Tennessee baseball has landed 11 players in the transfer portal this offseason, adding four infielders, one outfielder, one two-way player, two right-handed pitchers and three left-handed pitchers.
The Vols’ transfer class is one of the nation’s best with Tennessee beating out a number of big name foes to land highly rated prospects. Tennessee’s class currently ranks third nationally according to 64analytics, clearing a number of larger classes in the rankings.
There’s a lot to like about Tennessee’s transfer class. Highlighting three specific reasons here.
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Tennessee Built A Balanced Offense
The most impressive part of Tennessee’s offseason was its retention and that included a trio of power hitters in Levi Clark, Trent Grindlinger and Blaine Brown. Tennessee’s first addition in the transfer portal was Mercer’s Braydon Kersey who is fresh off a season where he hit 21 homers and slugged .684.
From there, Tennessee added a multitude of good contact hitters. The infield trio of Wyatt Hanoian, Chris Ramirez and Travis Sanders combined to hit just 22 home runs last season. But all four hit .357 or better last season.
Wright State outfielder Andrew Duncan hit .367 with just six home runs but also stole 19 bases. Sanders also stole 22 bases. FIU transfer Mario Trivella was the last position player addition and adds a bit more power.
Tennessee’s lineup has power and contact hitting. It also has more speed than any in recent history.
There’s Tremendous Infield Depth
Hanoian, an Air Force transfer, and Ramirez, a Cal Baptist transfer, were both extremely sought after in the transfer portal this offseason and have high ceilings. But with any player moving from a mid major to the SEC, there’s going to be questions about adjusting to the superior pitching.
That’s why I like that Tennessee also added Sanders, a Second Team All-Big 12 shortstop, and Trivella. The Vols have insurance if one or two of their transfers’ bats do not pan out next season.
If Ramirez struggles, Sanders and Trivella have college experience starting at shortstop. If Hanoian struggles, one of the other infielders could move to second or Blake Grimmer could return to the spot where he played for most of the 2025 season.
Tennessee added high upside players while also raising the floor of its infield by landing a multitude of potential starters.
Tennessee’s Bullpen Additions
Tennessee added five pitchers plus the two-way Kersey. Left-handed pitcher Jake McCoy, left-handed pitcher Brody Trosclair and right-handed pitcher Parker Detmers will all compete for weekend starting spots.
But UC Irvine left-handed Ricky Ojeda and Clemson right-handed pitcher Hayden Simmerson are both career bullpen arms who should help provide Tennessee bullpen stability that it lacked a season ago.
Ojeda has a 3.60 ERA in 180 career innings pitched at UC Irvine. Simmerson posted a 3.62 ERA in 32.1 innings pitched during his junior season at Clemson.
