Dan Fleser
Tennessee baseball continues to be big and bold as this latest version of the Vols storms its way through the follow-up to a national championship season.
The hitters are knocking down fences and piling up runs, scoring 10 or more 17 times so far. The pitchers, meanwhile, have collaborated on a no-hitter, twice. It’s all added up to a 29-4 record (9-3 in the SEC), and a No. 4 national ranking heading into a top 10 conference showdown series at No. 6 Ole Miss this weekend.
By comparison, AJ Russell has been far less conspicuous. The junior pitcher’s work has been more off-Broadway in nature. He’s been repeating pitches as if relearning dialogue after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery last June.
The 6-foot-6 right-hander made his third start on Tuesday, his second in as many weeks. He logged two innings for the first time, allowing no runs and one hit while striking out two versus Alabama State. Of the 21 pitches Russell threw, 16 were strikes. The velocity was in the low-to-mid 90s range, the sort of heat befitting Russell’s All-American credentials.
“After last week, I felt great,” Russell said on Tuesday. “No soreness or anything like that. Felt good today. Each time I’m out there, I’m getting more comfortable. It’s good.”
Russell’s hope is to resume a leading role in Tennessee’s pitching plans. His presence wouldn’t constitute overkill either. The Vols were victimized last weekend by the same sort of damage they’ve been inflicting and the pitchers took the brunt of it. The day being no-hit by the Vols, Texas A&M bashed 11 home runs and scored 26 runs to sweep a Saturday doubleheader at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
In combing through the wreckage, UT coach Tony Vitello didn’t linger over the umpires’ strike zones. Instead, he lamented too many pitches being over the middle of home plate.
“We always want our guys to attack the strike zone and we’d rather have them do that than err on the side of them missing off the plate. But again, when we were in the middle of the plate, they made us pay.”
For all their outsized achievements, Vitello sees these Vols as being younger and still growing into their collective identity, which will be determined largely by the rigors of SEC plays. Russell could influence this process. He’s pitched in SEC games. He faced conference-rival LSU two seasons ago on the grandest of stages, the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. These experiences arm him with more acumen than many of his teammates.
Regarding his comeback, Russell is ahead of the typical recovery pace by virtue of his surgery utilizing an internal brace. Vitello also credited him with being “an abnormal kid” as it relates to the work involved.
“I’ve just been kind of working up my pitch count,” Russell said. “. . . Just making sure everything was good.”
Vitello has considered the ultimate question of SEC play and said, “I don’t think it’s too far away.”
That’s as close as either he or Russell will get to an answer right now, however. Vitello’s advice to all those interested: “Let’s take a deep breath.”
“I want to be out there,” Russell said. “I want to help this team as much as humanly possible. It’s also, we have to be smart about it. Not rush back and do anything than can hurt you in the long run, too.”
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who has covered University of Tennessee athletics since 1988. He is a member of the Tennessee Sportswriters, U.S Basketball Writers and Greater Knoxville Sports Halls of Fame. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.