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Former Tennessee ace Chase Dollander is headed to the show

On3 imageby:Eric Cain•04/04/25•

_Cainer

Chase Dollander. Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Chase Dollander. Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

It’s that moment you always dream about as a kid who loves the game of baseball. Sitting down in your minor league skipper’s office and being told you’ve been promoted to the big league club.  

That’s exactly what happened to former Tennessee starting pitcher Chase Dollander on Friday as the right-handed hurler is headed to Denver to make his major league debut on Sunday at the club’s starting pitcher.

Rockies manager Bud Black confirmed the news Friday afternoon while meeting with reporters ahead of a weekend series with the A’s from Coors Field.

Dollander is the club’s No. 1 prospect and the No. 24 overall prospect in baseball. In 2024, the former Tennessee headliner made a combined 23 starts between A+ and AA with a 2.59 ERA in 118.0 innings pitched with 169 strikeouts to only 47 walks.

His lone AAA start prior to the callup was this past Sunday when Dollander tossed four innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts.  

The righty was selected in the first round of the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft by the Colorado Rockies at No. 9 overall. Dollander became the highest-drafted Tennessee pitcher since Luke Hochevar went No. 1 overall to the Kansas City Royals in 2006.

It’s worth noting, Hochevar’s final season in the Orange & White was in 2005 when he was then selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers at 40th overall. The two sides couldn’t come to a contractual agreement and Hochevar pitched Independent League ball in 2006 before entering the draft again.  

Garrett Crochet was selected by the Chicago White Sox just a few slots behind Dollander at No. 11 in the 2020 MLB Draft. Dollander was the highest Tennessee selection since Nick Senzel went No. 2 overall to the Cincinnati Reds in 2016 at the time. Christian Moore overtook the honor just a cycle later when the former Tennessee second baseman was selected by the Los Angeles Angels at No. 8 overall.

Dollander now joins former Vols Jordan Beck and Seth Halvorsen on the Rockies big league roster. The pitcher becomes the fifth Tennessee player from the 2022 squad to reach the majors as Dollander now joins Ben Joyce and Trey Lipscomb t go along with Beck and Halvorsen.

Overall, Dollander becomes the seventh Vol to reach the majors under Tony Vitello’s reign with the Vols.

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