Four Position Battles That Tennessee Baseball Coach Tony Vitello Outlined On Wednesday

Tony Vitello
Tony Vitello in Tennessee Dugout // Photo via Tennessee Athletics

Competition is always the key word for Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello. Fall position battles are rolling into preseason position battles while Vitello knows the first month of the season is about tinkering with lineups and roles while competition continues.

Meeting with the media on Wednesday for the first time this preseason, Vitello highlighted four spots where competition rages on— first base, infield positioning, left field and designated hitter. Taking a look at the four spots here.

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First Base

Tennessee has the tall task of replacing Blake Burke at first base after the two-year starter not only had a monster year at the plate but was phenomenal defensively in 2024.

The Vols don’t have a true first baseman on the roster with Alex Perry and Dalton Bargo being the top two contenders. But Alex Perry left the program due to a personal matter earlier this month leaving Bargo as the top contender.

However, Vitello stopped short of saying first base was Bargo’s job to lose on Wednesday. If not Bargo, who?

Redshirt freshman catcher Stone Lawless has a good bat and worked at first base this fall. The same is true of true freshman catcher Levi Clark. Lawless will certainly get starts behind the plate but seems capable of playing first base too. But those are the three options and Bargo remains the top contender in my estimation.

Infield Positioning

Tennessee knows Dean Curley and transfer Gavin Kilen are going to be infield starters. But where at? Curley started at shortstop as a true freshman for the National Champions last season. Kilen started at shortstop for Louisville. Both players worked at shortstop in the fall but Curley spent more time there than anybody else.

In some ways, that makes the infield positioning relatively simple. But the one thing that could throw a real wrench in the mix is if Ole Miss transfer Andrew Fischer struggles defensively at third base. That was the case for him last year at Ole Miss as he ended up at designated hitter.

That opens up a whole can of worms. Curley could move to third base as could Bargo who started there for two weeks last year when Billy Amick had his appendix removed.

If Curley moves to third, Kilen would likely play shortstop with Ariel Antigua or freshmen Manny Marin or Jay Abernathy playing second base.

Left Field

This is where Abernathy feels more likely to fit in. He was a high school infielder but has elite speed and spent an abundance of fall practice in left field.

The true freshman is competing with veteran Colby Backus as well as sophomore Hunter High to earn the starting job in left field. Stop me if you’ve heard this before but Bargo is also a potential option here. The second-year Missouri transfer is as versatile as they come.

Multiple players will earn opportunities in the first month of the season but Abernathy winning this job feels likely to me.

Designated Hitter

The designated hitter spot will depend so much on how these other spots work out. Bargo is one of Tennessee’s best nine hitters and if he doesn’t end up at one of the other spots then he’ll end up here.

Lawless and Clark also feel like leading contenders here. Both had great falls at the plate and they’re right handed bats. In a lineup that is overloaded with left handed bats, having a right handed bat at the designated hitter spot will be valuable.

Then on days when Cannon Peebles is not catching, the second-year North Carolina State transfer could be a factor.

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