Austin Peay transfer catcher Jack Alexander signed a undrafted free agent deal with the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.
In our humble opinion, the @Royals landed the best catcher in all the land after the draft!
Best of luck @jackalexander0!#LetsGoPeay pic.twitter.com/Py324Iid7n
— Austin Peay Baseball (@GovsBSB) July 20, 2022
Alexander announced he was transferring to Tennessee on the first day of July after playing two seasons at Notre Dame followed by two seasons at Austin Peay.
The Belton, Missouri native was fantastic in his two seasons in Clarkesville and hit .346 as a senior in 2022. Alexander was a strong power hitter too, recording 36 doubles, 20 home runs and 83 RBIs in two seasons for the Governors.
After Crawford wasn’t selected in the MLB Draft, he seemed poised to come to Knoxville. Instead, Crawford is starting his professional career now in the Kansas City organization.
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With Crawford no longer Tennessee bound, the Vols have a handful of options at catcher for the 2023 season. Charlie Taylor was Tennessee’s back up a season ago but struggled at the plate, hitting just .056 in 36 at-bats.
Utility man Jared Dickey earned a handful of innings behind the plate before a foot injury limited his ability to play in the field. While continuing to rehab the foot injury, Dickey has caught Tennessee pitchers on campus this summer.
Catcher Ryan Miller redshirted and didn’t play a season ago for the Vols but remains on the roster.
Tennessee is actively pursuing Air Force RHP/Catcher transfer Paul Skenes. Skenes is one of the top transfers in the country and is playing for the Collegiate Team USA this summer.
The Vols had a program record 10 players selected in the 2022 MLB Draft including Drew Gilbert, Jordan Beck, Blade Tidwell, Trey Lipscomb, Ben Joyce, Will Mabrey, Jorel Ortega, Seth Stephenson, Mark McLaughlin and Cortland Lawson.
Alexander joins UConn transfer Reggie Crawford as incoming transfers that will start their professional career instead of playing a season in Knoxville
