Freshmen, transfer arms will help Vols on the mound in 2024

Tennessee baseball officially began in-season workouts Friday afternoon but the work and preparation for the upcoming season started long before.

Over a month of fall practices are in the books, plenty of individual work outs have come and gone as the season is now three weeks away. The No. 9 ranked Tennessee Volunteers should be a force once again, a season removed from Omaha for the second time in three years.

One of those questions lurking is he third the starter slot in the rotation, behind veteran Drew Beam and rising sophomore AJ Russell. Who could step up and fill the void left behind from MLB Draft picks Chase Dollander, Andrew Lindsey or even swingman Seth Halvorsen, graduated swingman Camden Sewell or transfer Chase Burns?    

We might not know what it will look like right now, but before it’s all said and done, some true freshman arms will certainly be in play.

“I think the potential down the road,” Tony Vitello said when asked about the newcomer group on Thursday. “You’ll be at your very best during your last year of eligibility or your last year that you play in a ball uniform and then you’ll hit the ground running in pro baseball and continue to progress forward. It’s a little different than basketball.”

Though it will be a work in progress, these freshmen pitchers chose to come to Tennessee for a reason. One of which, is to win baseball games.

“We haven’t done everything we want to do and not even close, but the one thing that’s happened is these guys committed here because they saw us win some games,” the skipper continued. “It wasn’t just selling some vision or something like that. And there are guys that had great options besides Tennessee, so they already had that mindset that they want to win and they’re choosing a winning program or a program that they see as a winning program.”

Russell, who logged only 30.1 innings as a true freshman in a crowded bullpen in 2023, has seen firsthand what this new crop of arms are capable of. Derek Schaefer, Matthew Dallas, Brayden Sharp, Cole Eaton and Brayden May are just to name a few.  

“Yeah, that class is absolutely loaded with talent. I’m excited to see what all they do,” Russell exclaimed. “I think there’s a lot of them who will end up throwing for us this year. I’m excited to see Derek Schaefer throw a little bit – he’s really stood out a lot. Matthew Dallas threw well yesterday, so I’m excited to see what he does.”

Schaefer, a right-handed pitcher, is believed to make an early impact for Tennessee this season – one in which he could start some ballgames. Dallas, what limited in the fall, but is progressing and should be a reliable arm the Vols can use as the year goes on.

“(Matthew) Dallas thew yesterday for the first time against hitters — I want to get it right, I think in about seven months,” Vitello explained. “And so, you kind of don’t know what you’re really going to get even though you followed this kid all the way through high school and he looked sharp. As a freshman you don’t want to pump a guy’s tires too much, but it wasn’t just the stuff (that was) good, it was kind of the attitude and the presence we’re looking for.”

Junior College transfer two-way player, Marcus Phillips, was also brought up by Russell as a guy who is simply ‘gross’ on the mound. Transfer portal additions AJ Causey and Nate Snead, along with veterans Wyatt Evans and Zander Sechrist could also be in play.

“They are not scared and believe in themselves,” first baseman Blake Burke added on the young pitchers. “They have good and talented arms. Marcus [Phillips]- he’s nasty. Schaefer, like he [Russell] said, really good. [Brayden] Sharpe is pretty good – good arm. I’m missing some, but they are not scared. They come to work and that’s all you can ask for.”     

According to Perfect Game, Tennessee boasts the fourth-best 2023 signing class with one player (LHP Matthew Dallas) ranking in the Top-100 at No. 97, in the publication’s player rankings, and eight players total inside the top-300. The other notable hurlers in the group include Cole Eaton (RHP/OF, No. 121), Brayden Sharp (LHP/OF, No. 207) and Derek Schaefer (RHP, No. 223).

Flame-throwing right-hander Nate Snead came to the Vols via Wichita State in the transfer portal. Same for AJ Causey from Jacksonville State. Both will make immediate impacts on the mound for Tennessee, likely out of the bullpen, though Causey could open games as well.

Tennessee begins the 2024 campaign at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX on the weekend of Feb. 16-18. The Vols are slated to play Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Baylor over that weekend.