Josh Elander and Tennessee baseball may have come up short to end the 2026 season, but they’re already one of the biggest winners of the offseason so far. The Volunteers had a big weekend in the MLB Draft, getting several players back to campus that were major draft risks.
Tennessee got another one on Wednesday.
According to a report from Volquest on Wednesday morning, Jake McCoy will not turn pro and will head to Knoxville to join the Volunteers for the 2027 season. The left-handed pitcher was taken in the 18th round by the Blue Jays after missing last season. McCoy will join Tennessee after being with South Carolina.
Tennessee also got center fielder Andrew Duncan after he went in the 19th round. Right-handed pitcher Hayden Simmerson, reliever Ricky Ojeda, infielder Travis Sanders, right-handed pitcher Parker Detmers and infielder Mario Trivella round out the Volunteers’ transfer portal class — all will make it to Knoxville.
Tennessee also got several top freshmen prospects to campus. Right-handers Gannon Grant, Gary Morse and Shawn Sullivan, catcher Sean Dunlap, first baseman AJ Curry, infielders Jack Dugan and Jaxson Wood, along with tw0-way player Cole Koeninger each chose the college route. Several of those names are top prospects in the entire class.
Big-name prospects Trevor Condon and Jared Grindlinger were likely never making it to campus.
With McCoy now in the boat and likely a piece of the weekend rotation, it’s difficult to imagine this offseason going much better for Elander, who frankly needed a shot of energy after how the season fizzled.
“The victory was in everything that remained: a loaded prep class, premium transfer additions and two late-round picks still expected to reach Knoxville,” Baseball America wrote this week. “Few programs entered the draft with more talent exposed to professional baseball. Fewer emerged with this much of it still headed to campus.”
Just as we’ve all come to expect now, expect Tennessee baseball to enter next season with one of the best rosters and highest expectation levels in all of college baseball.
