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Tony Vitello gives latest update on injured pitcher AJ Russell

On3 imageby:Eric Cain•04/04/24•

_Cainer

Tennessee Baseball
Tennessee freshman pitcher AJ Russell (Tennessee Athletics)

Tennessee skipper Tony Vitello gave another injury update on right-handed sophomore pitcher AJ Russell Thursday morning, ahead of the Vols series at Auburn this weekend.

The sophomore right-handed pitcher will remain sidelined when the Vols take on the Tigers.

“For him we knew there’d be a gap in between when he’d be available and when not. And then also kind of like when things started, it’s soreness and strain in certain areas and those sore and strain are two very vague terms, but that’s what he’s dealing with,” the skipper explained on Thursday. “I think you got to take into account what are we trying to do this year, but more importantly for AJ Russell’s career, what are we trying to, you know, we’re kind of looking for another Garrett Crochet, to be honest with you. There’s only one of those big guys. He’s doing well. That’s a big fella out there on the mound.

“So, we got to take that into consideration when we’re looking at things. So, there’ll be a gap between when he starts ramping things up again and then of course a sequence of events will have to happen when he’s out there.”

Russell left game two in the ninth inning against Ole Miss on March 23 when making a multi-inning relief appearance behind starter Drew Beam. It was only his second appearance back for the Vols following his initial injury that caused his removal from an Albany start on February 21.   

Vitello previously addressed Russell’s injury on March 26 following a Tennessee midweek victory over Tennessee Tech.

“With AJ, kind of waiting to see what’s there. I would expect, kind of maybe we went to quick or maybe we didn’t,” the coach said. “I don’t think there’s a real answer there but maybe back to where we were where we have to let things calm down and let him rest. So I wouldn’t say we are in any kind of hurry with that or anything on the horizon for him anytime soon.”

Russell made his first return to the mound in the Southeastern Conference opening-series at Alabama on Sunday, March 17 after missing his previous three starts with general soreness. The righty pitched extremely well in the season-opener against No. 21 Texas Tech at Globe Life Field and it was also the first weekend start of his career as well. The right-handed hurler went on to strike out 10 batters over 4.1 innings pitched where he allowed two runs off three hits. 

Entering the 2024 campaign, the sophomore was named a preseason All-American by the NCBWA. After last season’s true freshman campaign, he was named a third-team All-American by the same publication. The right-handed relief pitcher from Franklin, Tenn., lead all Tennessee pitchers (minimum 25 innings pitched) with a 0.89 ERA, a 0.53 WHIP and a .095 opponent batting average in 2023. He was 2-0 this season and had 47 strikeouts against seven walks in 30.1 innings pitched.

He appeared in 24 games last season and allowed only one run on five hits in 10 innings of SEC play.

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