Tennessee baseball bounced back from its first series loss of the season by taking two of three games against then-No. 6 Ole Miss in Oxford.
Now at the halfway point in SEC play, Tennessee baseball is 31-5 (11-4 SEC) and is a consensus top five team in the country.
But what have the learned about the Vols in the first half of SEC play? What are the biggest questions facing Tony Vitello’s eighth Tennessee squad at this point in the season? Taking a look here.
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Tennessee Needs To Clean Up Its Defense
Following its weekend series loss against Texas A&M, Vitello made a pointed comment to the media that was really directed at his team.
“We got talent, but we damn sure don’t have – again, we know the rosters,” Vitello said. “We don’t have the best roster in the country. That’s not even close.”
The point, as I interpreted it, was that Tennessee is not good enough to just show up and win on talent alone. The Vols have to have the right mindset and they have to play clean baseball. While Tennessee did earn the series win at Ole Miss, its defense was dreadful combined to commit six errors in three games and commit a number of other mistakes. It was particularly poor in games two and three.
Tennessee’s infield defense was lackluster for parts of last season but its offense was almost always good enough to overcome the deficiencies. That’s not the case this season. Tennessee must be sharper defensively if they want to achieve its goals.
Most notably, Dean Curley has really struggled defensively, particularly throwing the ball to first. It’s to the point where it seems like a mental issue more than a physical one. When Gavin Kilen is back fully healthy, Tennessee may need to move Curley to designated hitter at least temporarily.
How Does Tennessee Iron Out The Top Half Of Its Lineup?
The top four spots in Tennessee’s lineup has largely been unchanged this season when everyone is healthy. Dean Curley hits in the leadoff spot followed by Gavin Kilen, Hunter Ensley and Andrew Fischer. But with Curley struggling at the plate, Tennessee made a change in game three of the Ole Miss series.
Ensley moved to the leadoff spot, Fischer moved to the three-hole and Curley hit in the cleanup spot. Does Tennessee stick with that formula, go back to its original top four in the lineup or keep tinkering?
Vitello loves alternating right-handed and left-handed batters in the lineup but he’s had to abandon that a bit as of late. Tennessee’s six best hitters and constants in the lineup are the four guys previously listed as well as Dalton Bargo and Reese Chapman. That is four left-handed hitters and two right-handed hitters.
The natural imbalance gives Vitello a bit more flexibility as to how he puts together the top of its lineup. I don’t know the right answer here but two things I’m looking out for. Will Vitello give Kilen a shot at the leadoff spot? And would he give Bargo a spot in the top four with Kilen healthy if Curley continues to struggle?
Tennessee Likely Isn’t Going To Iron Out A Consistent Nine
Most of Vitello’s best teams have had a pretty consistent starting lineup every game with a pretty consistent batting order. I don’t think they’re ever going to get to the point with that team.
Fischer, Kilen, Curley, Bargo, Ensley and Chapman are going to start almost every game. But those other three spots? There’s going to be a rotation. Cannon Peebles is the first catcher but Stone Lawless will continue to get opportunities.
But at the other two spots— some combination of left field, designated hitter and one last infield spot— Tennessee has a number of other players fighting for playing time. Jay Abernathy, Manny Marin, Levi Clark, Chris Newstrom and Ariel Antigua have all started weekend games the last two weeks. With so many young players, no one has truly grabbed that job.
Tennessee has been riding the hot hand at those two spots. My guess is that the Vols will continue to do just that moving forward.
Where Is AJ Russell’s Best Fit?
AJ Russell has pitched in consecutive midweek games for Tennessee baseball and will likely throw in a third straight midweek game on Tuesday when the Vols face Bellarmine. With Russell getting more into the swing of things, his SEC debut is coming soon. Possibly as early as this weekend against Kentucky.
So where does Russell fit best in a pitching staff that’s been a tad shaky as of late? There’s no doubt that Russell could be an effective reliever but I believe the Vols would be at their best with Russell as a starter.
If that’s the path Tennessee chooses, would they use him as an opener as he gets his pitch count up? And if Tennessee does decide to use Russell as a starter, who do they bump from the weekend rotation?
As of a few weekends ago, that was an easy question. Russell would slide into the Sunday spot with Liam Doyle and Marcus Phillips staying in their respective spots. But with Phillips struggling in consecutive starts, Tennessee could plug Russell in on Saturday and keep freshman Tegan Kuhns as the Sunday starter.
If Russell does start this weekend, I think Sunday is still the most likely spot while Tennessee rolls with Phillips at least one more week. But that question is a lot more complicated than it was a few weeks ago.
