IIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTT’SSSSSSSSS MONDAY!!!!!!
And you fine, wonderful orange-clad Tennessee friends of mine know just what that means. Let’s put on those helmets, grab those orange bats, and swing away at the nuggets of Tennessee Vols-related thoughts coming in hot from the corners of my mind.
1) Christian Moore is heading to the Los Angeles Angels organization. That’s higher than a lot of folks had projected him, as he was seemingly a consensus pick to go at 12 to the Boston Red Sox. But hey, the Angels loved what they saw and pulled the trigger. Have to love that C-Mo will get a chance to star under the bright lights of Los Angeles.
2) And you have to love even more that he’ll potentially get the chance to play with his former teammate Ben Joyce. I mean, how cool is that???
3) Oh, and in case you haven’t been paying attention, Joyce has been crushing it over the last month with the Angels. He’s posted 14.1 scoreless innings of relief over the last 30 days. Since getting the call up in early June, he’s posted a 2.76 ERA over 16.1 innings with 16 Ks to 6 walks. Pretty, pretty good. We’ll see if the Angels, who should be sellers this year, hold onto him.
4) Anywho, back to the draft…and the Vols weren’t done with first round picks after Moore. Blake Burke got the nod from the Milwaukee Brewers in the first-round supplemental picks. As I mentioned in my draft primer, Burke was a mid-60s ranked prospect by MLB.com, so that was quite the jump for him. Hopefully he sends Bernie Brewer down the slide into the beer often during his career.
5) The Vols had a couple more players go in the second round. Billy Amick is now Minnesota Twin with the 60th pick. The defending World Series champion Texas Rangers took Dylan Dreiling with pick number 65. That’s a little below where Amick had been projected, with Dreiling going a bit higher.
6) I really expected Drew Beam to go higher than the third round to Kansas City. Some had mocked him as early as the first-round supplemental picks. I don’t think his stuff blazes, but he’s solid, and he showed he’s got the mentality to pitch in tough spots in high pressure environments. That’s pretty darned important IMHO.
7) Kavares Tears, AJ Causey, and Aaron Combs were all picked in the fourth round or later. I kind of thought we’d see Tears go earlier, and I still wonder a little bit if he might return and try to up his draft stock, especially in the NIL era nowadays. If not, he’s got the tools to eventually make it to the Show.
8) Speaking of the Show, one of the best MLB BaseVols in recent memory – Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet – is getting a new fellow ex-Vols teammate joining his organization in Combs. I tell you what, I really think Combs could end up being a guy who rises up and proves a lot of people wrong. His stuff is filthy. He had one of the best curveballs in all of college baseball last year and boy did he know how to use it in the highest of high leverage situations. Have to keep an eye on him as his minor league preparations progress.
So yeah, we’ll see how these former Vols fare at the next level. I have a feeling many, if not all, will end up getting a shot with their respective big-league clubs at some point.
Go Vols!