Tony Vitello discusses Tennessee's biggest incoming freshman draft risks

Tennessee is coming off its second College World Series appearance in the last three seasons, while the Volunteers have now averaged more than 50 wins per season in that timeframe. And while there are some freshman draft risks for the Volunteers, the incoming signing class should help keep that high-level success going.

Coach Tony Vitello touched a little bit on some of the freshmen signees who could potentially end up playing professional baseball rather than stepping on campus.

“I’ll leave somebody out, so I’ll end up with my tires slashed when they show up on campus if I get too much into names,” Vitello said with a laugh on the John & Vince on SportsTalk show.

“But an easy one to bring up is Jake Rucker. It’s been a cool thing. We’ve had cousins, we’ve had twins, two sets of twins, brothers. It’s kind of been a nice family affair in our program and Carson’s well-scouted and a talented enough player to make an impact right away for us, as did Jake in his career. So hopefully we can keep that family theme rolling into next year.”

Carson Rucker is a 6-foot-2, 180-pound infielder from Greenbrier, Tenn. He’s one of the more talented prospects in the class, though he’s not the only freshman draft risk.

Outfielder Cole Eaton will definitely be on the radar in this year’s MLB Draft, as will pitchers Matthew Dallas, Brayden Sharp and Derek Schaefer.

Vitello didn’t want to single out many guys, but he did highlight some position groups to keep an eye on when it comes to freshman draft risks.

“I’m sure the chat rooms for those folks that spend time in there — don’t spend too much time — but there’s a handful of pitchers that certainly are getting attention and then some guys in particular in the infield spot that will get a lot of attention,” Vitello said. “But it’s a group where we were able to spend a lot of time and finally do some bragging on the program, or have a base of who we are as a program to recruit with and it can be a special group just character wise but also talent.”

Some of the infielders in Tennessee’s class that could draw interest from Major League ball clubs are Blake Grimmer, Dean Curley, Ariel Antigua, Camden Bates and Hunter High.

The 2023 MLB Draft will be held from July 9-11 in Seattle, leading into the MLB All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park.