Brandon Arvidson might be the best pitcher on Tennessee baseball’s 2026 roster. But Arvidson will not begin the season as a weekend starter for Josh Elander’s first Tennessee team. That decision is, in part, due to Arvidson dealing with arm soreness this preseason.
“He’s a little bit behind,” Elander said of Arvidson. “We’ll be very, very — take it slow with him. Make sure he’s got his feet underneath him, he’s built up the right way, because he’s a true weapon for us.”
The issue is not expected to be longterm for Arvidson. It’s currently unclear if Arvidson will be available this weekend against Nicholls with Elander indicating that they would know later in the week after Arvidson throws again.
“He threw last week in a pen, and honestly, I thought he looked like a major leaguer,” Elander said. “It’s the best I’ve ever seen him throw indoors. Again, he’s a little bit behind in his progression. We’ll see. He’s going to get through this week and see what he’s capable of doing.”
First-year head coach Josh Elander shared Monday that sophomore right-handed pitcher Tegan Kuhns will begin the season as the Friday starter, sophomore right-handed pitcher Landon Mack will begin the season as the Saturday starter and left-handed pitcher Evan Blanco will begin the season as the Sunday starter.
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Arvidson was the surprise of the MLB Draft for Tennessee, electing to return to Knoxville for his redshirt junior season after going unselected in the first three rounds of the draft. The left-handed pitcher struggled early in the 2025 season but emerged as a dominant reliever late in the season, finishing the year with a 4.19 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 38.2 innings pitched.
The former Texas A&M and junior college pitcher posted an incredibly effective 42% strikeout rate last season. When he cut his walk rate late in the season, Arvidson emerged as one of Tennessee’s best pitchers. His improvement helped the Vols’ pitching staff steady the ship late in the season.
“I think he’s more than capable of taking the ball as a starter,” Elander said. “I know that was a conversation we had in the summer last year when we were talking about coming back or not. I think he’s a guy that just from this new coaching spot I’m in, just gives me a lot of confidence, because he’s — Chuck (Jeroloman) and I have talked about — he’s kind of matchup proof, right? It’s just such a tough look. He can get righties and lefties out. The breaking ball is a true swing and miss. And then I just think the maturity has taken a big jump, where everything just seems slower for him this year in comparison to last year.”
Often under Tony Vitello and Frank Anderson, Tennessee utilized one of its three pitchers out of the bullpen as Swiss army knife that they could use multiple times every weekend. It’s unclear if Elander and new pitching coach Josh Reynolds will go about things the same way, but if they do Arvidson would make sense in that role.
Tennessee gets started for good this Friday when they open up the 2026 season with a three-game series against Nicholls. First pitch for the weekend series is at 4:30 p.m. ET.
