The college baseball season is just over three weeks away and more media outlets are releasing their preseason top 25 rankings and All-American teams.
D1Baseball released its Preseason All-American teams earlier this week and the leader in college baseball coverage didn’t include a single Tennessee baseball player in its three All-American teams.
Tennessee baseball is coming off its first ever National Championship. The Vols lost a number of key players off their 2024 team that won 60 games, the SEC Regular-Season and Tournament Championship as well as the ultimate price.
Tony Vitello is looking to replace Christian Moore, Blake Burke, Billy Amick, Dylan Dreiling, Kavares Tears, Drew Beam, Aaron Combs and other crucial Vols. Those departures mean that Tennessee doesn’t have any obvious Preseason All-Americans but they do have a number of players capable of earning All-American honors during the 2025 season.
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The most obvious All-American candidates are returning players Dean Curley and Nate Snead. During his freshman season, the shortstop Curley hit .285 with 12 home runs and 50 RBIs. After a shaky back half of SEC play, Curley found his groove in the postseason and was a key bat for the Vols. Snead is a top right-handed arm in Tennessee’s bullpen and posted a 10-2 record and 3.11 ERA in 75.1 innings pitched a season ago.
Tennessee also has a handful of incoming transfers who could earn All-American honors. Ole Miss third baseman Andrew Fischer hit .285 with 20 home runs and 57 RBIs last season while Louisville infielder Gavin Kilen hit .330 with nine home runs, 35 extra-base hits and 41 RBIs.
Ole Miss transfer pitcher Liam Doyle posted a pedestrian 3-4 record and 5.73 ERA last season for the Rebels but was brilliant this fall for Tennessee and is poised to be the Vols’ Friday night starter.
While D1Baseball didn’t include a Tennessee player in its All-American list, they’re not exactly down on the Vols either. D1Baseball tabbed the Vols as their No. 4 team in their preseason top 25. If Tennessee ends up being that good, they’ll certainly have some players on postseason All-American teams.