PHILADELPHIA – Six Tennessee players had their names called in the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft.
For the fifth straight year, the Volunteers had a player picked in the first round as sophomore pitcher Tegan Kuhns was selected with the 32nd overall pick by the St. Louis Cardinals. UT has now produced 11 total first rounders this decade, the most of any team in the country.
It also marked the second consecutive year that the Cardinals have selected a Tennessee pitcher in the first round after taking Liam Doyle with the No. 5 overall pick in 2025.
Five more Vols were taken on Day 2 of the draft, including three pitchers in Bo Rhudy (7th Rd – Phillies), Brandon Arvidson (12th Rd – Cubs) and Evan Blanco (13th Rd – Athletics).
Third baseman Henry Ford led off the Day 2 picks, going in the sixth round to the Seattle Mariners. Catcher Garrett Wright was selected in the eighth round by the Los Angeles Angles, marking the fifth year in a row that a UT player has been picked by the Angels.
UT has had 51 players chosen since 2020 and has had 58 players drafted since 2018 when now head coach Josh Elander joined the staff, averaging 6.4 picks per year. With four this year, the Vols have had 45 players drafted in the first 10 rounds since 2019, as well.
The Big Orange have produced at least six selections in each of the last six drafts dating back to 2021.
Fans can also see every pick of this year’s draft on the MLB Draft Tracker.
More information on each of Tennessee’s draft picks can be found below.
2026 Tennessee Draft Picks
DAY 1 (ROUNDS 1-4)
RHP Tegan Kuhns – St. Louis Cardinals – First Round (CB-A) – No. 32 Overall
Kuhns is the fifth Tennessee pitcher to be selected in the first round this decade, joining the likes of Liam Doyle (2025), Marcus Phillips (2025), Chase Dollander (2023) and Garrett Crochet (2020).
A draft eligible sophomore, Kuhns had a breakout 2026 campaign, cementing himself as the ace of Tennessee’s staff while earning All-SEC second team honors after leading the Vols with 106 strikeouts and ranking second on the team and eighth in the SEC with a 3.56 ERA.
Kuhns posted five wins in his 15 appearances (14 starts) and boasted an impressive 1.19 WHIP after allowing just 16 walks over 80.1 innings pitched. His 6.62 strikeout-to-walk ratio was third best in the conference while his 1.78 walks per nine innings mark was tied for the second lowest in the league.
When he was on, there were few pitchers in the country with the ability to control a game and shut down an opposing lineup like Kuhns in 2026. The hard-throwing right-hander was named the SEC Pitcher of the Week twice after dominant performances in wins over No. 13 Alabama and No. 4 Texas. Against the Crimson Tide, Kuhns tossed an eight-inning, complete-game shutout, which was the first of his career.
Two weeks later, the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, native, put together an even more impressive outing against the Longhorns, striking out a career-high 15 batters to tie the SEC single-game high for 2026. The 15 punchouts were the most by a UT pitcher since June 4, 2005, when James Adkins totaled 15 versus Winthrop in the NCAA Knoxville Regional. Kuhns allowed just four hits and one walk over seven shutout innings to earn his fourth win of the season.
DAY 2 (ROUNDS 5-20)
3B Henry Ford – Seattle Mariners – Sixth Round – No. 191 Overall
Ford became the 21st Tennessee position player drafted since 2020, and the first Vol selected by Seattle since Taylor Smart in 2014.
Ford capped an impressive three-year collegiate career by leading Tennessee in multiple offensive categories during his lone season on Rocky Top after transferring from Virginia, where he was a 2024 Freshman All-American and a 2025 All-ACC second team selection.
Ford started 58 of the Vols’ 60 games at third base in 2026 and led the team in hits (71), home runs (20), RBIs (57), total bases (146) and slugging percentage (.603) despite battling a multi-week illness midway through the season. The Charlottesville, Virginia, native, also finished with a career-high 15 doubles while his marks for homers and slugging percentage were single-season career bests, as well.
The junior was named to Baseball America’s Week 5 College Team of the Week after compiling three home runs, 10 RBIs and 16 total bases over four games, including a three-RBI outing in UT’s SEC opener on the road at No. 6/8 Georgia.
RHP Bo Rhudy – Philadelphia Phillies – Seventh Round – No. 219 Overall
Rhudy became the 13th UT relief pitcher taken in the MLB Draft since 2020 and the first Vol picked by the Phillies since fellow right-handed reliever Andrew Schultz in 2019.
Another productive transfer for the Big Orange in 2026, Rhudy was one of Tennessee’s most reliable bullpen arms this past season, especially late in the year.
The talented right-hander led all UT pitchers (min. 20 IP) with a 3.38 ERA, a 0.88 WHIP and finished the season tied for the team lead with three saves. Rhudy posted a 1-1 record in 23 relief appearances and had impressive strikeout numbers, fanning 41 batters while allowing just six walks in 32.0 innings of work. He also held opposing hitters to a .190 batting average.
Before his lone season in Knoxville, Rhudy was a standout for two seasons at Kennesaw State, where he was a 2024 All-ASUN first team and ASUN All-Freshman Team selection. The Chickamauga, Georgia, native, led the Owls in saves during both of his seasons with the program with 11 combined in 2024 and 2025 while also posting a 6-1 overall record and 2.97 ERA during that time.
C Garrett Wright – Los Angeles Angels – Eighth Round – No. 229 Overall
Wright was taken 10 picks after Rhudy by the Los Angeles Angles, who have now drafted seven Tennessee players since 2019, more than any other organization.
Wright made the most of his one season at Tennessee, emerging as one of the team’s most productive and valuable players offensively and in the field. The Massillon, Ohio, native, showcased his defensive versatility by splitting time between catcher and the outfield, posting a .994 fielding percentage while committing just one error in 179 chances.
Wright was even more impressive with his consistency at the plate, finishing the season as the Vols’ leader in batting average (.348), OPS (1.033), hit-by-pitches (19) and on-base percentage (.439). After returning from an early-season injury, Wright started the final 48 games for UT and eventually settled in as the team’s leadoff hitter, reaching base safely in 46 of his 48 starts while recording at least one hit in 39 of 48 games in which he had a plate appearance. Wright finished the year with 65 hits and set a career high with nine homers while driving in 30 runs and finishing third on the team with 111 total bases.
Prior to coming to UT, Wright was a 2024 Perfect Game Second Team Freshman All-American, the 2025 MAC Defensive Player of the Year, the 2024 MAC Freshman of the Year and a two-time All-MAC first team selection (2024 & 2025) at Bowling Green. A career .378 hitter, Wright finished his three-year collegiate career with 141 runs scored, 196 hits, 45 doubles, five triples, 23 home runs, 106 RBIs, 320 total bases, 50 walks, 68 hit-by-pitches, 14 stolen bases and a 1.103 OPS.
LHP Brandon Arvidson – Chicago Cubs – 12th Round – No. 367 Overall
Arvidson was the fourth Volunteer selected on Day 2 of the draft and the first Tennessee player picked by the Cubs since Liam Spence in 2021.
A talented lefty with the ability to start or pitch in relief, Arvidson was one of the Vols’ top bullpen pieces during his two seasons at Tennessee.
The Dripping Springs, Texas, native, made 46 appearances and three starts over the past two years for the Vols, posting a 3-0 record with four saves and a 4.26 ERA. Despite not being 100 percent healthy for a large part of the year, Arvidson still finished tied for the team lead with three saves in 2026 and had 44 strikeouts in 37.1 innings, which ranked fifth on the club.
Arvidson was a strikeout machine in 2025, racking up 70 punchouts in just 38.2 innings pitched while holding opponents to a .196 batting average. He finished the year ranked second on the team with 30 appearances, 28 of which came in relief.
LHP Evan Blanco – Athletics – 13th Round – No. 381 Overall
Blanco was UT’s final player and fourth pitcher selected in the 2026 draft, marking the fourth time in the last six years that the Vols have had at least four hurlers selected in a single draft (2022, 2023, 2025, 2026). Blanco is the first Tennessee player to be selected by the Athletics since Andy Cox in 2015.
A veteran lefty who had a highly productive collegiate career, Blanco’s steady presence made him a valuable addition to the Vols’ weekend rotation in 2026 after spending the previous three seasons at Virginia.
The Woburn, Massachusetts, native, was the only Tennessee pitcher to start all 14 weekends of the regular season and finished the year with a team-leading 16 starts and 89.0 innings pitched. Blanco also led the Big Orange with seven victories while posting a 4.65 ERA and 1.22 WHIP to go along with a career-high 101 strikeouts. The senior left-hander posted seven quality starts on the year, all of which came during SEC play or the postseason, including seven innings of one-run ball in UT’s NCAA Regional battle against East Carolina.
Blanco earned All-ACC third team honors after a breakout sophomore season at UVA, helping lead the Cavaliers to the 2024 Men’s College World Series by starting 18 games and posting an 8-3 record with a 3.62 ERA in 99.1 innings of work. For his career, Blanco compiled a 19-12 overall record over 72 appearances (42 starts) with a 4.34 ERA and 262 strikeouts in 251.0 innings pitched.
