Tennessee heavily represented on BA preseason All-American teams    

The start of the college baseball season is about a week and a half away and the final few preseason All-American squads are being announced this week. Baseball America released theirs on Tuesday and there’s plenty of representation from Tony Vitello’s Tennessee club.

In total, six Volunteers cracked one of the three preseason All-American teams from the publication while two players were mentioned as one of the top-three in specific categories.

Shortstop Dean Curley, starting pitcher AJ Russell and reliever Nate Snead were named to the first-team while second baseman Gavin Kilen earned second-team honors. Third baseman Andrew Fischer and starting pitcher Liam Doyle racked up third-team praise from Baseball America.

Lot of preseason love from @BaseballAmerica!#GBO // #OTH

— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) February 4, 2025

Curley had a banner year as a freshman on Rocky Top (literally) as the 6-foot-3, 212-pounder picked up Freshman All-American honors from D1 Baseball and Baseball America, was named to the SEC All-Freshmen Teram, was named to the College World Series All-Tournament Team and was a 2024 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Participant following his rookie campaign. The true freshman starting shortstop for the Big Orange hit .285 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI in 67 games played. Curley tallied 63 hits, scored 51 runs and walked 31 times.

The second-year player recently checked in at No. 24 on MLB.com’s Top 100 Draft Prospects for 2025.  

As a true freshman, Curley scored three runs on five occasions, tallied a trio of three-hit days and drive in nine runs and launched three home runs against Kansas State. At shortstop, he recorded a season-high five putouts against Florida State in the College World Series and registered a career-best six assists against Illinois.  

“In a draft deep in shortstops, Curley tops the college class thanks to a strong all-around offensive game that includes contact ability, a solid approach and plenty of power,” the baseball America article stated. “Curley slashed .285/.386/.502 with 12 home runs and nine stolen bases as a freshman in 2024. He could tighten up his footwork to improve his shortstop profile, but his plus arm and hands should be good enough to keep him on the left side of the infield.”

Russell, who missed the majority of the 2024 season and is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, is expected back on the mound for the Vols this season. The talented 2025 MLB Draft prospect was limited to just 14.1 innings over six appearances with four starts in last year. He posted a 0-1 record with a 5.02 ERA with 21 strikeouts to eight walks.

“Russell bullies hitters with a lethal mid-90s two-seam fastball that helped him generate a silly 23.6% swinging strike rate in a limited 14-inning sample in 2024,” the article stated. “The 6-foot-6 righthander has great length, throws from a low release height and has a ton of run on the pitch, but he’ll need to refine his secondaries and log more innings in 2025 to push into the first round.”

Snead, the 6-foot-2, 212-pound hard-throwing righty burst onto the scene in Southeastern Conference play last season after transferring in from Wichita State. He was a USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Participant last summer after logging 75.1 innings, in a variety of roles, with a 10-2 record over 29 appearances and one start. Snead struck out 61, walked 26 and locked down six saves out of the bullpen. Snead could being the season in the starting rotation for the Vols.  

“Snead is one of the most accomplished relievers in the class and is coming off a 2024 season with national-champion Tennessee in which he posted a 3.11 ERA over 75.1 innings and 29 appearances,” Baseball America said. “He struck out 61 and walked 26. Snead throws a bowling ball of a two-seam fastball that averaged 96.2 mph and averages close to 18 inches of armside movement. His mid-80s slider flashes real potential as well.”

Along with the first-team honor, Dean Curley was No. 3 in the ‘Best Defensive Infielder’ category and No. 2 in ‘Best Infield Arm.’ AJ Russell was No. 2 in ‘Best Fastball’ category and No. 2 in ‘Best Fastball Movement.’

Kilen, who was named the top SEC transfer by Baseball America this offseason in addition to a preseason second-team All-American nod, is gearing up for his first season on rocky Top after transferring in form Louisville.

The infielder picked up third-team All-ACC honors in 2024, finishing with a .330 average to go along with nine home runs, 41 runs batted in, 39 runs scored, 23 doubles and three triples. He led his squad in hits, doubles and total bases while his 23 doubles were tied for fifth-most in program history. As a sophomore, Kilen started 54 of his 56 games at shortstop.

As a freshman in 2023, Kilen played in 46 games with 38 starts across the middle infield – 30 at second base and eight at shortstop. He logged a .265 batting average with nine doubles, a triple and 18 RBI. Prior to attending Louisville, Kilen was selected in the 13^th round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox and was a member of the 2021 U18 national team. Kilen was also a 2022 Perfect Game All-American and took part in the 2022 MLB High School All-Star Game.

On the third-team is Tennessee’s duo of Ole Miss transfers, Fischer & Doyle.

Fischer was named second-team All-SEC in 2024 following his first and only year in Oxford where he hit .285 with 20 homers and 57 runs batted in. The hot corner defender struck out 53 times and walked on 35 occasions over 207 at-bats while also logging 10 doubles with a pair of triples. Fischer led the squad in home runs, RBI, hits (59) and was second in runs scored (47). He played his freshman season in the ACC at Duke.

Doyle tossed 55 innings over 16 appearances in 2024 with 11 starts, contributing a 3-4 record with an ERA of 5.73. The lefty struck out 84 batters, walked 21 and opponents hit .230 against him. The pitcher tossed a gem at Tennessee on March 23 this past season, throwing six-innings strong of three earned-run baseball with 10 strikeouts to only one walk. He allowed only three this in the victory and the 10 strikeouts tied for a season-high as he accomplished the feat just a week prior as well in a win over South Carolina at home.  

Tennessee Vols in the 2025 Preseason Rankings

NCBWA: No. 2
Baseball America – No. 3
D1 Baseball – No. 4
Perfect Game – No. 5

Tennessee Vols 2025 Preseason Accolades

SS Dean Curley: First-Team All-American (Baseball America) | Second-Team All-American (Perfect Game) | No. 8 sophomore in country (Perfect Game)
RHP Nate Snead: First-Team All-American (Baseball America) | Second-Team All-American (Perfect Game) | No. 38 junior in country (Perfect Game)
3B Andrew Fischer: Third-Team All-American (Baseball America) | No. 14 junior in country (Perfect Game)
RHP AJ Russell: First-Team All-American (Baseball America) | No. 30 junior in country (Perfect Game)
INF Gavin Kilen: Second-Team All-American (Baseball America) | No. 25 junior in country (Perfect Game) | SEC’s Best Transfer (Baseball America)
LHP Liam Doyle: Third-Team All-American (Baseball America) | No. 55 junior in country (Perfect Game)
C Cannon Peebles: No. 92 junior in country (Perfect Game)
OF Hunter Ensley: No. 2 senior in country (Perfect Game)
UTL Alex Perry: No. 73 senior in country (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)