Bowling Green transfer utility man Garrett Wright made his Tennessee debut on Tuesday night in the Vols’ 8-3 win over Bellarmine. Wright was a defensive sub, coming in to play centerfield in the ninth inning of Tennessee’s victory.
While Wright made his debut against the Knights, the catcher and outfielder is still not completely full-go as he works back from a wrist injury.
“He’s swinging the bat and has not hit off like velocity or anything yet, but he’s making great progress,” Tennessee head coach Josh Elander said postgame. “And you know, we started throwing him in live defenses last week, and he can really throw and cover some ground. There’s obviously less impact catching a fly ball than, you know, catching some of our guys on the mound, but he was able to put the gear on for the first time yesterday, so still a little bit of a progression.”
Wright fractured his hamate bone in his wrist in the preseason and had surgery to repair it. While the Bowling Green transfer continues to make progress, head coach Josh Elander noted that he will probably only be available as a defensive substitute this weekend at the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series in Arlington.
Wright transferred to Tennessee from Bowling Green over the offseason where he played two seasons for the Falcons. He twice earned First Team All-MAC selection and was the MAC Defensive Player of the Year this past season.
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A two-year standout for the Falcons, Wright is a career .396 hitter with 14 home runs, 28 doubles and 76 RBIs. Wright slashed .406/.513/.663 in his sophomore season while posting a 8.7% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate. While Wright hit just eight home runs last season, he broke the Bowling Green record with 20 doubles.
Wright is a true utility man, both catching and playing centerfield a year ago for Bowling Green. He could factor for Tennessee behind the plate or in the outfield when he is back full healthy.
“I thought it was cool to get him out there tonight, maybe get some of those first butterflies out,” Elander said. “You talk about an experienced, talented kid. I mean, that’s another guy we’re excited to get back in the mix. But got to be smart with that deal, because it’s a little bit of pain tolerance, but at the same time, it’s very different from playing the outfield and catching.”
Tennessee is off to a 6-2 start to the season after dropping a weekend series against Kent State at home. The challenge ratchets up this weekend when the Vols travel to Texas for matchups against UCLA, Arizona State and Virginia Tech.
First pitch for the weekend opener against No. 1 UCLA is at 4 p.m. ET on Friday afternoon.
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