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Despite losing Friday night starter Chad Dallas and top bullpen arm Sean Hunley, Tennessee’s 2022 pitching staff has more talent and depth than the 2021 group that ranked second in the SEC in ERA and led the Vols to Omaha for the first time since 2005.
The Vols lost just three major contributors on the mound, but they were big ones. Chad Dallas, Will Heflin and Sean Hunley combined to pitch 255 innings with all three ranking in the top four of innings pitched.
Still, Tennessee returns two of its best arms in Blade Tidwell and Camden Sewell as well as adding three sought after transfer pitchers.
However, any discussion on Tennessee’s 2022 pitching staff has to start with the injuries.
An elbow injury is expected to sideline Missouri transfer Seth Halvorsen until at least SEC play. The 6-foot-2 RHP was Missouri’s ace last season, but posted just a 6.00 ERA struggling with command and over use.
Halvorsen was in competition for a weekend starter spot, but the hurdle will place the hard throwing right-hander in the bullpen.
There’s no doubt that Blade Tidwell would have been Tennessee’s Friday night start and ace this spring. However, shoulder tightness that led to soreness has clouded when the sophomore could see the mound this season.
“Yeah, we do,” Vitello said of whether he expects Tidwell to pitch this year. “Right now, he’s got to kind of — I don’t want to say restart, but pick up where he left off with the throwing progression. Anytime you get looked at by the doctors there’s usually a little bit of a grace period in there where there’s inactivity. So once he picks activity back up he’ll see where he is with the trainer and the doctor. Kind of create a new throwing progression from there. With all these guys we’ve had since we’ve been here, the doctors need to clear them, and then my personal belief — or just the way I want to do it — is they’re going to have to hit certain marks or certain steps along the way before we use them against opponents. There’ll be no rush, but obviously his teammates and more than anyone Blade himself would like to get out there as soon as possible. For right now, I think patience will be key.”
Serving as the Sunday starter, Tidwell was a key cog in the Vols’ breakout 2021 season while earning freshman All-American honors. However, since the season ended the story has been about his health.
Tidwell shut things down in July while playing in the Team USA intrasquad scrimmages and didn’t pitch in the fall before Tennessee announced he’d miss time in 2022. When Tidwell can return is one of the biggest questions about the 2022 Vols.
While you’d think injuries to two top pitchers would cloud Tennessee’s weekend rotation, it’s really provided some clarity.
At the end of the fall, Tony Vitello said Halvorsen, Tidwell, Sewell, Chase Dollander and Chase Burns were still in positions to compete for weekend starting spots.
With two of those players injured, Tennessee’s weekend rotation begins to take shape.
Sewell is likely unavailable for the season opening series against Georgia Southern, but the injury is minor and shouldn’t keep him sidelined long. The Cleveland, Tennessee native was one of the Vols’ most valuable arms last season.
From the midway point in SEC play on, Sewell allowed just three earned runs in 27.2 innings. The now-senior was dominant a season ago and there’s no reason to think he can’t do so in a starter role.
Burns is the highest touted freshman in Tennessee’s top five signing class. The Beech High School standout has big time stuff and the Vols were ecstatic when he decided to come to Knoxville instead of beginning his professional career early.
“It’s repetitive for me but just the attitude,” Vitello said of Burns in the fall. “He wants to be great and he doesn’t think he’s great. All in all, what you get out of that is an ambitious kid that approaches his work the right way. I really feel like if kids will approach their work the right way around here you have as good as people — and I’m referring to our other coaches — working with you as you could possibly imagine. You will get better. The other thing is, his stuff has been very very good which is what’s hyped up, but his pitchability has been outstanding. I think he’s a much better pitcher, if you know what I’m talking about, then people give him credit for, It’s not a ‘I’m just going to try and blow your doors off for three outs.’ He’s got the ability to be a weekend starter at some point in his career, and I think he can not only throw good stuff at you, but knows how to utilize it.”
Tennessee beat out Arkansas and TCU for Georgia Southern transfer Chase Dollander. The Evans, Georgia native posted a 4.04 ERA, striking out 64 batters in 49 innings on his way to earning freshman All-American honors.
Dollander throws in the mid to upper 90s, which leads us to a point of note.
Murfreesboro native Drew Beam has impressed in his limited time on campus and has a chance to earn a role in his true-freshman season.
Last season, Tennessee had just one pitcher (Tidwell) that threw in the mid to upper 90s. The Vols had one of the most effective pitching staffs in the country without pitchers with overpowering stuff. That’s not going to be the case this season.
Burns, Tidwell, Dollander, Halvorsen and Ben Joyce all throw in the mid to upper 90s. With elite pitching coach Frank Anderson and his attacking style, it’s easy to get excited about what this more talented, less experienced pitching staff can do.
Joyce is the biggest x-factor in a Tennessee bullpen that’s lost depth and become a lot more vulnerable due to the preseason injuries. The Walter State transfer can hit triple digits and has an extremely high ceiling. However, Joyce is short on experience and missed the entire 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John’s surgery.
“Ben Joyce, it’s really going to be fun,” Vitello said. “For a guy that throws as hard as he does and is as big as he is, people need to realize he’s so advanced physically and stuff wise, but he’s at the opposite end of the spectrum— and no disrespect meant— he just hasn’t thrown a lot. You name it, COVID, late bloomer, Tommy John surgery before he got here. It just hasn’t been a deal where he’s pitched a lot. He’s kind of finding his way through the forest so to speak. It could be any kind of role for him out of that deal.”
Another x-factor out of the bullpen is Vanderbilt transfer Ethan Smith. The RHP transferred to Tennessee for the spring semester and is still waiting to hear from the NCAA about his eligibility.
In three years in Nashville, Smith posted an 8-0 record and 2.77 ERA in 64.2 innings pitched.
“The one thing he definitely has is quality off speed pitches,” Vitello said. “You can look at that two ways. You could really use that as a guy out of the pen— you’re probably coming in to get us out of a jam, and when you can go to quality off speed it really really helps. He also has some experience closing games and coming out of the pen in crucial situations, and he knows what the league looks like. I think it helps to have that vision. It’s not a must to have success, but I think it helps. Having said that, as he continues to get into our system a little bit more and get around our people where we can get him in conditioned shape and things like that to potentially start. I wouldn’t rule that out as an option either.”
Redmond Walsh is the John Fulkerson of the baseball team, returning for his sixth collegiate season. The soft throwing lefty has been a staple of Vitello’s rebuild and will have a large role again this year.
This is where the competition really gets going in Tennessee’s bullpen. There’s a handful of sophomore or junior pitchers that have had small to medium roles in their first year(s) in Knoxville.
Kirby Connell leads the way for this group after throwing 42 innings a season. The soft throwing lefty has more big game experience than anyone in this group, but the South Carolina native slipped the second half of the 2021 season and has had some struggles in the fall and preseason. Still, Connell is going to be a part of this bullpen and have plenty of chances to earn a major role.
RHP Mark McLaughlin and LHP Will Mabrey were fringe pitchers for Tennessee a season ago. Earning opportunities against major opponents without performing well enough to earn a consistent role, Tennessee is banking on the duo to be reliable bullpen arms this spring.
“We’ve got a bunch of lefties that are down there and available,” Vitello said. “Some of them are going to get pinched out of innings and some of them are going to kind of rise to the top, but I think as of right now he’s (Mabrey) kind of out front in that group if you kind of call Redmond our closer.”
Lefty sophomore Jake Fitzgibbons and Zander Sechrist as well as right-handers Hollis Fanning and freshman Drew Beam will have opportunities to earn Vitello and Anderson’s trust and a major role.
Before injuries mudied things, Tennessee had the high end talent and depth to boast the best pitching staff of the Tony Vitello era. Whether that’s still possible, time will tell, but the Vols have the talent on the mound to get back to Omaha.
