One of Tennessee’s biggest pick-ups in the transfer portal over the offseason was Blaine Brown, a 6-5 lefty two-way player. Brown is coming off of a freshman All-American season at Rice — a season that opened the door for him to transfer to a school like Tennessee, but also a season that put him on the MLB’s radar.
Brown currently ranks as a top five overall prospect for the 2027 MLB Draft, according to Over-Slot Baseball. The 19-year-old hit .292 last season at Rice, hitting ten home runs and driving
in 38 runs. Oh, and he can touch upper-90s on the mound on top of all that.
“He’s just such a dynamic talent,” Josh Elander said this week of Brown. “I mean, you could argue he had the best weekend swinging the bat. I mean, the guy hits the ball regularly over 110 miles per hour. And then, you know, one thing we talked to him about is — that was a big part of his recruitment process — what does the schedule look like? And how am I in a position to have success on both sides of the ball?”
Brown’s bat figures to be an everyday presence in Tennessee’s 2026 lineup, but figuring out his plan on the mound is something Elander is going to have to work through, perhaps a bit on the fly.
“We spent a ton of time kind of outlining different options,” Elander said. “Because, again, do you start? Do you come out of the pen? Does he go from left field and then come in? So what we went with yesterday was a pretty good little trial, we went with the pitcher-DH. So he opened up the game and he was 93-95 (mph) with over seven foot of extension, really kind of cutting it loose.
“Then that gives him the freedom to then kind of just go to DH, so take focus, go get us some outs. So there’s some opener capabilities there. Full confidence in him being able to start. But then also, I like the idea of, hey, maybe he comes in out of left field at one point.”
Brown appeared in seven games for Rice last season, making four starts. Those outings didn’t go well though, with Brown giving up ten earned runs in just 4.1 innings pitched. He walked 12 batters in that span, highlighting some potential control issues. Scouts think his bat will eventually win out as he looks ahead to his professional career, but he will give Tennessee another option on the mound this spring.
“There’s a lot of options we can do there, but a lot of that with Blaine will just be communicating with him on how he’s feeling,” Elander said. “It’s just dynamic talent on both sides of the ball.”
Brown’s athletic pedigree is certainly there. His father, Chris Brown, was a third-round pick of the Tennessee Titans, where he went on to spend several seasons. Brown did get some action last year against the Volunteers, smacking a double in an early-season game in Houston.
He now joins a loaded Tennessee lineup ready to usher in a new era in Knoxville. Based on the early buzz Brown has generated so far? You’ll be hearing a lot more about him in the coming weeks.
