Tony Vitello has positive remarks on AJ Russell's progress back to the mound  

Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello addressed the media on Tuesday ahead of Opening Day on Friday against Hofstra. During the press conference, the skipper addressed the recovery timeline of starting pitcher AJ Russell, who will miss the first bit of the new season.

“Yeah, he continues to bother me about throwing more. So it falls into that basket we were talking about earlier. I think he has reached the stage where it’s no longer a building up through a throwing program, or you wouldn’t call it rehab anymore. Now we start to throw a little bit. So it won’t be long,” Vitello said on Tuesday. “There’s still some, some stages or steps to knock out, but it won’t be long before he’s that guy saying, you know, I’m ready to close the game or start a game, or let me throw 100 pitches even though he hasn’t thrown one pitch in a game yet. Which, again, you want guys to have that want too, but you got to pick your spots with that. 

The rising junior was limited for the majority of his second year in the program after beginning the 2024 campaign as the club’s Opening Day starter. After some time off, rehab and a couple of returns to the mound following the initial injury, Russell needed Tommy John surgery in June.

The surgery was a success and proved a shorter recovery timeline as the repair was done with an internal brace, putting him on track to be back on the mound for the Orange & White at some point in 2025. Rough estimates of his recovery timeline following surgery on June 11 was anywhere from 8-10 months.

“I think he’s in line with what he should be,” the coach said of Russell at the start of preseason camp. “I made the comment a couple times, by the halfway point, he’ll be pitching for us. All of us would like that to be sooner but there’s some steps along the way to knock out.”

Russell has been active and on track with his recovery, throwing routine bullpen sessions of late. He’s expected to face live hitters in simulated situations soon. Tennessee will continue bringing him along slowly while building him up. The start of Southeastern Conference play (mid-March) could be within reach for the hurler, but the exact timeline for his season-debut is still to be determined.

The talented 2025 MLB Draft prospect was limited to just 14.1 innings over six appearances with four starts in 2024. He posted an 0-1 record with a 5.02 ERA with 21 strikeouts to eight walks.

“I think we used Kirby (Connell) eight of our last eight games, and there were some days off. So, we’re not that abusive, but that’s the time of year you do that,” Vitello concluded on Tuesday.

“But some of these other guys you mentioned earlier, Peebs [Cannon Peebles], [Andrew] Fischer – they have pro careers down the line, and we have an entire season to play, and it actually benefits our team when there are some knicks and knacks because or a pitch count, for instance, because it forces you to use more guys. And leading into SEC play, we want to leave no stone unturned, so we at least have the best guesstimate to who can do what and who can’t, so we can put our best foot forward in whatever that first conference game is, but for now, obviously the most important game is Friday against Hofstra.”

Tennessee begins the 2025 season this Friday with a 4:30 p.m. ET first pitch against Hofstra from Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Catch up on the latest renovations updates to Lindsey Nelson Stadium HERE and find out what fans should know about the ballpark before arriving this weekend.