Another Tennessee baseball pitcher is off the board in the 2026 MLB Draft. With pick No. 381 in the 13th round of the draft, starter Evan Blanco was selected by the Athletics.
Blanco is coming off his lone season at Tennessee after transferring in from Virginia. As a starter in the Vols’ weekend rotation, he produced a 4.65 ERA and 7-4 record.
The left-handed hurler stands at 6 feet, 210 pounds. He is from Woburn, Massachusetts, where he attended Austin Preparatory School. He played three seasons for Virginia from 2023-25 before entering the transfer portal. Blanco was tabbed an All-ACC Third-Team member in 2024.
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Blanco is the sixth Tennessee player off the board in this year’s draft. The St. Louis Cardinals selected Tegan Kuhns in the first round, the Seattle Mariners grabbed Henry Ford, the Philadelphia Phillies selected Bo Rhudy, the Los Angeles Angels took Garrett Wright and the Chicago Cubs picked Brandon Arvidson.
This means that five of the Vols’ six draft picks so far have been pitchers. Kuhns and Blanco were two of the three starters, with Landon Mack set to return to UT for next season. Arvidson started some but was primarily a bullpen piece alongside Rhudy. Ford was the starting third baseman.
A handful of Tennessee high school signees have been selected including two-way Trent Grindlinger, outfielder Trevor Condon, right-handed pitcher Kaiden McCarthy, right-handed pitcher Ty Putnam and first baseman Cody Boshell.
