Pros, cons of Cubs picking Tennessee's Brandon Arvidson in 2026 MLB Draft

Tennessee baseball pitcher Brandon Arvidson was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 12th round of the 2026 MLB Draft on July 12 with the No. 367 overall pick.

Arvidson was the fifth Tennessee player selected in this year’s draft and third pitcher. Right-hander Tegan Kuhns went No. 32 overall to the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round, third baseman Henry Ford went to the Rockies in the sixth round, reliever Bo Rhudy was picked by the Philadelphia Phillies in the seventh round and catcher/outfielder Garrett Wright was the Angels’ eighth-round selection.

Arvidson, a left-handed pitcher, was a reliever for the Vols as a redshirt junior in 2026. He had a 4.34 ERA in 37.1 innings with 44 strikeouts and 14 walks. He played spent 2023 at Texas A&M and 2024 at San Jacinto College before transferring to Tennessee.

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Arvidson entered the draft ranked by Baseball America as the No. 237 prospect but was not on lists of the top 250 prospects by MLB Pipeline or ESPN.

Heading into the 2026 season, Arvidson was tabbed as a potential first-round pick and weekend starter for the Vols. He had decided to come back despite being a top-250 prospect and shining in the home stretch of the 2025 season, particularly in a 12-strikeout performance in the Knoxville Regional final.

The season Arvidson was hoping for never materialized in 2026, with him being a key reliever but not cracking the starting rotation. His numbers were similar to the year before with fewer strikeouts and his batting average against jumped from .196 to .262.

When Arvidson is on, he can be a strikeout machine, like in 2025 when he had an eye-popping strikeout rate of 42.2 percent. And at 6-foot-5, 217 pounds, Arvidson has a projectable frame and showed flashes during his college career. The Cubs will hope he can tap into that consistently.

After redshirting at Texas A&M as a freshman in 2023, Arvidson transferred to San Jacinto College, a junior college, for the 2024 season. In 17 appearances there, he had a 3.84 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 61 innings.

Arvidson made 30 appearances in 2025 as one of the Vols’ top relievers, finishing with a 4.19 ERA in 38.2 innings with 70 strikeouts and 22 walks. Batters had a .196 average against him.

In 2026, Arvidson threw a similar number of innings — 37.1 innings — in only 16 appearances, finishing with a 4.34 ERA. He struck out 44 and walked 14 with a .262 batting average against.

Emmett Siegel covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News. Email: emmett.siegel@knoxnews.com; X: @EmmettSiegel_

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Pros, cons of Cubs picking Tennessee’s Brandon Arvidson in 2026 MLB Draft