No. 2 Tennessee hosted No. 6 Florida in a Week Five contest of SEC heavyweights. Friday evening’s game was also a matchup of likely 2025 first-rounder Liam Doyle against a potential first-rounder in 2026 – Liam Peterson. Saturday paired another 2025 day one draft talent for the Vols – Marcus Phillips – against a 2027 day one talent for the Gators – Aidan King. And there wasn’t a letdown with the Sunday starters as a top three round talent for this summer Jake Clemente opposed highly talented Vol freshman Tegan Kuhns.

TENNESSEE

Liam Doyle was featured last week in Rising Southpaws and was as good as advertised early in this game. He struck out four of the first six Gators he faced, firing fastballs up to 98 while trying to find a consistent feel for his usually effective slider. Transitioning away from his slider in the third, fourth and fifth innings, Doyle showed adaptability by adding an effective 89-91 mph cutter and occasional split changeup to his mix. The cutter flashed average and the change was effective as a bat-slower. It was a strong adjustment for someone who already possesses near top of the scale fastball life and velocity that has peaked at 98.6 this spring. The Gators made him work and Doyle exited after 4.2 innings and 105 pitches, 69 for strikes.

In a traditional scouting perspective, Doyle operates like a reliever with high effort and more control over pinpoint command. The scouting industry seems mixed on his long term role, but they all agree that Doyle is a future big leaguer. Despite the effort in his delivery, he fills the zone at a 69.6% strike rate with his fastball that has averaged 95.2 mph this season. His heater is nearly unhittable with a 100th percentile Whiff rate (Total S/M / Total swings) of 50.6%, while his slider also checks in at the 100th percentile with a 50.0% Z-Whiff (Total S/M inside the zone / Total swings inside the zone). Even after a subpar performance, to his standards, against Florida, his season numbers are still video game-like – 0.72 ERA and 53 strikeouts vs seven walks in 25 innings and he’s held opponents to a .114 batting average.

Overall, in front of many amateur scouting decision-makers, it wasn’t a start that detracted much, if any, from his previous ascent into the top ten overall picks. And with the big league ready draft philosophy of the Los Angeles Angels who pick No. 2 overall, Doyle may not have to wait long to hear his name called on July 13.

Tanner Franklin relieved Doyle in the fifth and easily retired the only hitter he faced that inning. The lessening of effort in his delivery since arriving in Knoxville this past fall has been impressive. It’s now super easy, but it doesn’t have much deception from a high three-quarter release point. Heading back out to start the sixth, Franklin gave up hits to the first four batters he faced and was removed from the game. His fastball peaked at 98 and averaged 96. It played well below its velocity and was hit hard. He mixed in an occasional 90-91 cutter to stay off the barrel, but it was to no avail. The more he pounded the zone early in the count, the more the Gators’ hitters countered with an aggressive-early approach. Franklin was out after just 14 pitches, allowing four hits and two runs.

Despite that setback, Franklin has made impressive progress in other areas. In addition to the lower effort level, his delivery is now consistently on-line and more downhill. A result of this improved delivery has been a walk rate that has dropped to 2.2% this spring compared to last season’s 20.5%. In 2025 he’s walked just one batter in 11 innings with 17 strikeouts. Franklin has also changed the industry’s perspective from that of a tall, large-framed righthander with a good arm to one that has shown great aptitude and athleticism for making adjustments.

Nate Snead entered in the sixth and closed it out, firing 3.2 innings of two hit, shutout baseball with no walks and four strikeouts. It was easy and effortless – 37 pitches, 27 for strikes. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound righthander touched 101 mph one time and 100 on numerous occasions. Most impressive was his occasional rip of an explosive 96-97 mph two-seamer and an 84-86 high-spin (2600+ rpm) slider. Snead has great versatility in his role with a workhorse frame, solid delivery and high-level strike-throwing (66.7 strike rate). He’s made one start so far this season, yet thrives in a closing role where the lack of a dominant pitch eases the difficulty of navigating a lineup more than one time. To date his fastball has produced, per Synergy, a 71st percentile Whiff% and his breaking ball an 87th. Snead projects to be taken ahead of Franklin, but behind the next Volunteer flame-thrower who is discussed below.

Gators load 'em up in the 6th

Enter Nate Sead. Pumps 100 (4x) and 101 (1x). Turns 2. Inning over

4-3 @Vol_Baseball botm 6@d1baseball @PB_DraftHQ pic.twitter.com/kAIl5SIIWo

— David Seifert (@DSeifertD1PBR) March 15, 2025

Saturday starter Marcus Phillips is yet another first round prospect for the Vols. His combination of size, stuff and athleticism is hard to find at the collegiate level. With a fastball up to 100 mph and an 86-88 mph sweeper/slider that are both released from a consistent 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-5 height, the 6-foot-4, 245 pound righthander has a two pitch arsenal that he pounds the strike zone at a 67% clip. As few do, the Gators couldn’t solve his mix of these two pitches with an occasional changeup for good measure and Phillips went CG – 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 SO – on 110 pitches in a game shortened by the 10-run rule. Combining his present stuff with the fact that he’s still developing as a low mileage arm, his ceiling is tremendous. A South Dakota prep, Phillips attended Iowa Western JC for his true freshman season where we ranked him as the No. 1 Juco prospect in the country. He had some ups and downs as a sophomore for Tennessee last spring, but continues to make big strides and his development is exciting. To date he has struck out 32 and walked just seven in 26 inning pitched. He’s posted a 0.69 ERA and opponents are hitting just .163 against.

True freshman Tegan Kuhns made the Sunday start for Tennessee. The righthander was a highly-rated prep (No. 25) and he’s delivering on that hype to date. Facing the lineup one time through, he showed a 94-97 mph fastball and an upper-70s curve. He allowed no runs in 2.2 innings with three strikeouts. With good health and continued development, the Pennsylvania prep projects to become yet another Tennessee first-rounder in 2026 as a draft-eligible sophomore.

Kuhns was relieved by junior lefthander Brandon Arvidson. It wasn’t a pretty outing, but there’s tremendous potential in the 6-foot-5 southpaw. The biggest hurdle holding him back at this point is an inconsistent delivery which leads to an inconsistent release point and results in control issues. Arvidson’s back foot turns and loses ground force from the pitching rubber much too early. He doesn’t ride his backside and stretch his long frame. He’s similar to a poorly-balanced hitter who gets out front and doesn’t stay behind the ball. It’s a tough place to be as a hitter or pitcher and one that loses both power and accuracy. One is forced to be perfect with timing in both cases. Despite this work-in-progress, Arvidson has good stuff from a high (6-foot-4) release point when he finds the zone with a 90-94 mph fastball and hard 83-85 mph curve that has a 100th percentile Whiff% and ZWhiff%.

Not only are the Vols loaded on the mound for this summer’s draft, they have a handful of headliners in the batter’s box as well.

He’s not the traditional speedster atop the lineup, but sophomore Dean Curley leads it off for the Vols. The lefthanded hitter provides a tough at-bat with a combination of power, plate discipline and on-base ability. After striking out his first two at-bats of Friday’s opener, he dropped the barrel on a slider (109 mph EV) for a single to left and then hammered a 97 mph triple to right field his final at-bat. He started slowly again on Saturday, but broke open a 1-0 game with a three-run double (108 EV) in the seventh and provided the spark for the Vols to then finish off the Gators 10-0 in seven. Curley finished the series 3-for-13 with 3 RBI. Defensively, it’s becoming much less likely that he’ll be able to stick at shortstop over the long-term at the pro level, but his defensive versatility adds some value to his profile. Curley moved to first base to start the eighth inning, and his plus arm strength and hands make third base the most likely landing spot as a pro.

Coming off hot at 108 -- Dean Curley clutches up with a 2-strike, 3-run double to give the Vols a 4-0 lead, botm 7.

Kilen follows with a walk, Ensley bangs an RBI single and @Vol_Baseball erupts.

Now up 5-0 and climbing.@d1baseball pic.twitter.com/XzG5vbS7wx

— David Seifert (@DSeifertD1PBR) March 15, 2025

Fast-rising Gavin Kilen sits comfortably behind Curley in two-spot of the lineup, but has passed him on the draft board. The Louisville transfer and Wisconsin prep was featured in last week’s Middles Racing to the Front. It was expected that he would become bigger, faster, stronger as a Volunteer, and it’s certainly played out that way. He has always physically reminded me of fellow Wisconsin prep and current major leaguer Gavin Lux, but before this season had shown less power than that of Lux at the same age.

Off to a ridiculous start that was highlighted with four home runs at Daikin Park in Houston two weekends ago, Kilen continues to float along at .431/.552/.986 with 10 HRs and 25 RBIs. Even more impressive is his 20/6 BB/SO ratio over 96 plate appearances. Despite those statistics, I wasn’t sold on the first round hype that he had generated prior to my trip to Knoxville. However, two things stood out above all else to change my mind. Defensively, he might not be a star defender at shortstop, but he will be at least above average at second base. His Saturday backhand up the middle and on-line throw to first base sold me on his above average impact at the major league level.

Offensively, his juice is real. His home run (105 EV) into a 20+ mph headwind on Sunday proved that. Make no mistake, Kilen is a first round draft talent. Lux was a first-rounder out of a Wisconsin high school (20th overall) and that’s the area where Kilen should be selected as well.

Hunter Ensley and Andrew Fischer complete the fearsome foursome at the top of the Tennessee lineup. Ensley, a fifth-year senior, is off to a career best .343 batting average that comes with power (.543 SLG) and plate discipline (14 BB / 14 SO). He’s a below average runner down the line, but turns his speed into plus range in the outfield where he’s a sure-handed, above average defender. His intangibles are off the charts and Ensley could easily slide into the top ten rounds as a bonus pool-saving pick.

Fischer arrived in Knoxville this fall after transferring from Ole Miss with a reputation as a run-producer. He’s maintained that title while further increasing his power production and plate discipline. Most notably he’s improved his walk rate from 14% to 27% and cut his strikeout rate from 21% to 13%. He’s done this while tapping even more into his plus raw power and boosting his ISO from .357 to .429. The lefthanded slugger can be worked back/forth between the fastball and changeup, but he uses all fields against both left and right handed pitchers with near equal slugging against each as well. Defensively, he played mostly third base in the fall, but this spring has occupied first base on a full-time basis. Fischer is the third everyday player for Tennessee who could hear his name called on day one this July.

FLORIDA

As stacked as the Volunteers are on the mound for the 2025 draft, the Gators are similar for 2026. Liam Peterson is their current headliner with a big fastball that touched 98 and sat 95-96 during his Friday night start. Peterson throws a four-seam, spin efficient heater with a spin rate of 2500+ rpm. He backs it up with three effective secondaries in a 84-86 mph slider that exceed 2900 rpm, a mid-70s curve and a straight changeup in the upper-80s. The heater, slider and curve each grade out in the 94th percentile or better for Whiff%, led by the curve in the 98th. Peterson also looks the part at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds and repeats a polished delivery with a shorter arm action to high three-quarter release point. With continued good health and normal development, all signs point to the first round in 2026.

Relievers took over the last half of Friday’s game for both teams and the Gator who did stood out as a potential day one draft in 2026. Luke McNeillie showed a loose, easy and athletic delivery. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound righthander reached back for some 97s on a fastball that jumped from his hand. He can also spin it with good control of a high rpm slider at 84-88 mph. His firm 88-89 mph changeup also gathered outs, not as a swing/miss weapon, but with soft contact for easy outs.

Freshman Aidan King started Saturday’s game for the Gators. Armed with near pinpoint command of a mid-90s fastball that touched 97 and an above average 87-89 mph splitty, King allowed just one run in six innings over 93 pitches. He scattered four hits and struck out six. The righthander also throws a high-spin (2800+ rpm), low-80s slider and a traditional 86-87 mph straight changeup. All of his pitches were thrown from a nearly identical 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-6 release height; the difference not detectable from 60 feet, 6 inches. I’ve seen several top tier freshman pitchers already this spring and King has been the best to date. He’s a first round prospect for the 2027 draft.

Junior righthander Jake Clemente took the hill on Sunday trying to prevent a series’ sweep. With near equal use of his 95-97 mph fastball and fringe-average quality slider in the 85-87 mph range, Clemente held the Vols to two runs in three innings on 47 pitches. He struck out three and walked one. From the first base side of the pitching rubber, Clemente throws downhill with a longer arm path up to a high three-quarter release point for more control than command on this look. He’s an early day two draft pick.

In relief of Clemente, senior righthander Billy Barlow didn’t have his best outing, but he is an interesting later round prospect due to his power sinker that dove into the mid-90s. He touched 97 earlier in the week against Florida State and topped out at 95 against the Vols. The pitch gave up hard contact greater than 100 mph EV, but the result was mostly hard hit ground outs on this day. However, his usually reliable low-80s slider (86th percentile Whiff%) and mid-80s changeup (90th percentile Whiff%) missed their intended locations and were punished.

Positionally, Colby Shelton is the Gators top prospect for this year’s draft. After an up-and-down offensive campaign in Gainesville last spring when he was a draft-eligible sophomore, Shelton struggled over the summer in the Cape, batting .205 with one home run in 44 at-bats. There he looked for contact early in the at-bat rather than working the count for his pitch and that trend has continued this spring. The lefthanded hitter has undoubtedly improved upon a weakness – his strikeout rate topped 26% last season and he has lowered it to a miniscule 8.5% this spring, but it has come at great expense to his power production. His .373 average looks good, but there’s been limited damage (.193 ISO). As a recent example of both, he was 5-for-11, all singles, with just one strikeout during the Tennessee series. Shelton’s defense at shortstop is above average with solid range and plus arm strength. He shows the ability to make every throw from all angles and there is little concern regarding his ability to remain in place at the next level. However, the industry is looking for his plus raw power (112.5 max EV last season) to return as in-game production as Shelton homered 45 times in his first two seasons and just twice to date this spring. If it does, and the strikeout rate remains below 20%, he’s a day one draft pick.

Six-foot-6, 235-pound righthanded hitter Brody Donay began the series with three good at-bats, two of which ended with two-strike singles. He’s made a noticeable adjustment with two strikes this season, shortening his swing and focusing on simply putting the bat on the ball. Heading into the weekend this new approach seemed to be working as Donay had lowered his strikeout rate to 18.6%, far below last season’s 38.9%, and his batting average sat slightly over .400. However, Tennessee exposed his weakness and Donay stumbled with six strikeouts during the three-game series. Once a day one prospect who possesses double plus raw power and has shown a similar grade of arm strength in the past, Donay now has the look of a lightning-in-a-bottle type of draft pick that is destined for the later rounds on day two.

Left fielder Blake Cyr made some noise early in the series with a 393’ blast to left field that left his bat at 108 mph. It was just the second home run against Liam Doyle this spring. He continued to take barrel to ball with a few other 100+ exit velos, including a 109 EV on a lineout to centerfield in game one and a 105 mph single to left field in game two. Cyr finished the series 3-for-7 with just one strikeout, but like Donay, his strikeout rate is holding back his peak draft value. Currently at 25.6% this season and 26.4% for his career, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound righthanded hitter was limited by injuries last season at Miami, but as a freshman two years ago, he batted .305/.427/.620 with 17 HRs and 63 RBIs. He’s got lightning-fast hand speed at the plate and plenty of raw power, and he’s a good athlete in the field, even if he’s not the most natural defender. Cyr is a mid-day two prospect for this year’s draft.