Tennessee baseball has been without one of its top pitchers for the first week of the 2026 season. But redshirt junior Brandon Arvidson is getting closer to returning to the bump in games for Tennessee. First-year head coach Josh Elander provided a positive injury update on Arvidson following the Vols’ 10-3 win over UNC Asheville on Wednesday night.
“Threw (Monday) and looked really, really good again,” Elander said. “So we’ll see. He probably wanted to pitch tonight, but he’ll be back sooner rather than later.”
Arvidson dealt with arm soreness this preseason leading to a slow start to begin the season. He didn’t participate in any scrimmages in the preseason but threw a bullpen last Thursday before throwing again Monday. With no setbacks happening either time, Arvidson will likely make his season debut before too long.
The left-handed pitcher was the surprise of the MLB Draft for Tennessee, electing to return to Knoxville for his redshirt junior season after going unselected in the first three rounds of the draft. He struggled early in the 2025 season but emerged as a dominant reliever late in the season, finishing the year with a 4.19 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 38.2 innings pitched.
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The former Texas A&M and junior college pitcher posted an incredibly effective 42% strikeout rate last season. When he cut his walk rate late in the season, Arvidson emerged as one of Tennessee’s best pitchers. His improvement helped the Vols’ pitching staff steady the ship late in the season.
Arvidson could fill multiple roles for Tennessee this season. He is fully capable of starting for the Vols but will start the season as a Swiss Army knife in Tennessee’s bullpen.
Tennessee is back in action this weekend when they face a strong Kent State team at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Zips won the MAC Regular Season a year ago and the league’s coaches picked them to finish second this season. Kent State is 3-1 early this season after sweeping SE Louisiana and losing to LSU 10-7 in a midweek game.
First pitch for the three-game series is at 4:30 p.m. ET on Friday evening. The SEC Network+ is streaming the game.
