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HOOVER, AL – MAY 26: Tennessee Volunteers pitcher AJ Russell (33)during the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament championship game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the LSU Tigers on May 26, 2024 at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire)
Tennessee could receive one of the biggest midseason boosts of any team in the nation this season.
The Volunteers expect touted righthander AJ Russell, who last year underwent surgery to repair a torn UCL in June, returning to action “in the second half of the season,” head coach Tony Vitello told Baseball America.
A junior with one of the best fastballs in the college ranks, Russell dazzled as a first-year player in 2023 when he pitched to an impeccable 0.89 ERA with a 47-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 30.1 innings. He opened 2024 on that same steep, positive trajectory when he struck out 10 batters over 4.1 innings and sat 94-98 mph in his first outing against Texas Tech. He generated an overwhelming 22 whiffs with his heater over the first three innings of that outing alone.
But the 6-foot-6 righty appeared just once in February before Tennessee shut him down for a month with an injury. He returned to make just two appearances in mid-March, but was forced back on the shelf until late May, when he returned to pitch two more innings over two games only to realize that there was too much damage to his elbow to proceed safely without surgery.
Russell has thrown just 44.2 innings across two college seasons, though they’ve been nothing short of wowing as he owns a 2.22 ERA with 68 strikeouts against just 15 walks. He owns a devastating 23.6% swinging strike rate on fastballs, which he throws roughly 67% of the time.
“That’s an elite arm, no question about it,” Vitello said. “He could obviously be a massive addition to our staff later on in the year.”
Of course, how the Volunteers utilize Russell once he’s healthy enough to return to games is somewhat out of their hands. The righthander and his representation will weigh his injury history and draft value–he’s one of the better SEC arms in the 2025 draft class–while determining a realistic return date and role.
“We’re going to do what’s best for AJ Russell at the end of the day,” Vitello said. “That’s why there’s no exact timeline on this. He’ll return when and if he’s ready, we’re just confident that we’ll be able to add some elite stuff to our staff at some point in the second half of this season, which would be a big deal.”
The Volunteers feel confident in their pitching depth while they await Russell’s return.
The reigning national champions returned flamethrowing righty Nate Snead, who averaged 96.2 mph on his fastball last year and ran the pitch up into the triple digits on occasion, hitting 101.3 mph at its peak.
Tennessee also added prized Ole Miss transfer lefty Liam Doyle, who possesses a standout heater, San Jacinto Community College lefty Brandon Arvidson and Kennesaw State righty Tanner Franklin, among others, to their staff.
The Volunteers ranked second in the SEC in ERA last year, a level of success they’re obviously hoping to maintain.
“We have a lot of really promising stuff on our staff this year,” Vitello said. “We’ll just need to see who steps up now and gets it.”
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