Tennessee baseball RHP Andrew Lindsey has been selected in the fifth round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins at No. 146 overall.
Lindsey is the third Vol to come off the board in the draft, behind Chase Dollander (No. 9 overall) and Maui Ahuna (No. 117 overall).
The former Vol is now the 13th pitcher to get taken in the draft in the Tony Vitello era.
Lindsey heads to the big leagues after three total seasons of college baseball, the last of which was at Tennessee. Miami’s new arm played his first season of college ball at Walter’s State Community College before playing his sophomore season at Charlotte.
Then, Lindsey took a year off from the sport to be with family before getting back into baseball and transferring to Tennessee.
There, Lindsey began the season as a top bullpen arm before ultimately becoming the Friday night starter five weeks into SEC play.
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The New Johnsonville, Tennessee, native was arguably Tennessee’s most consistent pitcher in the back-half of conference play, never giving up more than three runs in an outing.
Lindsey delivered a couple of huge outings for the Vols, too. Lindsey shut out South Carolina in 8.1 innings of work in a crucial series-opening win for the Vols then backed it up with a five-hit, one-run performance in Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament-opening win against his former team, Charlotte.
Head coach Tony Vitello’s decision to promote Lindsey to a starting role and move Chase Burns to the bullpen saved the Vols season and was the biggest reason Tennessee made it to the College World Series. Burns was fantastic as a reliever, but nearly as significant for Tennessee was Lindsey’s consistency as a starter.
Lindsey was arguably Tennessee’s biggest pleasant surprise this past season, as the 23-year-old was not projected to be a day two draft pick entering the season.
In 2023, Lindsey earned 3rd Team All-American honors from Baseball America, was named as a starting pitcher on the NCAA NCAA Clemson All-Regional Team, and won SEC Pitcher of the Week following his brilliant outing against South Carolina, for which he also won the Dick Howser Trophy National Player of the Week.
