Next week’s MLB Draft combine in Phoenix will have a Tennessee orange tint to it with four current Vols and 11 Vol commits earning invites to the event.
Third baseman Henry Ford, right-handed pitcher Tegan Kuhns, right-handed pitcher Bo Rhudy and catcher/outfielder Garrett Wright were the four players on Tennessee’s current roster invited to compete in the event.
Somewhat surprisingly, infielder Blake Grimmer was not invited as a draft eligible redshirt sophomore despite hitting .283 with 13 home runs during the 2026 season. Grimmer enters the MLB Draft as a prospect who could begin his professional career or return to Knoxville for the 2027 season.
The long list of Tennessee commits who earned invites to the combine include outfielder/left-handed pitcher Jared Grindlinger, right-handed pitcher Cannon Grant, right-handed pitcher Ty Putnam, right-handed pitcher Gary Morse, right-handed pitcher Shawn Sullivan, right-handed pitcher Kaiden McCarthy, outfielder Trevor Condon, two-way Cole Koeninger, shortstop Jack Dugan, catcher Sean Dunlap and outfielder AJ Curry.
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The long lists of Tennessee prep signees invited to the combine highlights the importance of next month’s MLB Draft for the Vols as a number of Tennessee signees could spurn college baseball all together for professional baseball.
Jared Grindlinger, the younger brother of Tennessee star Trent Grindlinger, is one of the biggest names to watch and is No. 42 in Perfect Game’s top 300 draft prospects list. Other Vol signees on the list include: Condon (39), Koeninger (50), Dunlap (61), McCarthy (91), Grant (135), Curry (147), Sullivan (204), Duggan (219) and Jaxson Wood (251).
Current Tennessee players in Perfect Game’s top 300 include Kuhns (24), Ford (136), Wright (225) and Brandon Arvidson (281).
The 15 Tennessee players and commits are part of a group of 335 players invited to next week’s combine. That group includes 195 collegiate players and 145 high school players. Last year, 256 of the 309 players who competed in the combine were selected in the MLB Draft.
