Baseball America released its preseason All-Americans teams Tuesday with a pair of Tennessee players making the cut. Sophomore Tegan Kuhns and Blaine Brown both landed as Preseason Second Team All-Americans.
Kuhns was one of four starting pitchers on the second team while Brown was the lone “two-way” player on the second team.
The right-handed Kuhns was Tennessee’s Sunday starter as a true freshman a season ago, posting a 2-4 record, 5.40 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in 36.2 innings pitched. It was an up-and-down season for Kuhns.
Illness early in the season slowed his progression. Kuhns then flashed while winning the Sunday job in the middle of the season before struggling down the stretch and not pitching for Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament. Despite the shaky ending to his freshman season, Kuhns projects as a weekend starting pitcher for the Vols this season.
Brown was a First Team All-American Conference selection a season ago as a freshman at Rice, hitting .292 with 10 home runs, 12 doubles and 38 RBIs. The lanky left-hander should be a constant in Tennessee’s lineup whether in the outfield or at designated hitter.
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The sophomore’s role is less clear on the mound. He made just seven appearances on the mound last season and struggled in them. However, he has high-velo from the left side and could earn a smaller bullpen role from that alone.
Two Tennessee baseball players have frequently earned Preseason All-American honors this winter. However, both D1Baseball and Perfect Game each tabbed Virginia transfer utility man Henry Ford and ETSU transfer RHP Brady Frederick as preseason All-Americans instead of Kuhns and Brown.
Danny White tabbed associate head coach Josh Elander as the program’s new head coach. Elander retained a number of assistants including Ross Kivett. He promoted Josh Reynolds to replace Anderson, hired Florida associate head coach Chuck Jeroloman to replace himself as associate head coach and hired Keegan Knoll to replace Eberhardt.
Tennessee returns veterans Reese Chapman, Ariel Antigua and Stone Lawless in the field and is hoping rising sophomores Levi Clark, Chris Newstrom, Manny Marin and Jay Abernathy take a second year step forward. Tennessee’s pitching staff projects to be even better than its offense.The Vols were also active with their pitching staff in the portal, adding Virginia’s Evan Blanco, Kennesaw State’s Bo Rhudy, Rutgers’ Landon Mack and ETSU’s Brady Frederick. Freshman LHP Cameron Appenzeller could also make an impact in his debut collegiate season.
