Tennessee baseball opens up NCAA Tournament play this weekend as they travel east for the Chapel Hill Regional where they’ll compete with North Carolina, East Carolina and VCU for a super regional birth.
The Vols’ bullpen has been one of their biggest weaknesses this season as a number of arms expected to contribute in SEC play struggling. After a trio of arms, Tennessee has struggled to find reliable out getters after a starting pitching staff that has been pretty solid this season.
Four Tennessee relievers threw over 10 innings in SEC play with seven throwing over five innings. Which are the most trustworthy? Power ranking the top five here.
One note: College bullpens are not MLB bullpens. Roles vary. On any given game, Tennessee could ask Cam Appenzeller to get nine outs and Will Haas to get one. That is not a fair comparison. So for the sake of this article, the scenario in question is this: Start of the eighth inning, one run lead. Who do you feel best about getting six outs to secure the win?
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1. LHP Brandon Arvidson
SEC regular season stats: 29 IP, 4.34 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 32 K, 11 BB
Arvidson entered the year banged up due to arm soreness but was Tennessee’s top reliever from the time he became fully healthy. Cam Appenzeller passed him as the Vols’ best bullpen arm for a while but Arvidson has remained steady as Appenzeller has struggled the back half of SEC play.
The left-handed pitcher had a pair of really bad outings against Missouri and LSU the first half of SEC play but has otherwise been really solid.
Arvidson hasn’t been dominant down the stretch, allowing at least one run in four of his last five outings. But his ERA is still 5.19 over that stretch as he’s done a good job not letting this snowball on him.
2. LHP Cam Appenzeller
SEC regular season stats: 34.1 IP, 5.77 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 36 K, 9 BB
Appenzeller was one of the best pitchers in the SEC the first half of SEC play. He didn’t allow an earned run in his first 20 innings pitched in SEC play. Through five appearances in five series, Appenzeller allowed just two earned runs in 23.1 innings pitched (0.77 ERA).
But in his final five series in SEC play, Appenzeller allowed 20 earned runs in 11 innings pitched (16.36 ERA) as he struggled to recreate the success he had in the first half of SEC play.
The left-handed pitcher has been a bit better his last two times out, allowing five earned runs in 7.2 innings pitched.
3. RHP Bo Rhudy
SEC regular season stats: 17 IP, 4.76 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 19 K, 3 BB
Rhudy gave up four earned runs in an inning against Kentucky and two earned runs in 0.1 innings pitched against LSU. Other than that, Rhudy has been pretty solid.
The right-handed pitcher has performed well as of late, allowing just two earned runs in his last six innings pitched (3.00 ERA).
Rhudy’s biggest issue has been giving up homers. Opponents have taken Rhudy deep seven times in SEC play, the highest mark of any Tennessee reliever.
4. LHP Will Haas
SEC regular season stats: 5.1 IP, 5.06 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 5 K, 2 BB
Haas has taken advantage of the opportunity presented by Landon Mack’s arm soreness more than anyone else.
Dating back to the Texas series, Haas two earned runs in six innings pitched (3.00 ERA). He has a40.7% strikeout rate over that stretch. Haas tossed 2.1 scoreless innings against South Carolina in the SEC Tournament.
It’s a bad sign that a freshman who threw 5.1 innings in SEC play is this high on the trust rankings, but that is the reality right now.
5. RHP Nic Abraham
SEC regular season stats: 10.2 IP, 7.59 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 5 K, 4 BB
Abraham totaled half of his SEC innings in one outing against Vanderbilt when he allowed just one run in 5.1 innings pitched. He had a disastrous game three outing against LSU, allowing five earned runs in 0.2 innings pitched.
Since then, Abraham seemingly hasn’t had too much trust from Tennessee’s staff. But he’s stacked some good outings as of late, combining for 6.1 innings allowing just one unearned run since the poor outing against LSU.
The right-handed pitcher isn’t going to overwhelm anyone with his stuff but typically throws strikes. That gives me more trust in him than other bullpen options.
