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Jay Abernathy among Top 25 college freshmen by Baseball America

On3 imageby:Eric Cain•about 16 hours•

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Tennessee's Jay Abernathy. Credit: UT Athletics
Tennessee's Jay Abernathy. Credit: UT Athletics

As the 2025 college baseball season sits just six weeks away, the preseason content has begun to surface in January. On Wednesday, Baseball America named Tennessee newcomer Jay Abernathy as one of the top-25 freshmen in the country.  

Abernathy checked in at No. 3 on the list by the publication. The rookie was also tabbed as the No. 6 freshman in the country by Perfect Game on Wednesday as well.  

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound utility leads the conversation for Tennessee rookies as the ‘tooled-up’ prospect made a bevy of highlight plays in fall practice. He threw out a guy at home with an outfield assist from left field during one of the situational scrimmages, drove in two runs against Western Kentucky and homered a few times during the intrasquad scrimmages. There’s versatility to his game as he can play the outfield and second base. He’s fast too and will be one of Tennessee’s best base runners. Could he start in left field this spring? Time will tell.

Baseball America: “Abernathy last July had plenty of early-to-mid day two draft interest, so getting him to campus was a huge win for head coach Tony Vitello and his staff. Though it’s still early, Abernathy has a chance to set the table atop the Volunteers lineup come Opening Day. The quick-twitch Abernathy is not only a 70-grade runner, but also possesses plus bat-to-ball skills. He has plenty of quickness in his hands, and his swing is geared towards peppering the entire field with line drives. Abernathy puts pressure on opposing defenses, and his skillset enables him to affect the game in a number of ways. His speed and athleticism also translate in the field, where he is capable of handling an up-the-middle infield position and either center or left field. Abernathy this fall collected a pair of hits in both of Tennessee’s scrimmages and has seen time both on the dirt and in the outfield. With the Volunteers’ infield—from left to right—consisting of Andrew Fischer, Dean Curley and Gavin Kilen, Abernathy’s best path to consistent playing time will likely come in left field. However, he should seamlessly slide up to the dirt in 2026 since the aforementioned trio will all be drafted.” 

Tennessee Vols in the 2025 Preseason Rankings

Perfect Game – No. 5

Tennessee Vols 2025 Preseason Accolades

SS Dean Curley: Second-Team All-American (Perfect Game)
RHP Nate Snead: Second-Team All-American (Perfect Game)
UTL Jay Abernathy: No. 3 Best Freshman (Baseball America) | No. 6 Best Freshmen (Perfect Game)
UTL Levi Clark: No. 21 Best Freshman (Perfect game)
RHP Tegan Kuhns: No. 46 Best Freshman (Perfect game)
RHP Anson Seibert: No. 52 Best Freshman (Perfect game)
MIF Manny Marin: No. 56 Best Freshman (Perfect game)

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