A former Tennessee baseball pitcher is on the move ahead of the 2026 season. The Kansas City Royals traded former Vol AJ Causey to the Oakland Athletics Thursday in return for right-handed pitcher Mitch Spence.
Causey is entering his second full professional season after a standout 2025 season in the Royals’ minor league system. He made 27 appearances in High-A Quad Cities where he posted an 8-2 record, 1.56 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 40.1 innings pitched.
The submarine pitcher’s strong performance to begin the season led to Kansas City promoting him to AA Northwest Arkansas and he continued to shine, posting a 3-3 record, 1.91 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in 33 innings pitched.
Causey is the second former Tennessee player that the Royals have traded to the Athletics. Kansas City previously traded utility man Jared Dickey to the Athletics at the trade deadline. In the Royals’ system, Causey was teammates with former Tennessee pitcher Drew Beam.
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Causey spent just the 2024 season in Knoxville after transferring from Jacksonville State to Tennessee ahead of his junior season. The submarine pitcher earned a massive role in Tennessee’s pitching staff. He was the Vols’ Friday night starter after AJ Russell suffered an injury early in the season.
After having two bad starts against Georgia and Auburn in SEC play, Causey moved into a bullpen role where he pitched extensively on Friday night’s behind opener Chris Stamos. Causey thrived in that role and was one of Tennessee’s most effective pitchers the second half of the season after making the move to the bullpen.
Over the course of his lone season at Tennessee, Causey posted a 13-3 record, 4.43 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 91.1 innings pitched. Causey’s 125 strikeouts were the most on the Vols’ roster by 26 and he also ranked first on Tennessee’s roster in wins and second in innings pitched. He was a major piece of Tennessee baseball’s 2024 national championship team.
