SEC Baseball Summer Standouts: Tennessee Builds Acclaimed Roster for Year 2 of Elander Era
Just Baseball takes a look at the 2027 Tennessee Volunteers, who will be coming out of a very busy summer.
Josh Elander’s first season as the head baseball coach at Tennessee was good, not great.
The Vols finished 38-22 (15-15 SEC) and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh year in a row. Of the 12 SEC teams that made the Field of 64, however, they were the only one that didn’t win a game, failing to reach a super regional for the first time since 2019.
Tennessee dropped an early home series to Kent State and nearly did the same against Wright State. It was swept by Vanderbilt and lost two at home to LSU, both of whom were among the four SEC teams that didn’t make the tournament.
Six of its 15 SEC losses were by two runs or less. There were some wild endings, almost all of which didn’t go its way. That same Tennessee team went to Starkville and swept Mississippi State, won a series against Texas and ended the regular season with two wins on the road over eventual national champs Oklahoma.
The Vols were far from the only team that dealt with the ups and downs of a college season, but the waters were rarely steady. That made Elander an easy target for those aiming to poke fun at the fans still stunned by the departure of Tony Vitello, the celebrated, headline-grabbing coach who finally brought that sought after national title to Rocky Top in 2024.
“We’ve been very fortunate to win a lot of regionals in a row, and it’s now come to an end,” Elander said following Tennessee’s season-ending loss to VCU in Chapel Hill on May 30. “So I think we need to look at everything holistically and just try to get better. That needs to be a theme, and so we’ll have those conversations.”
Conversations were had and changes were made. Elander fired pitching coach Josh Reynolds, who was elevated to the role last year after longtime coach Frank Anderson followed Vitello to the San Fransisco Giants. The Vols’ pitching staff finished with a 4.72 ERA and was middling by SEC standards. Austin Knight, an up-and-coming star in the coaching ranks who’s risen to prominence at East Carolina, was hired on June 6.
There was a mass exodus on the transfer front as 22 players entered and are headed elsewhere. Elander flexed his recruiting muscle, though, as Tennessee landed 11 transfers, building the nation’s No. 3 portal class, per 64Analytics. It then suffered a few losses in the draft, but still signed an elite high school class.
Supplement that with a group of key returnees and the Vols seem to have built a roster that should be in the top half of the best conference in the sport. Year two of the Elander era will be crucial. Just Baseball takes a look at 2027 Tennessee coming out of a busy summer.
Notable Returnees
- C Trent Grindlinger
- C Stone Lawless
- C/1B Levi Clark
- INF Blake Grimmer
- OF Blaine Brown
- UTL Tyler Myatt
- RHP Landon Mack
- RHP Brady Frederick
- RHP Ethan Baiotto
- LHP Cam Appenzeller
Stout Catching Core
Tennessee is one of the few teams in the nation that will have three rock-solid catching options. The development of Clark will be a key storyline in 2027. He was expected to take sophomore leap last season, but instead royally struggled at the plate for a majority of the year. A 10-game hitting streak at the end of the season brought the average up to .242, but that’s still a 47-point drop from his freshman mark. The OPS dropped nearly 200 points to .862 and his walk rate nosedived.
Clark made 38 starts at first base and 16 at catcher. Will he spend ample time at both again as a junior, and how will he rebound after a disappointing 2026? With Lawless and Grindlinger also returning, there can be plenty of rotating behind the dish.
Grindlinger, a Just Baseball SEC All-Freshman selection, became the primary designated hitter as a freshman, making just three starts at catcher last spring. The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder was as advertised with the bat, hitting .345 with seven doubles, a triple and eight home runs in 165 plate appearances. Expect him to catch more in 2027 and be somewhere in the heart of the UT batting order every day.
Then there’s Lawless, who led the Vols with 31 starts behind the plate last season. Hitting .234 with an .833 OPS, he never got going at the plate and his year was partially derailed after he was hit in the face by a pitch in late March. He’s solid defensively and has the experience, but it Clark and Grindlinger are clicking, then Lawless is likely the odd man out.
Appenzeller The Starter
Another All-Freshman selection, Appenzeller lived up to the hype in his first season in Knoxville. The 6-foot-5 lefty became Tennessee’s top reliever, throwing 56.2 innings across 20 appearances. He won six games, struck out 64 and walked only 15 while finishing with a 4.76 ERA.
He thrived in high-leverage situations and had six outings where he completed four-plus innings. It’s clear that a move to the weekend rotation should be made in 2027, and if you had to choose who gets the ball on opening day for the Vols, Appenzeller feels like the right call right now. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s an All-American next year.
Tennessee also returns Mack for another season. The right-hander, who transferred in from Rutgers last offseason, made 12 starts and pitched to a 4.67 ERA over 61.2 IP. He saw a sizable uptick in strikeouts, fanning nearly 30 percent of hitters faced. He was hit hard at times and surrendered 21 extra-base hits, but also offered a touch of consistency, though arm soreness kept him out of the end of the regular season and the postseason. He’s an important veteran to get back for a second season.
All Eyes On Blaine Brown
One of Tennessee’s biggest portal acquisitions last offseason was Brown, a 6-foot-5 lefty who pulverized 10 homers as a freshman for Rice. He got off to an electric start last season and did finish with 13 tanks, but hit .233 and struck out nearly 30 percent of the time in SEC play. When Brown is on, he’s fearsome and hits the ball harder than maybe anyone. Can he find a way to be ‘on’ more often as a junior?
Transfers will potentially make up a majority of Tennessee’s starting nine on opening day next season. Brown could be the lone returning starter in the outfielder. Grimmer will compete for a starting job somewhere. He made 26 starts at second base and 19 at first, hitting .283 with 13 HR of his own. He could move to corner outfield, too. Myatt spent time at second base and left field and will be another important depth piece.
The Portal Haul
Transfer rankings via 64Analytics
- INF Travis Sanders (Baylor) — No. 14
- TWP Braydon Kersey (Mercer) — No. 18
- INF Chris Ramirez (Cal Baptist) — No. 23
- INF Wyatt Hanoian (Air Force) — No. 42
- RHP Hayden Simmerson (Clemson) — No. 67
- LHP Ricky Ojeda (UC Irvine) — No. 87
- INF Mario Trivella (FIU) — No. 200
- OF Andrew Duncan (Wright State) — No. 203
- LHP Brody Trosclair (Northwestern State) — No. 344
- LHP Jake McCoy (South Carolina)
- RHP Parker Detmers (Louisville)
It’s clear that Elander and his staff zeroed in on retooling specific areas of their roster, primarily the middle infield and bullpen. This is a transfer group that’s filled with veterans, many of whom are finally making that big move to the SEC. Expect most to contribute in some facet.
Infielder Versatility
It’s an eclectic group of infielders headed to Rocky Top. One of the class jewels is Sanders, who slashed .369/.458/.586 with 15 doubles, nine homers, 44 RBI and 24 stolen bases for Baylor. He earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors, hit leadoff and played shortstop every day for Baylor. The year prior, he slotted in at second and third base.
Sanders will obviously be an option at SS, but a move back to third or perhaps elsewhere could be more likely for the senior. That’s partially because the Vols also brought in Ramirez, the WAC Player of the Year and two-time Defensive Player of the Year. In addition to toting an elite glove at short, the former Cal Baptist star just hit .383 with 22 doubles and seven bombs, walked more than he struck out and swiped 21 bags. He’s got 168 knocks to his name over his two seasons with the Lancers.
Ramirez’s middle infield partner looks to be Hanoian, another great hitter who finds ways to get on base. He just put together an elite freshman campaign, hitting .357 with a wicked .498 OBP, notching 24 extra-base hits and 49 RBI, pacing Air Force. The switch-hitter also got hit by a pitch 24 times and struck out less than 10 percent of the time.
Another option is Trivella, who made 49 starts at SS for FIU as a junior last season. He’ll have to fight for a spot somewhere in the dirt, but the Venezuelan swatted 15 homers for the Panthers and could swing his way into Tennessee’s plans over the course of the season.
Kersey is an interesting case. He almost exclusively pitched as a freshman for Mercer, but last season, he served as the Bears’ everyday DH and dominated while also making 20 appearances on the mound. He pumped 21 homers, drove in 67 runs and finished with a 1.123 OPS, earning All-SoCon honors. Kersey’s a lefty in the box and a righty on the bump. He’ll love swinging the bat at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, but could he see time elsewhere on the field? He could do a job as a corner infielder or outfielder, if needed.
A Standout Pitching Haul
Consistency evaded the Tennessee bullpen last season. It remains to be seen if that will be remedied next year, but there’s a load of experience en route. Two of the biggest additions from a starting perspective are recovering from season-ending injuries.
McCoy was set to take the ball on Friday nights for South Carolina last season, but he exited a scrimmage in January and was ruled out for the year soon after, undergoing Tommy John surgery. The Gamecocks had a season from hell, and after giving it some thought, the lefty opted to enter the portal and picked UT while knowing that pro ball was still an option. The Toronto Blue Jays selected him in the 18th round, but he wants to get one more year in college under his belt.
In 2025, McCoy made 14 starts and threw 60 innings. He was thumped at times and finished with a 6.90 ERA, but he also struck out 77. If healthy, he’ll be in the starting mix. So will Detmers, a 6-foot-4 righty who went down with Tommy John early in the 2025 season while starting at Louisville, also causing him to miss the entirety of 2026. He’s got just 34.2 IP under his belt, but the stuff is there. He was high school teammates with Appenzeller at Glenwood High School in Illinois.
Despite his 64A transfer ranking, Trosclair was one of the first big fish to emerge in the portal this summer. He had interest from numerous high-profile programs and took a spree of SEC visits before deciding on Tennessee. The Southland Freshman of the Year made 10 appearances, pitching to a 1.89 ERA across 38 IP, fanning 55 while walking just 11.
His season was cut short in April, and Tommy John was an option for him, too, but he opted to have an internal brace inserted into his elbow instead. He’s expected to be ready for the beginning of his sophomore year and could swipe a starting job himself.
Another lefty that could go deep into games or work in late-inning spots is Ojeda. In three years at UC Irvine, he made 72 appearances and pitched to a 3.60 ERA in 180 IP. He became a starter and excelled in the beginning of 2026, but some struggles called for a move back to relief. The 2025 Big West Pitcher of the Year, he’s a tough assignment and has consistently struck out 40 percent of hitters faced.
Expect Simmerson to be the No. 1 high-leverage righty in 2027. He transferred to Clemson from D2 Catawba last year and notched four saves in 17 outings for the Tigers, allowing just a .158 average against. Kersey’s role in relief will be a big storyline to follow, too.
Freshmen To Know
Prep prospect rankings via Just Baseball
- TWP Cole Koeninger — No. 31
- C/OF Sean Dunlap — No. 59
- RHP Gary Morse — No. 61
- RHP Gannon Grant — No. 92
- INF Jack Dugan — No. 93
Tennessee lost four top signees to the first five rounds of the MLB Draft, but it still came away with an impressive class that features a wealth of pitching and offers even more versatility to a roster that could easily lineup in myriad ways over the course of the season.
Wealth of Moldable Arms
Coming out of Keller, Texas, Koeninger is an intriguing two-way standout who struck out 138 batters and hit .432 as a senior. He became the Vols’ top incoming freshman and brings a wealth of tools on either side of the ball.
With so many infield options already at Tennessee’s disposal, the path to earlier playing time for the righty is likely on the mound. The fastball runs mid-90s, but according to the Just Baseball scouting team, he possesses a low-80s curveball that looks like one of the best in the class. His future could lie somewhere on the left side of the infield, though.
How about a 6-foot-8 righty who’s already running it up to 97? That’ll be Morse, a California kid who barrels down the mound in intimidating fashion. He guided his Orange Lutheran squad to an NHSI title, striking out 16 in a masterful performance.
Grant is another right-hander that can run his heater into the high 90s. There’s eight total freshmen pitchers/two-way players in the class. Click on the names above for a full scouting report courtesy of the JB scouting team.
Potential Starting Lineup & Rotation
C — Trent Grindlinger
1B — Levi Clark
2B — Wyatt Hanoian
SS — Chris Ramirez
3B — Travis Sanders
LF — Blake Grimmer
CF — Andrew Duncan
RF — Blaine Brown
DH — Braydon Kersey
FRI: LHP Cam Appenzeller
SAT: RHP Landon Mack
SUN: LHP Jake McCoy
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Written by
Hunter Shelton is a contributing college baseball writer for Just Baseball with a focus on the SEC. A University of Kentucky graduate and Lexington native, he…