Tennessee baseball utility man Garett Wright fractured his hamate bone and is expected to be sidelined for the next three to six weeks, head coach Josh Elander told GoVols247’s Ben McKee and Volquest’s Eric Cain at the Big Orange Tipoff Club Monday.
The hamate bone is a small bone in the wrist. It is not an uncommon injury for a baseball player but it will cause Wright to miss time.
“We’ll get him back and ready to go,” Elander said. “He’s battling through that. We’ve had some guys go through that in the past. It’s just a baseball injury. It’s going to happen, especially when guys, they hold their bat a certain way. So long-term, no real concerns there. We’ll get him back. Obviously he’ll be able to do his throwing and running in the mean time to keep him ready to go.”
The three-to-six week timeline means that he could potentially return for the season-opening series against Nicholls in three and a half weeks. However, it seems more likely that Wright will miss time early in the 2026 season.
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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.
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. Elander has spoken highly of rising junior catcher Stone Lawless this offseason, but Wright could be in the mix for starts behind the plate or in the outfield.
The versatile junior spent time at numerous outfield spots and behind the plate during Tennessee’s fall practice.
Tennessee opens up its 2026 campaign on Friday, Feb. 13 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium when it hosts Nicholls in a three-game series.
