Former Tennessee star Hunter Ensley is set to begin his professional career with the Kansas City Royals assigning him to its High-A team— the Quad Cities River Bandits. Ensley will have a familiar face waiting for him in the Quad Cities and will once again be teammates with former Tennessee pitcher Drew Beam.
Beam and Ensley played with each other from 2022-24 at Tennessee where they were apart of two SEC Regular-Season Championship, two SEC Tournament Championship, two College World Series teams and the 2024 National Championship team.
Both were incredibly important to Tennessee’s national championship team in 2024. Ensley hit .296 with 12 home runs and 15 doubles while playing stellar defense in centerfield and Beam was a consistent weekend starter, posting a 4.22 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in a team-high 102.1 innings pitched.
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Kansas City selected Beam in the third round of the 2024 MLB Draft and the right-handed pitcher has been effective in his first full professional season. Beam has a 3.64 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 99 innings pitched and 20 starts this season, all in High-A.
Ensley went unselected in the 2025 MLB Draft before signing an undrafted free agent deal with the Royals. The west Tennessee native hit .336 with 10 home runs, 17 doubles and a career-high 62 RBIs from the three-spot during his redshirt senior season in 2025.
“What an honor to be able to wear Tennessee across my chest for the past 5 years!” Ensley wrote in an Instagram post in June. “Forever grateful for all the memories and relationships Knoxville has brought me! Vol Nation, 🫶🏽!”
If Ensley makes it to AA soon then he’ll have another familiar face waiting on him in former Tennessee RHP AJ Causey who is currently a reliever for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.
