Tennessee catcher Stone Lawless is recovering well but will still miss an extended amount of time after an Alex Kranzler pitch hit him in the face.
The incident occurred in the third inning when a 3-1 89 mph fastball hit Lawless in the face. He immediately fell to the ground and had to be helped off the field. Tennessee took him to the hospital during the game and Josh Elander said after the game that the pitch hit him in the orbital socket.
Meeting with the media following Tennessee’s 13-4 win over Austin Peay, Elander updated Lawless’ status.
“He looks better,” Elander said. “The update there from Woody (trainer Jeff Wood) and our training staff is he has a facial fracture and a fracture in his nose. He’s in great hands with our people here. Dr. (Chris) Klenck has done an amazing job with him, but he’s a huge part of our team, and will continue to be. Now he’s got to get some of that swelling down in his eye before we figure out what the next steps are.”
Elander said that they will not know the exact timeline for his return until the swelling goes down and doctors are able to better assess the issue. But on the Vol Network pregame show, Elander told John Wilkerson that Lawless would miss “a considerable amount of time.”
“We all said a prayer for him over the deal,” Elander said. “That was a very, very scary deal, but love that kid, and he’s going to bring a lot of value between now and when he’s back out on the field for us again.”
Lawless has started 21 games behind the plate this season and is hitting .250 with four home runs, four doubles and 10 RBIs. After a slow start to the season, Lawless has been one of the Vols’ better hitters in SEC play.
More From RTI: Everything Tennessee HC Josh Elander Said Following Win Over Austin Peay
In nine SEC games played, Lawless is slashing .222/.313/.556 with two home runs and three doubles. Even when not starting behind the plate in conference play, Lawless has been Tennessee’s designated hitter.
With Lawless out against Austin Peay, utility man Garrett Wright started behind the plate against the Govs. Wright transferred to Tennessee this offseason with plenty of experience catching at Bowling Green. However, Wright had yet to catch in games Knoxville after breaking the hamate bone in his wrist in preseason practice.
Wright returned to the field after missing the first few weeks of the season but had just played outfield before Tuesday night.
Levi Clark is Tennessee’s other catching option and has started behind the plate in eight games this season. The sophomore has also started 14 games at first base this season. Blake Grimmer is the most obvious candidate to start at first base if Clark is catching.
Freshman Trent Grindlinger can also catch but Elander said that would be more likely in midweek games while Wright and Clark split duties in weekend games.
“I’ve been in the trenches with those guys,” Elander said. “That’s a group that I work with on a day-to-day basis, so I trust all of them to do it. I think it’s even as just having a conversation with some of the pitchers. ‘Hey what is your preference here? Or whatever it may be, and then ultimately, we have to make the decision.’ But they’re all capable of doing it at a high level defensively, and they know that is the standard.”
After a disastrous 0-3 weekend at Vanderbilt, the Vols are looking to get back on track this weekend when they host the defending national champion LSU Tigers at Lindsey Nelson Stadium for a three-game series. The three-game series gets underway at 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday night.
