The transfer portal has officially been open for just over two weeks as Josh Elander and his staff work to build Tennessee’s roster for the 2026 season.
At the beginning of the offseason, we took a look at Tennessee’s biggest needs in the portal. After two weeks, the Vols have lost 15 players to the portal, added two players in the portal and we have a better understanding of what positions Tennessee most needs to add to its roster.
Taking an updated look at the biggest remaining needs for the Vols in the portal.
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1. Relief Pitching
Tennessee stabilized its starting pitching this offseason by retaining Landon Mack and Cam Appenzeller, but the Vols still need to add a good deal more pitching to their roster as they try to revamp their staff under first-year pitching coach Austin Knight.
The Vols added Northwestern State transfer left-handed pitcher Brody Trosclair through the portal and retained Will Haas and Chandler Day who showed promise at times in their freshman seasons.
That’s a solid starting point, but Tennessee needs more. The Vols need to add right-handed power arms to their roster and ideally some with proven power level success.
2. Outfield
We entered the offseason knowing that Reese Chapman was out of eligibility and that Garrett Wright was likely headed to professional baseball. But potential replacements on the roster, Jay Abernathy and Nate Eisfelder, each entered the transfer portal which made this a significant need for Elander and his staff.
They do have a solid starting point with Blaine Brown returning to Tennessee for his junior season. If Jared Grindlinger surprisingly makes it to campus then he is another potential starter, but the Vols need to add more outfielders.
Tennessee has whiffed on a pair of outfield portal targets with Samford Jake Souders committing to Mississippi State and Tulane’s Jason Wachs committing to LSU. Each visited Tennessee. Saint Mary’s Diego Castellanos is reportedly visiting Tennessee on Tuesday.
3. Middle Infield
This was an area of need for Tennessee to begin the offseason and remains so two weeks later. The expectation was for Manny Marin to head to professional baseball but he entered the transfer portal and definitively won’t be back next season.
Abernathy entered the portal and Ariel Antigua and Chris Newstrom also entered the portal as was expected. There’s a better chance Blake Grimmer returns than I originally expected but even if he does, Tennessee’s shortstop position is uncertain entering next season.
Air Force transfer Wyatt Hanoian visited Tennessee and the Vols remain in the running for the second baseman.
4. Starting Pitching
Tennessee did solidify its starting pitching by retaining Mack and Appenzeller but they could use one more pitcher with starting experience. The Vols don’t believe Mack will need arm surgery after he missed the final month of the season with arm soreness, but that situation remains a bit precarious from my outside perspective.
Trosclair was a starter at Northwestern State but his recovery from spring arm surgery makes it unlikely that he will begin the season in that role.
The Vols don’t have to go out and get a stud ace but they could use one more pitcher with starting experience if not two.
