good, but he needs to get better at it, the more we’ll probably be talking about them in five years (as one of the program greats),” Vitello said.
Dylan Loy and Brandon Arvidson could also start or pitch out of the bullpen.
Arvidson saved six games last year at San Jacinto Junior College and is an upper-90s lefty.
“Arvidson’s shown as good of ability as anyone on our staff to get guys to swing and miss or just feel uncomfortable in the box,” Vitello said. “For him, he’s been that Swiss army knife; like Snead, he’s capable of fulfilling a lot of roles. But the thing we notice in those fall scrimmages is, he wants the ball when the competition appears to be a little higher up a level.”
Loy had an impressive 2024 season finishing with a 2.37 ERA in 30.1 innings of work and is perhaps the most consistent strike-thrower among the returnees.
Returning lefty Andrew Behnke was also a strike-thrower for the Vols a year ago, making all 23 of his appearances last year out of the bullpen.
Kennesaw State transfer Tanner Franklin will be a key player in the bullpen. The Kennesaw State transfer finished with 43 strikeouts in 27.1 innings of work. He allowed just one home run in 2024 between 39 1/3 innings in college and the Cape Cod League.
“There’s been a lot of work with (Tanner Franklin) behind the scenes with Frank and the other guys helping out, it’s starting to pay off for him,” Vitello said.
Ryan Combs, brother of Aaron Combs—the Vols’ end-of-season closer last year—could take his older sibling’s role for 2025.
“He’s had moments, too, when he’s been one of the better guys out of the day, and then there’s moments when he’s not,” Vitello said. “So I think consistency is something to unlock.”
Returning righties JJ Garcia and Austin Hunley could also pitch, too.
So could JUCO transfers Thomas Crabtree and Tanner Wiggins, along with lefty Michael Sharman.
POTENTIAL STRENGTHS
The Vols, again, are loaded with talent. The transfers (Fischer and Kilen) coming into the infield can replace the power from last season’s national championship team. This combined with the returning players like Curley and Bargo make this a dangerously good infield. Ensley showed in Omaha how good his defense in center field can be. The pitching staff is full of guys who throw gas and coached by Anderson, one of the best in the game. The Vols have done a great job at getting players to accept reserve roles for a few years and then shine at full-time jobs, and that could pay off again in 2025. Finally, Vitello seems to have figured out the right balance of keeping players focused and loose and pacing things throughout the season.
POTENTIAL WEAKNESSES AND CONCERNS
The rotation looks completely different after losing, among others, Zander Sechrist and Drew Beam and as talented as Doyle and Phillips are, the results have sometimes been uneven. Many of the pitchers the Vols count on haven’t thrown at this level in the roles they’ll be asked to assume. It’s never ideal to start the year with injuries to three key guys (Fischer, Peebles, Russell) and a potential first baseman who’s not been cleared to play days before the opener. How will that, and a number of high-profile new faces, affect chemistry? And will the Vols find a shut-down end-gamer among the mix of new faces?
FINAL ANALYSIS
Through all of the changes heading into 2025, one thing’s for sure. Vitello set the baseball standard in Knoxville with his national championship a season ago. As long as he is at the helm, Tennessee will have a chance to win national titles and this season is no different. The bottom line is that the Vols have probably been the decade’s most successful program and finally removed that one nagging doubt about being able to win it all last year. There may be many questions, but the seeds of talent may be there to answer every one of them. With all the health questions and role changes, the Vols may not be at the top of the rankings in the season’s early weeks. It wouldn’t be a shock to see the Vols (relatively speaking) struggle in the first few months only to end up right back where they ended 2024.
– Alfred Ezman and Chris Lee