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AJ Russell & Tony Vitello reflect on ‘positive’ first step back

On3 imageby:Eric Cain•about 14 hours•

_Cainer

Tennessee RHP AJ Russell. Credit: UT Athletics
Tennessee RHP AJ Russell. Credit: UT Athletics

Tennessee baseball right-handed hurler AJ Russell made his return to the mound Tuesday night for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in June as Tennessee defeated North Alabama 7-5.

The repair was done with an internal brace, which allowed Russell an expedited timeline back to the mound. The righty began playing toss in the fall and moved to bullpens in December. He continued to ramp up the bullpen sessions throughout preseason before facing live hitters about a week before the start of the season.   

“I was kind of thinking about it all day. I got the text sitting in class today and I was kind of just like fidgety the rest of the day,” Russell admitted postgame. “I couldn’t really focus or anything like that and I was, I was really excited and obviously fired up to kind of be out there and kind of getting to throw again, which really nice.”

Russell will keep slowly building back to where he once was, but Tuesday was a start – and it was a good one. But Tuesday was good as he dazzled by striking out the side in the top of the first inning on 17 pitches (11 strikes) – his only inning of work.

“I think the weather was a big proponent of everyone being on board with that. He and his family were ready to go. Kind of asked him Sunday, what’s the next step look like for you in the week’s schedule? Because I already knew he wanted to be out there,” Tony Vitello said of Russell after the game. “We just wanted him to verbalize it. And then two, we’re to the point where he is faced our hitters a few times, so it’s either face our hitters or face their hitters. So, we felt good about getting him out there and I was just glad he didn’t try and do too much and almost looked like he was actually being more methodical than I’ve ever seen him.”

He hit 96 miles per hour on a couple of occasions on Tuesday and worked with a good, quick pace. The junior needed eight pitches to strikeout the first batter, five to retire the second batter and five more for the third.

“I kind of limited expectations kind of on myself. I wasn’t really expecting really anything on myself,” the pitcher said. “Kind of just go out there and have fun and kind of let it loose. The adrenaline kind of took over and kind of stopped thinking about it all and just kind of let it rip. I was kind of hoping for like a 94 mph, 95 here and there and it was coming out a lot better than I expected. So, it was good.”

The talented 2025 MLB Draft prospect was limited to just 14.1 innings over six appearances with four starts as a sophomore last year. He posted an 0-1 record with a 5.02 ERA with 21 strikeouts to eight walks and being in and out of the swing of things all year long.

Russell was tabbed as the No. 43 2025 MLB Draft.com Prospect back in December.  

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