Tennessee baseball is approaching its most important draft of Tony Vitello’s tenure with nine current players, two transfer portal commits and six high school signees ranked in the top 250 of the MLB Pipeline Draft rankings.
Of the Vols’ 14 transfer commits, eight are eligible for the draft. We’ll begin to get a much better idea of what Tennessee’s 2026 roster is going to look like over the next week when incoming transfers and high school prospects decide whether to come to Tennessee or begin their professional careers.
The multitude of draft risks poses an interesting question. Who is the most important player for Tennessee to get to campus?
There’s a real argument for Billy Carlson (SS), Steele Hall (SS), Kruz Schoolcraft (LHP) and especially Cameron Appenzeller (LHP) given the Vols’ need for left-handed pitching and the Illinois native falling in the latest big boards and mock drafts.
But Tennessee would be best suited to get Virginia transfer outfielder Henry Ford to campus. Ford is the No. 73 player in the MLB Pipeline’s prospect rankings but didn’t land in The Athletic, ESPN or CBS Sports latest mock drafts.
There’s cautious optimism from Tennessee that Ford will make it to campus. It’s around a 50-50 chance, maybe 40-60, but nevertheless it is a realistic possibility that Ford makes it.
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Much has been made about Tennessee’s pitching staff this offseason and that’s understandable given the 20 players that entered the transfer portal and five more that project as draft picks. But the Vols have done a really good job adding quality arms through the portal and their pitching staff is in a good spot.
There’s more questions now about what Tennessee’s offense will look like. There’s plenty of players to like. The Vols group of rising sophomores Levi Clark, Chris Newstrom, Jay Abernathy and Manny Marin all have potential and Tennessee’s added talented hitters DJ Newman, Garrett Wright and Blaine Brown to their roster via the transfer portal.
But even with a lot of talented hitters with high ceilings, Tennessee is missing a proven, middle of the order bat. Ford is just that. In two seasons in the ACC, Ford slashed .348/414/.587 with 28 home runs, 22 doubles and 115 RBIs. That’s even with Ford missing a handful of games this past season due to injury.
The right fielder is the type of player you can plug into the two or three-spot and expect to produce like an All-SEC selection.
That, in turn, takes pressure off the likes of Levi Clark, Chris Newstrom, Blaine Brown and others. All three players have the potential to be highly productive, All-SEC type players. But with Ford on the roster, there’s much less pressure on them to be that. They can simply be themselves and Tennessee’s offense should be fine wherever the chips fall.
Much like recruiting, Tennessee isn’t going to get every transfer and high school recruit to campus. But they also are not all going to go pro. If the Vols can choose one player to make it to campus, Ford should be the choice.
