Tennessee, despite enjoying a good season, still endures slings and arrows from those who seek perfection.
Tennessee Baseball Isn’t Perfect and That Rankles People
As of this writing, the University of Tennessee baseball team over the past two seasons sports a record of 96-22. That includes a national championship last season. Right now, they sit ranked 12th in the NCAA poll. If you factor in playing in the crucible known as the SEC, a 36-9 record should not be viewed as a negative.
Yet, if you hear some tell it, the Volunteers in 2025 already lost what made them a dominant team. The hosts of the D1 Podcast delved into head baseball coach Tony Vitello’s issues and how they make UT appear in the eyes, starting at 15:15 of this video:
Host Aaron Fitt started with a statement that started straightforward:
” Is Tennessee fixed now; with the shuffling they’ve made? Are they going to come back this weekend and be Tennessee this weekend? We’re we at with Tennessee? They lost three series in the month of April. They had this layer of invincibility about them for the last three years.”
Layer of invincibility? When did college baseball become Harry Potter? By framing that period of three years opens up questions. In college baseball, like every other collegiate sport, the transfer portal exists. Teams now can basically be one-year transactions. Look forward to anything except the next offseason place too much faith that the team will look pretty much the same on a yearly basis.
Programs fall back to Earth as others rise. That’s what competitive balance does. That’s why you’ll never see another dominant run like UCLA men’s basketball. Even the UConn women’s basketball team went nine seasons without a national title.
Host Kendall Rogers details what he saw in reliever Tanner Franklin when the Volunteers played LSU:
” I don’t think the pieces in the bullpen as a daunting as one might think. There are outings where Tanner Franklin comes out there and it feels like he’s trying to blow 100 past people, and that’s great and all. There are outings where teams in this league (the SEC) aren’t scared of that.”
First, if you can dispatch a closer to the mound to throw fastballs in the high-90s that can routinely touch 100 miles per hour, why the need for another team to be scared? Franklin’s only issue, from a far seems like the fastball flattens out and opponents turn on it (four home runs surrendered in 27 innings).
Trying to teach a power pitcher use finesse and strictly attempt to paint the corners make little sense. Let your horses run. Throw what pitches that brought Franklin from Kennesaw State to Knoxville in the first place.
Tony Vitello, after last week’s struggles against LSU, Vitello spoke to Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News-Sentinel in regard to his plan for the remainder of the season:
“I don’t want to say no more Mr. Nice Guy, but we just need to ride our best guys and ride our best arms and ride what we think is the best lineup. We kind of know what a good weekend looks like, and each guy just needs to do their job and those will be the guys we go with.”
KEEP READING: SEC Analyst States Main Reasons Behind Texas A&M’s Renaissance
As the defending national champion, Tennessee baseball remains a threat to go on a run, and it won’t be a shock or surprise. Expecting anything in this new era of college sports to carry over isn’t realistic. In fact, it ties the current team to the exploits of some players who have graduated, moved to the transfer portal, or been drafted by the MLB. That tactic lacks fairness to the present.
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