MLB Draft recap: Tennessee has six players drafted

The 2026 Major Legue Baseball Draft is now in our rearview mirror. While it wasn’t a 2024 or 2025-esque firestorm of Tennessee Volunteers flying off the board, Tennessee still had a solid six players selected over the two-day event.

Let’s take a closer look at who went where.

CB-A, No. 32: Tegan Kuhns, St. Louis Cardinals

The headliner was, of course, Tennessee ace Tegan Kuhns. He had been projected from anywhere as high as 24 to Seattle down to below where he was taken, which was at No. 32 overall by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Yes, the Cardinals. For the second straight year, St. Louis tabbed the top of Tennessee’s pitching rotation early in the draft. Last year, St. Louis took Liam Doyle with the No. 5 overall pick.

Kuhns was the second player taken by the Cardinals in the top 32 this year. With pick No. 13, St. Louis also tabbed Tennessee commit OF Trevor Condon out of Etowah High School in Woodstock Georgia.

So, Tennessee fans should have a keen eye on St. Louis to see where the progam’s ace pitchers from 2025-26 end up, as well as who could have been their freshman superstar in 2027.

Rd 6, No. 191: Henry Ford, Seattle Mariners

Tennessee’s biggest bat from 2026 finds his new home, and he’ll be joining a team that certainly has the pitching, but still needs to find some answers at the plate.

Ford slugged a team-high 20 home runs last year, which put his total at 48 for his three collegiate years. Without question, he showed he has high upside at the plate from a power perspective at the MLB level. But his batting average dropped off pretty heavily in 2026 from his previous two seasons at Virginia. He posted a .293 average after hitting .362 in 2024 for the Cavaliers.

Opportunity is there for Ford, and he’ll hit his fair share of long home runs with a path to move up — if he can continue to make contact.

Rd 7, No. 219: Bo Rhudy, Philadelphia Phillies

Not a bad franchise to land with as far as being a consistent winner. Rhudy ended up putting together a very nice stat line in his one year at Tennessee: 3.38 ERA, 41 Ks, six walks.

His unorthodox delivery and arm slot should help him out at the big-league level and continue to give him a slight edge by deceiving hitters.

Rd 8, No. 229: Garrett Wright, Los Angeles Angels

Another Vol is headed to Orange County, California. Wright joins Christian Moore and Ben Joyce in the Angels organization. He was a crucial part of Tennessee’s offense last year, hitting an impressive .348 with nine homers and 17 RBIs. A catcher and outfielder, he has some added benefit with positional flexibility.

Rd 12, No. 367: Brandon Arvidson, Chicago Cubs

Arvidson was certainly an important part of the Vols’ pen last year, appearing in 16 games with one start and logging 37.1 innings. He doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, but the 6-5, 210-pound lefty has the frame and delivery to be a problem for hitters with proper development.

Rd 13, No. 381: Evan Blanco, Athletics

Last but not least, one third of the Vols’ weekend rotation gets the nod in Round 13 by the (future Las Vegas) Athletics. He doesn’t have the Kuhns-type stuff, but he wasn’t all that far behind the Vols’ ace in strikeouts (101 in 89 IP vs. Kuhns’ 106 in 81). However, he gave up a team-high 17 home runs. He’ll have to learn how to avoid mistakes to get by with his arsenal at the next level.