The St. Louis Cardinals’ selected Tennessee right-handed pitcher Tegan Kuhns with the 32nd pick in 2026 MLB Draft on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals previously selected Tennessee high school signee Trevor Condon with the 13th pick in the draft.
Kuhns spent two years at Tennessee and heads to professional baseball as a draft eligible sophomore. The right-handed pitcher was the Vols’ most effective pitcher during the 2026 season, posting a 5-5 record, 3.56 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 81 innings pitched.
The Gettysburg, Pennsylvania native filled multiple roles during his sophomore season. He began the year as Tennessee’s Opening Day starter and served in the Friday night starting role early in the season. Tennessee moved Kuhns to a bullpen role for one series before moving him back into the rotation as the Saturday starter. After surging late in the season, Kuhns moved back into the Friday night starter role.
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Kuhns twice earned SEC Pitcher of the Week honors thanks to dominant showings. He shut out Alabama in an eight inning, run-rule victory where he struck out nine batters and allowed just three hits. Kuhns’ struck out 15 batters in seven shutout innings against Texas just two weeks later.
As a freshman, Kuhns posted a 5.40 ERA in 36.2 innings pitched. Kuhns spent most the season as Tennessee’s Sunday starter but rarely went deep in games and struggled to gain the trust of Tony Vitello and Frank Anderson. He did not pitch in the 2025 postseason after a shaky finish to the season.
Kuhns is the first Tennessee player selected in the MLB Draft though high school commits Condon and Jared Grindlinger were selected earlier in the first round. A number of other Tennessee players project as draft picks including Henry Ford, Bo Rhudy and Brandon Arvidson.
In the Cardinals’ organization, Kuhns joins his former Tennessee teammates Liam Doyle and Tanner Franklin. Kuhns becomes the inaugural first round pick of the Elander era in Knoxville.
