With the regular season winding down, the 2026 MLB Draft is just two months away. The first round does not project to be as busy for Tennessee baseball as last season, but there should be some Vols involved in the opening round of the MLB Draft.
Both MLB.com’s Jim Callis and The Athletic’s Keith Law released first round mock drafts last week with Tennessee starting pitcher Tegan Kuhns and Tennessee signee Jared Grindlinger landing in both projections.
MLB.com‘s mock draft projects the Seattle Mariners to select Kuhns with the No. 24 overall pick in the draft while The Athletic‘s mock draft projects the New York Mets to select Kuhns with the No. 27 overall pick in the draft.
Kuhns has moved back and forth from Tennessee’s game one and game two starter this season and enters the final week of the regular season with a 4-4 record, 3.13 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 72 innings pitched.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Kuhns season is his 95 strikeouts and just 13 walks. That mark gives him an impressive 31.9% strikeout rate and a 4.7% walk rate.
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Kuhns has gotten better as the season has progressed. He’s earned SEC Pitcher of the Week honors twice in the last three weeks. Kuhns allowed just four total baserunners while tossing eight shutout innings against Alabama. Then against Texas, Kuhns struck out 15 batters in seven shutout innings.
MLB.com’s mock draft projects the Washington Nationals to select Grindlinger with the No. 11 pick in the draft while The Athletic projects the Cleveland Guardians to select Grindlinger with the No. 19 pick in the draft.
Grindlinger is the younger brother of Tennessee freshman standout Trent Grindlinger and was one of the biggest early recruiting wins of Josh Elander’s tenure as head coach. But landing Grindlinger’s commitment was just half of the battle of trying to get the talented California native to campus.
Tennessee views Grindlinger as a true two-way who can both play in the outfield and is a left-handed pitcher. Callis wrote that MLB teams are beginning to zero in on him as an outfielder more than as a pitcher.
The 2026 MLB Draft begins on Saturday, July 11 and runs through Monday, July 13. Tennessee concludes its 2026 regular season this weekend with a three-game road series at Oklahoma.
